Penn-Marydel Hound

The Penn-Marydel Hound is one of several varieties of Foxhound that was developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to more efficiently hunt the Red Fox and the Coyote. There were many different breeders throughout both the Eastern and the Southern states who were breeding foxhounds at this time, including the Running Walker strain and the Trigg strain out of Kentucky, and the July Hound, developed in Georgia from a pup bred and born in Maryland. During this time, a strain of American Foxhounds from the Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware area began to emerge as notable hunters and starting in 1934 the Penn-Marydel Association was formed to preserve the bloodline. The original stud book for these dogs goes back to 1933, and in order for a dog to be considered a registered Penn-Marydel Hound, these dogs need to be able to trace back at least five generations of breeding in that studbook. In the early part of the 2000s, breeders began working with the Masters of Foxhounds Association, who holds the stud books for hunting hounds across the U.S, in order to determine what rules were required to have the Penn-Marydel listed as a purebred dog of its own rather than a specific strain of American Foxhound. While the Penn-Marydel is not listed as a separate breed by any of the major kennel clubs and is considered to be a specific strain within the American Foxhounds, the Masters of Foxhounds Association began registering them as a separate breed in the year 2008.