What breed of dog of the Baskervilles?

Many fans of classic literature and a good movie is certainly not once thought about what was the breed of dog of the Baskervilles. Surely the legendary monsters were a real prototype. The author of the immortal works about the great detective meant not what today represents the majority of Russian-speaking readers and viewers. Let's try to understand the issue, analyzing some facts.

The Book the hound of the Baskervilles

Who was the hound of the Baskervilles? Breed of dog in the book is not exactly specified even once, but Arthur Conan Doyle left us some clues. It is considered that, in describing the monster, catching the horror of the surroundings he had in mind not a Mastiff, not a Bloodhound (hound). But a careful reading of the text, it becomes clear that the author was most likely talking about the crossbreed mongrel, which contains traits of both breeds. Thus, we understand that the famous beast – that's half Mastiff, half Bloodhound. The dog is described very large (more than rocks) that theoretically could take place.

Translation mistakes

Where did the differences and why many fans of Arthur Conan Doyle's questions about what was the breed of dog of the Baskervilles? Let's not forget about the language barrier. In the original work can be found the word Hound, which in Russian translates as “hound” or “hound”. But in English its meaning is much broader. First, this word is often used in the names of different breeds (Basset hound, bedhead), and secondly, in a broad sense it is synonymous with the word “dog”.

Interpreters are not mentioned the hounds and cops, and chose this translation. That's how we got from the time of the first Russian-language edition is not a specific breed, and the name “the hound of the Baskervilles” – is capacious and abstract at the same time.

The Bloodhound and Mastiff

Light on the mystery shed and professional dog breeders. Metis, the parents of which are the Mastiff and the Bloodhound, – the dog is quite rare.

However, some classifiers even allocate it in a separate breed, called the Cuban (Brazilian) a hound or dog of him. This beast entrenched frankly bloody words, and not only in the triplet “blood” (from the English. “blood”). These large dogs were once raised to be aggressive and violent, to use for military purposes, and also to suppress revolts, capture runaway slaves and convicts. Judging from the few described in the sources of cases to escape from the terrible chase managed quite a few.

In our time the necessity is so terrible the dog disappeared. Intentional binding Mastiff with the Bloodhound is a one-off. But the real existence of hybrids confirms the hypothesis that the breed of dog of the Baskervilles – is not a Mastiff and not a Bloodhound. The author had in mind is a crossbreed.

It is worth to mention that in those times in which the unfolding events of the book, Bloodhound was described long ago in the qualifiers, and the Mastiff were considered quite new and trendy breed. Perhaps the author wanted to beat this contrast.

Funny things on the shooting of the legendary films

When the Soviet filmmakers, the question arose about what will be the breed of dog of the Baskervilles, they had to face many difficulties.

Black dog, pasted reflective film and shot on a black velvet background, on the tape looked like slender skeletons funny. About any coating phosphorus and there was no question (no animal simply will not allow themselves to do this). They even considered the idea of making the main role of a calf! As someone suggested… Pekingese, disfigured by the scars in fights.

As a result, the crew stopped at the sewing masks and vests for the dog-the artist. And played hound of the Baskervilles is not a Mastiff and not a Bloodhound, and certainly not their tone. The role took English Mastiff – a large dog with an intimidating appearance, but loving and smart.

The Crew recalls the many curiosities. Sly dog did not run to the light (and it was necessary for the reflectors), avoided obstacles, stood on the feet when it should have been falling. And once the dog directly with the box ate birthday cake straw. But the actors speak very warmly about this dog that on set managed to catch the fancy of the entire group.

Today we know what kind of dog in the movie ‘the DogOf the Baskervilles" (USSR, 1981). But this gave rise to another misconception, because many believe that the book she was a dog. Other films in the main role filmed a different big dogs, sometimes even shaggy, not smooth.

However, fans of stories about Sherlock Holmes used to perceive the monster as the hound of the Baskervilles, and the lack of accurate identification does not prevent us to admire the amazing monster every time it appears in the frame or on the book page.