Hello,

We would really like this dog as a pet, but have been told that this breed until recently, has been bred very closely.

Any advice would be a great help.

Louise and Andrew Carpenter

Hi try this web addy they may help you

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/sufayre/index.html

Janines

Erm, others may disagree but a hound doesn't always make the best pet.  There is a small gene pool and the breed appears to be dominated by a few people.  To my mind the Hamilton in the UK, is alien to those in its native country.  There is at least 1 person on here that has owned one, she should be able to help you further.
Dawn.

Like your wording Dawn, nicely put!!  Hope that my breed doesn't go the same way.

I owned a Hamilton back in the 90s.  At the time the gene pool was quite small and only one or two breeders.  There has been a few imports from Sweden brought in over the last few years but in my mind there is still no uniformity in the breed and some do not look like the breed in Sweden.  I have owned Afghans since the 70s (both dogs and bitches) and I found the Hamilton a lot of hard work.  As a puppy he could be let off the lead and then one day instinct took over and I lost him for 5 hours chasing deer near the main London-Brighton line and the main A23. Fortunately he came home with only sore feet.  His temperament was not the best and I never trusted him around children, even my own, which made life a little difficult.  He was put to sleep at about 7yrs after he bit my husband for no reason.  Having said that a friend has two who are now 15 and 13yrs old and she has never had a problem but they are bitches.
Sue

I know of a couple of Hamiltonstovares that have been imported over the past couple of years to bring new lines in to the UK. I know someone who has the breed and all her dogs have an excellent temperement. They are typical hounds but if you like and want to own hounds then thats what you expect.
Hounds usually make wonderful pets. They have their own personality but thats what i like in a dog. OK, they can't always be let off the lead on walks but does that really matter, their good points definately out weigh the bad points.   

There is a hamitonstovare competing in agility.