MISCELLANEOUS BREEDS
THE GRAND BASSET GRIFFON VENDÉEN
BY COREY BENEDICT AND KITTY STEIDEL
The noble Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen , a roughcoated scenthound , takes a grand jeté into the AKC Hound Group in January 2018 . Sincere appreciation to the members of the Board of the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America for their perseverance , and to the AKC ’ s Foundation Stock Service Department for their guidance .
Referred to as Grands , Grand Bassets or GBGVs , the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen name gives one clues to understanding his size , his appearance and his history . Grand — large , Basset — low set , Griffon — coarse or rough , and Vendéen — region on the west coast of France . While the French customarily developed hunting dogs in three sizes , the Vendéen hounds were developed in four .
The GBGV is one of the four Vendéen French hounds thought to have been bred down from King Louis XII ’ s white hounds that hunted different size game . What breeds were combined is unknown , but it started with a cross between a Griffon de Bresse ( a wheat-colored , rough-coated hound ) and the white , smooth-coated hunting dogs from King Louis . This feat was accomplished by the “ Greffier ” ( archiver of the King ) who lived in the Vendéen region .
Though there were vague early standards for each , Grands and Petits were interbred until 1976 , when the practice became disallowed . The result : two distinct breeds . The Dezamy family played a major role in creating the GBGV and the PBGV . It was Paul Dezamy who “ created ” the Grand Basset . His son-in-law , Hubert Desamy , continued the original “ Dezamy ” type Grand Basset .
Hubert Desamy once was quoted saying , “ Measuring is for bad dogs and bad judges . With a worthy specimen , what is a centimeter or two ?”
Despite the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen being low set , he should never be long and low with proportions similar to a Basset Hound , nor tall and square like a Harrier , nor as compact as a PBGV . The AKC GBGV standard reads height typically 15½ to 18 inches , but overall balance is most important . The GBGV is well balanced , and slightly longer than tall when measured from point of shoulder to buttocks . This dog should look like it can do his job , which is to hunt hare or wild boar all day . A dog that is weedy and lacking in bone or length of leg cannot do the job . He also needs good , tight , strong feet to traverse difficult terrain . Thus , flat and splayed feet are severe faults .
The only disqualification in our standard is a solid color . GBGVs are mostly white with any other color ( bicolor or tricolor ) and black and tan . Scissor bite is preferred , but level is tolerated .
Very important to note : The Grand is not a variety of the Petit Basset and should not look like a larger version of one . All the Grand features are longer , and the head , tail and ears are significantly different : His ears should reach at least to the end of his nose . The muzzle is preferably slightly longer from tip of nose to stop than from stop to occiput . The muzzle is the same width as the skull . His pigment is dark , his eyes almond-shaped , and the bridge of his nose is slightly roman , yet when viewed in profile it finishes square at its extremity .
COREY BENEDICT
80 DOGSinREVIEW . com