Coat.—The hair on the body, neck, and quarters should be hard and wiry, and about 3 or 4 inches in length, and that on the head, breast, and belly much softer. There ought to be a slight hairy fringe on the inside of the fore and hind legs, but nothing approaching the feather of a Collie.
The Deerhound ought to be a shaggy dog, but not overcoated. A woolly coat is a bad one.
Some good strains have a mixture of silky coat with the hard, and this is preferable to a woolly coat. The proper Deerhound coat is thick, close-lying, ragged, and harsh or crisp to the feel.
Colour.—More a matter for individual fancy.
A dark blue-grey most preferred, and after this, darker and lighter grey, or brindles, the darkest being preferred.
Yellow, sandy-red, or red-fawn, with black points (i.e., ears and muzzle), are equally esteemed, more so because two of the oldest strains—the M'Neil and Chesthill Menzies—are of these colours.
White is condemned by all the old authorities, but a white chest and white toes, occurring as they do in a great many of the darkest coloured dogs, are not so much objected to, though less the better, as the Deerhound is a self-coloured dog.
A white blaze on the head, or a white collar, should entirely disqualify.
A white tip on tail occurs in most strains.