English, Bluetick and Walker hounds: the UKC split

Key facts

English Fox & Coonhound UKC registration

1905 [source]

Separate Walker registration

1945 [source]

Separate Bluetick registration

1946 [source]

The original category included several later populations

UKC records the English Coonhound under the earlier name English Fox & Coonhound from 1905. That name reflected a period when the dogs were used extensively for fox as well as treeing work. Its history places the population in an English Foxhound-derived background developed for American conditions and game. Both the Treeing Walker and Bluetick populations were initially entered within this broader English category. A historical English entry therefore needs its date and original registry context preserved; it cannot always be mapped directly to the narrower modern English Coonhound category.

The separate categories have precise dates

The Walker history says UKC began separate registration in 1945 at breeders’ request, initially using Walkers (Treeing) before the later Treeing Walker wording. The Bluetick standard dates its separate registration to 1946, also at fanciers’ request. These events describe administrative separation of established populations, not the first existence of blue-ticked coats or treeing Walker lines. They also explain why an ancestor’s older certificate might use a category different from its descendants’ later records. The dates should be tied to UKC specifically rather than presented as simultaneous worldwide recognition.

Colour did not become a complete ancestry test

UKC’s English history explicitly notes that tri-coloured and blue-ticked English hounds remained after the separations, although red-ticked examples became prominent. A blue-ticked coat therefore does not automatically establish entry in the Bluetick register, just as a tri-coloured coat alone cannot prove a Treeing Walker pedigree. The important information is the actual registration category and ancestry, interpreted within the chronology. This is a useful example of breed identities becoming more specific through community choices and record systems while retaining a shared background. It does not supply a hunting qualification, temperament guarantee or permission to infer an unknown pedigree from colour.

Common questions

Sources & further reading

References for this guide. Rules and services can change; check the responsible organisation for current details.

• UKC: English Coonhound history (opens in a new tab)
• UKC: Treeing Walker history (opens in a new tab)
• UKC: Bluetick history (opens in a new tab)

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