Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen

The Vendee has produced rough-coated hunting hounds for centuries, and the four modern Griffon Vendeen breeds all trace back to the largest of them, the Grand Griffon Vendeen. Breeders wanted a shorter-legged version that hunters could follow on foot through the region's dense scrub and heavy cover, and selective breeding for reduced leg length produced the basset types.

In the late nineteenth century the Comte d'Elva concentrated on producing basset griffons with straight front legs, while other lines kept the crooked front. Paul Dezamy is generally credited with fixing the modern type in the twentieth century, setting the height of the Grand at around 43 centimetres and insisting that the Grand and the Petit be treated as separate breeds rather than as sizes within one. The two were formally separated in 1975.

The Grand remained rare outside France for a long time and reached the United States only in the twentieth century. The American Kennel Club granted it full recognition in the Hound Group in 2018, and The Kennel Club in Britain recognises it in the Hound Group as well. Numbers everywhere are modest, and most litters still come from breeders with an interest in the hound's working ability.

The GBGV stands about 15.5 to 18 inches at the shoulder and weighs roughly 40 to 45 pounds, giving a dog noticeably longer than tall but far more athletic than the word basset usually suggests. Compared with the Petit, he is longer in the body and leg and a good deal more of a distance runner. The front legs should be straight or only slightly bent, and the whole dog should look capable of a long day rather than merely low-slung.

The coat is harsh and rough to the touch, of medium length, never silky or woolly, with a thick undercoat and a set of pronounced eyebrows, a moustache and a beard that give the breed its tousled, slightly comic expression. The colours are white with lemon, orange, sable, grizzle or black markings, and tricolour and black and tan are also permitted.

The head carries long, narrow, low-set ears covered in hair, folded and reaching at least to the end of the nose. The tail is carried like a sabre, thick at the base and tapering, and it rarely stops moving. The whole outline should read as a hound built for stamina and rough cover, not a novelty shape.

GBGVs are cheerful, outgoing and confident dogs who tend to like almost everybody. They were kept in packs, so they are usually excellent with other dogs and fit easily into multi-dog households. With children they are patient and sturdy, and their tolerance for noise and chaos is high.

The flip side of that happy character is a strong independent streak. The breed standard itself notes that the confident personality can express itself as disobedience, and any GBGV owner will tell you the same. A hound following a scent is doing the thing he was bred for, and your voice is a distant second priority.

They are vocal dogs with a deep, carrying hound voice they use for tracking, greeting, complaining and occasionally for no reason you can identify. In a terraced house or a flat with thin walls this matters. They are also curious and enterprising about fences, gates and gaps, and a determined GBGV will test a boundary he suspects is negotiable.

The Grand's job in France is hunting hare over difficult ground, working alone or in a small pack ahead of hunters on foot, giving tongue on the line so the guns can follow the chase by ear. He is also used on other game, from rabbit to roe deer and wild boar, and the harsh coat is what allows him to go into thorn and gorse that would shred a smooth-coated hound.

Outside France he is mostly a companion, but the nose still needs employment. Tracking, scent work and organised hound trailing all suit him extremely well, and he can do respectable agility and rally with an owner who accepts that some days he will simply prefer to sniff. He also makes a good long walking companion for someone happy to keep him on a long line in open country.