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Basset Griffon Vendeen

History

The Griffon Vendéen family can be traced back to 16^th century France. It is one of four rough coated French breeds and the only one to exist now in four distinct sizes. It was not until the 19^th century that the Basset Griffon Vendéen increased in popularity and numbers in France.Originally there was only one size of basset that nowadays would look like a mixture between a PBGV and GBGV. They appeared with the height of a Petit but with a long head, a long, heavy body and with mostly crooked or half-crooked front legs, looking like rough-coated Basset Hounds without the extra skin or wrinkle.It had been common practice to interbreed to the Grand and the Petit, therefore it was not uncommon to find Grands in Petit litters and visa versa, or at least significant characteristics. In theory this practice stopped in France in 1972 and was officially banned by the French club in '77. Breeders today put great importance on size and type. It was the Comte Christian d'Elva who attempted to improve the soundness of these hounds. His hounds were taller and straight-legged and the forerunners of the Grand Basset of today. His famous dog "Royal Combattant" is a good example of the quality of his hounds at the turn of the century, where he won the Prix d'Honneur de la Republique.Beginning in the late 1890's and then flourishing in next century, the breed made enormous strides under the Dézamy family where the nature and type of the varieties 'Grand' and 'Petit' were firmly defined and established. The name Dézamy (also Desamy) is virtually synonymous with BGVs in France, where the one family over three generations established the breed(s), formed the Club du Griffon Vendéen, wrote the definitive standards and continuously served as Presidents of the club from 1907 until 1985. At this time M Renaud Buche took over the Presidency.

Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen

Appearance *** A well balanced, short legged, compact hound. Rough coated. With an alert outlook and a lively bearing.

Characteristics *** A strong, active hound capable of a day's hunting with a good voice freely used.

Temperament *** Happy, extrovert; independent, yet willing to please.

Head & Skull *** Medium in length, not too wide, oval in shape when viewed from the front. Well cut away under the eyes; stop clearly defined; the occipital bone well developed. Muzzle slightly shorter than from stop to occipital point. Underjaw should be strong and well developed. The nose black, large with wide nostrils. Eyes surmounted by long eyebrows standing forward but not to obscure the eyes; lips covered with long hair forming beard and moustache.

Eyes *** Large, dark, showing no white, with a friendly intelligent expression. The red of the lower eyelid should not show.

Ears *** Supple, narrow and fine, covered with long hair, folding inwards, ending in an oval shape; reaching to the end of the nose; set on low, not above the line of the eye.

Mouth *** Scissor bite preferred, level bite accepted.

Neck *** Long and strong, set into well laid shoulders; without throatiness; carrying the head proudly.

Forequarters *** Shoulders clean and sloping; elbows close to the body. The forelegs straight, a slight crook acceptable; thick and well boned. Pasterns strong and slightly sloping. Knuckling over is unacceptable.

Body *** Chest deep with prominent sternum; ribs moderately rounded extending well aback. Back of medium length; level topline with slight arching over strong loins.

Hindquarters *** Strong and muscular with good bend of stifle. Well defined second thigh. Hocks short and well angulated.

Feet *** Hard, tight padded, not too long. Nails strong and short.

Tail *** Of medium length, set on high, strong at the base, tapering regularly, well furnished with hair; carried proudly like the blade of a sabre.

Gait *** The movement should be free at all paces, with great drive. Front action straight and reaching well forward; hocks should turn neither in nor out.

Coat *** Rough, long without exaggeration and harsh to the touch, with thick undercoat, never silky or woolly. Hounds should be shown untrimmed.

Colour *** White with any combination of lemon, orange, tricolour or grizzle markings.

Height *** 34 to 38cms (13.4 to 15 ins); a tolerance of 1cm (0.4in) either way is allowed.

Faults *** Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness of the fault should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Note *** Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles descended into the scrotum.

Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen

Appearance *** A well balanced, medium height hound. Rough coated with a familiar and intelligent look and noble bearing.

Characteristics *** A strong, active hound capable of a day's hunting with a good voice freely used.

Temperament *** Happy and outgoing, but thoughful and not easily agitated, independent, yet willing to please.

Head & Skull *** A noble head, skull domed and not too wide. Well cut away under the eyes; stop clearly defined; occipital bone well developed. Long square muzzle. Slight Roman nose. Underjaw strong, well developed. The nose black, large with wide nostrils. Eyes surmounted by long eyebrows standing forward but not to obscure the eyes; lips covered with long hair forming beard and moustache.

Eyes *** Large, dark, showing no white, with a friendly intelligent expression. Haw not visible.

Ears *** Supple, narrow and fine, covered with long hair, folding inwards, ending in an oval shape; reaching to the end of the nose; set on low, not above the line of the eye.

Mouth *** Jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaw.

Neck *** Long and strong, set into well laid shoulders; thicker at the base; without throatiness; carrying the head proudly.

Forequarters *** Shoulders clean and sloping; elbows close to the body, never turning out. The forelegs straight, thick and well boned. Pasterns strong and slightly sloping. Knuckling over is unacceptable.

Body *** Deep brisket, ribs moderately rounded extending well back. Back of good length and level topline with slight rise over well muscled loins.

Hindquarters *** Heavy boned, strong and muscular with moderate stifle. Heavily muscled thighs with well defined second thigh.

Feet *** Big and tight padded. Pads firm and solid. Nails strong and short.

Tail *** Good length, set on high, strong at the base, tapering regularly, well furnished with hair of good length; carried proudly like the blade of a sabre or slightly turned in, but never falling back over the loins.

Gait *** Free with great drive. Front action straight and reaching well forward; hind action easy and elastic, hocks should turn neither in nor out.

Coat *** Rough, long without exaggeration, with a flat structure, never silky or woolly, fringing not too abundant; thick undercoat. Hounds should be shown untrimmed.

Colour *** White with any combination of lemon, orange, tricolour or grizzle markings.

Height *** 39 to 43cms (15.5 to 17 ins); a tolerance of 2cms (0.8in) above the upper limit permissible.

Faults *** Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness of the fault should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Note *** Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles descended into the scrotum.