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Do Otterhounds have webbed feet?

Yes, webbed feet are a hallmark of the breed. The Otterhound was built for river work, with large feet that help it swim and grip slippery banks while trailing scent through water. Those feet arrive alongside an oily double coat built for wet weather and a sense of smell rated among the keenest in hounds.

Size
Large, 80 to 115 lb
Lifespan
10 to 13 years
Daily exercise
60 to 90 minutes
Energy
4/5
Shedding
1/5
With children
Good with children

Daily life and workload

Weight creeps up silently in this food loving type, so weigh monthly. Scent hounds are completely deaf to recall once the nose engages, per the overview: long lines, secure gardens and patience are the toolkit. A worked Otterhound is a calm, sociable house dog with a magnificent voice; an idle one is a very large, wet project.

If this question is part of choosing the breed, run it against your worst week rather than your best: the exercise in the rain, the grooming in a busy month, the dog care during a family illness.

The breed behind the question

The temperament record reads: Calm, sociable, musical and single minded on a trail. Working bred energy at 4/5 does not switch off indoors unless the day has genuinely spent it.

Context from the wider record: the Otterhound stands in the Hound group, originates from England, and carries a temperament summarised as Calm, sociable, musical and single minded on a trail.

Size context from the growth table: 4 months at about 22 to 32 lb, 9 months at about 54 to 78 lb, 24 months at about 80 to 115 lb mark the Otterhound's first year, against an adult standard of 80 to 115 lb. Standard colors: whole coloured, grizzle, sandy, red, wheaten, blue. The Hound group is where the record files the Otterhound; its home ground is England.

The honest bottom line

At 80 to 115 lb fully grown, the physical side of the breed is easy to picture. Whatever this page concludes, the figures behind it are the ones a household will actually live with. Start from the Otterhound profile if you are still deciding: it gathers every figure quoted here into one place.

Owners who do well with this breed tend to share one habit: they planned the dog's day as deliberately as their own, and the dog repaid the planning with an easy temperament.

Owners reading this while choosing a breed should weigh the answer alongside the whole record, not in isolation: a single trait rarely decides a match, but the pattern of traits decides nearly all of them.

Is an Otterhound right for me?

Run the honest checklist: 60 to 90 minutes of exercise daily, grooming effort 5/5, keeping costs led by food at about $54 a month, and a 10 to 13 year commitment. The breed quiz compares your answers against every breed on the site, the Otterhound included. Meeting adult dogs of the breed remains the best final check on any written answer, this one included.

How big does an Otterhound get?

The standard range is 24 to 27 inches at the shoulder and 80 to 115 lb, with a typical adult near 98 lb. The growth table on the Otterhound profile shows the expected weight at each age on the way there. The breed quiz on this site runs the same record against your household answers, which is a useful second opinion.

Is the Otterhound a healthy breed overall?

Its record lists the usual conditions honestly, and its 10 to 13 year lifespan is the summary statistic. Screened breeding and lean keeping move an individual Otterhound toward the good end of its own record.

Keep exploring

How much exercise does an Otterhound need?

The Otterhound's daily exercise bill explained: what counts, how owners fit it in and what happens when it goes unpaid.

Are Otterhounds good family dogs?

Family life with an Otterhound examined: the rating, the routine and the honest bottom line.

What does PON mean?

The Polish Lowland Sheepdog in detail: the facts and the honest verdict behind this owner question.

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Last updated: November 6, 2026