TRANSLATION : John Miller and Raymond Triquet.

ORIGIN : France.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 09.01.1999.

UTILIZATION : It is the perfect assistant for the hunter with a gun in territories of moderate size. Fastest of all the scenthound bassets, tenacious, courageous, and a little stubborn.  It must, from an early age, be accustomed to obeying; its training implies will and punishment, for which he will bear no grudge.

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 6        Scenthounds and related breeds.           

                                              Section 1.3   Small-sized Hounds.  

                                              With working trial.                       

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : The Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen is derived, like all bassets, from hounds of superior size, in this case the Grand Griffon.  The first selections were made at the end of the 19th century by the Comte d’Elva who was looking for subjects with « straight legs ». But it was Paul Dezamy who was especially responsible for fixing the type. He understood that in order to catch a hare, dogs of a certain size were needed. He fixed that size at about 43 cm. Today used primarily when hunting with a gun, it is capable of hunting all furry game, from the rabbit to wild boar. A team of Grand Bassets won the 5th edition of the European Cup for hare.

GENERAL APPEARANCE : Slightly elongated overall, it has straight forelegs, the structure of a basset, and must not resemble a small Briquet. It is balanced and elegant.

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT :

Behaviour : Fast, well voiced, a passionate hunter; courageous, loves bramble and scrub. 

Temperament : A little stubborn but nevertheless well behaved. It is up to the master to take command.

HEAD

CRANIAL REGION :

Skull : Without heaviness, convex, elongated and not too wide, well chiselled below the eyes. Occipital bone well developed.

Stop : Frontal indentation well defined.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : Prominent. Nostrils well open. Black and developed, except for white and orange coats where a brown nose is tolerated.

Muzzle : Square at its extremity, noticeably longer than the skull, very slightly convex.

Lips : Quite pendulous, covering well the lower jaw and giving the front of the muzzle a square profile. They are well covered with moustaches.

Jaws/Teeth : Jaws strongly developed, scissor bite.

Eyes : Of oval shape, large, dark, not showing white; friendly and intelligent expression. The conjunctiva must not be apparent.

Leathers : Supple, narrow and fine, covered with long hair and ending in an elongated oval, well turned inwards. Low set, below the eye. They must be able to reach beyond the end of the nose.

NECK : Long, robust and well muscled. Strong at set-on. Without dewlap.

BODY : Really that of a basset but avoiding an exaggerated length. 

Back : Long, broad and really straight, never saddle-backed, and starting to arch its junction with the loin; withers very slightly protruding.

Loin : Solid, well muscled, slightly arched.

Chest : Quite broad and well let down to elbow level.

Ribs : Rounded, never flat nor cylindrical. Thorax slightly less broad at elbow level to facilitate the movement.

Flank : Rather full, belly never tucked up.

TAIL : Thick at the base, tapering progressively, set quite high, carried saber fashion or slightly curved but never on the back or bent at the tip. Rather long.

LIMBS

Overall view : Bone structure developed but lean. It should be understood that bone quality is not a question of volume but of density.

FOREQUARTERS : They  must be straight with a thick forearm and a very slightly defined but very solid carpal joint (wrist).

Shoulder : Long, clean and oblique.

Elbow: Should be neither too close to body nor loose.

Forearm : Thick, wrists (carpus) should never touch.

HINDQUARTERS : 

Overall view : Solid and well directed in the axis of the body.

Hip (Iliac crest) : Apparent.

Thigh : Strongly muscled but not too rounded, bone structure and articulations very solid.

Hock : Wide and angulated, must never be straight. Seen from the rear, it should not appear turned outwards or inwards.

FEET : Strong and tight with hard pads and solid nails; good pigmentation of pads and nails is desirable.

GAIT / MOVEMENT  : The dog in action must give an impression of resistance and ease; the movement must be free and harmonious.

SKIN : Quite thick, often marbled in the tricoloured subjects. No dewlap.

COAT

HAIR : Hard, not too long and flat, never silky or woolly. The fringes should not be too abundant; the belly and inside of the thighs must not be bare; eyebrows well pronounced but not covering the eye.

COLOUR : Black with white spotting (white and black). Black with tan markings (black and tan). Black with light tan markings. Fawn with white spotting (white and orange). Fawn with black mantle and white spotting (tricolour). Fawn with black overlay. Pale fawn with black overlay and white spotting. Pale fawn with black overlay. Traditional names: hare colour, wolf colour, badger colour or wild boar colour.

SIZE :

Height at withers : Males    : from 40 to 44 cm.

                            Females : from 39 to 43 cm.

                            With a tolerance of 1 cm more or less.

FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Head :

·      Too short.

·      Flat skull.

·      Short muzzle.

·      Depigmentation of the nose, lips or eyelids.

·      Pincer bite.

·      Light eye.

·      Leathers set high, short, insufficiently turned in or lacking hair.

Body :

·      Too long or too short.

·       Lacking harmony.

·      Topline insufficiently firm.

·      Slanting rump.

Tail :

·      Deviated stern.

Limbs :

·      Insufficient bone structure.

·      Angulation too straight.

·      Hocks too close.

·      Slack in pasterns.

Coat :

·      Insufficiently dense, fine hair.

Behaviour :

·      Timid subject.

ELIMINATING FAULTS :

·      Lack of type.

·      Prognathism (overshot or undershot mouth).

·      Wall eye. Eyes of different colours (Heterochromia).

·      Lack of room in the sternal region; ribs narrow towards the lower part.

·      Kinky tail.

·      Crooked or half-crooked forelegs.

·      Woolly coat.

·      Self-coloured coat black or white.

·      Important depigmentation.

·      Size outside the standard.

·      Noticeable invalidating fault. Anatomical malformation.

·      Fearful or aggressive subject.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

TRANSLATION : Mrs. Peggy Davis.

ORIGIN : France.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 12.12.1991.

UTILIZATION : Small game hunting dog used for hunting with the gun. Hunts as well by himself as in a pack, with giving tongue. His short legs allow him to penetrate the most dense vegetation, there where the big dog cannot go, and to flush out the hidden game. His favourite is hunting the rabbit, but he can just as well hunt the hare as the deer. He tracks and flushes with great determination driving the game not fast, but with perseverance and giving voice.

CLASSIFICATION FCI : Group 6        Scenthounds and related breeds.

                                           Section 1.3   Small-sized Hounds.

                                           With working trial.                                            

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : The controlled breeding of the short haired French Basset began in the years 1870. From Bassets having an apparently common origin, Count Le Couteulx of Canteleu has fixed a utilitarian type with straight front legs called Artois, whereas Mr. Louis Lane has developed a more spectacular type, with crooked front legs, called Normand. Only in 1924 the name Artesien Norman Basset (Basset Artésien Normand) was finally adopted for the breed and the club Mr. Léon Verrier, who took over as chairman of the club in 1927, at the age of 77, has wanted to strengthen the Norman character of the breed and in the book of standards of hunting dogs of 1930, where the two breeds, Basset d’Artois and Basset Artésien-Normand figure, we find the following reference to this breed : “The committee of the “Société de Vénerie” (Game Society) decides and notes that the Basset Artésien-Normand should not be but one stage of transition towards a Norman type, without any trace of Artois.”

GENERAL APPEARANCE : Long dog in relation to its size, well balanced, compact, recalling in his head the nobility of the big Norman hound.

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS :

Height at withers : length of body         = about 5 : 8

Depth of chest    : height at the withers = about 2 : 3

Width of skull      : length of head          = about 1 : 2

Length of muzzle : length of skull          = about 10 : 10

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : Gifted with an excellent nose and a melodious voice, persevere but not too fast on the line, he permits his master to fully enjoy the hunting work. Outgoing and of very affectionate nature.

HEAD

CRANIAL REGION :

Skull : Dome shaped, medium width; occipital bone apparent. On the whole the head must have a dry look. 

Stop : Marked without exaggeration.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : Black and large, slightly protruding over the lips; nostrils well open.

Muzzle : Approximately the same length as that of the skull and slightly aquiline.

Lips : Upper lip covering considerably the lower lip, without, however, being too pendulous nor too tight-lipped.

Jaws/Teeth : Scissor bite, i.e. upper incisors covering the lower ones in close contact are squarely set in relation to the jaws.

Cheeks : Formed by one or two folds of skin.

Eye : Oval shaped, large, dark (in harmony with the coat), expression calm and serious; the haw (= conjunctival lining) of the lower lid may sometimes show without excess.

Leathers : Set as low as possible, never above the line of the eye, narrow at the base, well curled inwards corkscrew fashion, supple, fine, very long, reaching at least the length of the muzzle and preferably ending in a point.

NECK : Rather long, with some dewlap but without exaggeration.

BODY :

Back : Wide and well supported.

Loin : Slightly tucked up.

Croup : Hips a little oblique, giving a slight slant to the rump.

Chest : Of ovalized section, long, sternum well prolonged backward and prominent in front, with developed brisket. Full flanks. The brisket sternal line is distinctly below the elbows. Ribs long, carried well back.

TAIL : Quite long, thick at base and thinning down progressively. At rest the tip of the tail must just touch the ground. Carried sabre fashion but never falling on the back; its extremity must not be like a plume. On that subject it is absolutely forbidden to modify the look of the stern of show dogs.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS :

Seen on the whole : Forelegs are short and well-boned; they are half-crooked or a little less than half-crooked, provided there is a sufficient principle of crook visible.  Some folds of skin, without excess, on the pasterns, must be considered as a quality. 

Correct half-crooked forelegs.

Shoulders : Muscular, oblique.

Elbows : Close to the body.

HINDQUARTERS :

On the whole and seen from the back, a vertical line going from the point of the high (buttock) goes through the middle of the leg, the hock, the metatarsal and the foot.

Thighs : Fleshy and muscular.

Correct hindlegs, thighs rounded and well muscled.

Hocks : Strong, quite low, relatively bent, which places the hind foot slightly under the dog when he is at rest. A small pouch of skin at the point of the hock (calcaneum) is not a fault.

Metatarsal : Short and strong.

FEET : Oval shaped, a little elongated, toes rather close and placed firmly on the ground giving maximum support.

GAIT / MOVEMENT  : Even, quite effortless and steady movement.

SKIN : Supple and fine.

COAT

HAIR : Close, short and smooth without being too fine.

COLOUR : Fawn with black blanket and white (“tricolour”) or fawn and white (“bi-colour). In the tricoloured dog, the head should be largely covered with tan hair and show a circle of darker hairs on each temple. The black blanket or the black patches should be composed of solid black hairs or black hair with “grizzle” (realising thus the former characteristic of “hare pied” or ”badger-pied”).

SIZE AND WEIGHT  :

Height at withers : Males and bitches: 30 – 36 cm.

                            Tolerance            : +/- 1 cm for exceptional subjects.

Weight                : 15 – 20 kg.

FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

HEAD  :

·         Flat skull.

·         Wide forehead.

·         Medial furrow too pronounced.

·         Eyes light, round and protruding, showing too much haw.

·         Leathers flat, too round, thick, high set and broad at base.

NECK  :

·         Short.

BODY  :

·         Topline soft or swayback.

·         Xiphoid process either too short or absent.

·         Ribs flat or deformed.

TAIL :

·         Too long, deviated or coarse.

FOREQUARTERS :

·         Shoulder straight, short, insufficiently muscled.

·         Out at elbows.

·         Pasterns touching each other, knuckling over.

·         Exaggerated crook with feet turning out excessively.

·         Flat feet.

·         Splay-feet.

HINDQUARTERS :

·         Thighs flat.

·         Hocks close, too wide apart.

COAT :

·         Hair soft, distinctly long or fringed.

·         Colour : black shading on the head.

BEHAVIOUR :

·         Timid subjects.

ELIMINATING FAULTS :

·         Timid or aggressive subject.

·         Serious anatomical anomaly.

·         Hereditary identifiable and disabling defect.

·         Lack of type.

·         Undershot or overshot mouth.

·         Eye very light.

·         Rear end of sternum too short with absence of xiphoid process.

·         Ribs very much deformed.

·         Forelegs completely straight.

·         Legs too weak.

·         Too much dark shading on the head.

·         Too much black-mottled giving the white a bluish tint.

·         Height at withers other than that of the standard.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

TRANSLATION : Mrs. Peggy Davis.

ORIGIN : France.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 24.01.1996.

UTILIZATION : Hound used to hunt with the gun, sometimes for coursing, as much on his own as in a pack. His preferred quarries are the rabbit and the hare.

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 6        Scenthounds.

                                             Section 1.3   Small sized scenthounds.

                                             With working trial.                                          

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : The breed was reborn at the end of the 19^th century, under the instigation of some huntsmen from the West. Since then its evolution has been constant as much in the plan of necessary morphological improvement as in the preservation of the qualities of the dog from “the South (Midi)”.

GENERAL APPEARANCE : Really typical Basset, denoting the great breed he comes from; quite substancial but yet not too heavy.

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS :

• Size / Body length     : about 5/8.

• Depth of chest / size : about 2/3.

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT :

Very fine nose. Active, agile and lively. Intent in his way of hunting; endowed with a beautiful howling voice. Works perfectly in a pack. Affectionate and happy dog; need to frisk about.

CRANIAL REGION :

Skull : Seen from the front, slightly domed and not too broad; the occipital protuberance is marked; seen from above, the back of the skull is ogival in shape. The forehead is full.

Stop : Hardly accentuated.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : Black, large; nostrils well open.

Muzzle : Same length as the skull; strong; nasal bridge slightly arched.

Lips : Quite drooping, covering well the lower jaw; giving the front part of the muzzle a square profile. The corner of the lips is well marked without being loose.

Jaws/Teeth : Scissor bite. Incisors set square to the jaws.

Cheeks : Lean; the skin may show one or two folds.

Eyes : Oval shaped, seem deep set; brown. Gentle expression, a little sad.

Leathers : Characteristic of the “Blue”: they are fine, curled in, ending in a point and must at least go beyond the extremity of the nose. The leather is narrow at its set-on, which is well below the eyeline.

NECK : Quite long, a little arched; dewlaps developed without excess.

BODY :

Back : Long, well supported.

Loin : Short, well coupled, sometimes arched.

Rump : Slightly oblique.

Chest : Roomy, well developed in length; comes down below elbow level. Sternum quite prominent in front and well extended to the back. Ribs quite well sprung.

Flank : Quite deep.

TAIL : Strong set-on; carried sabre fashion; sometimes there should be some longer and coarser, slightly offstanding hairs (like ears of grain) towards the tip. At rest, its tip must just touch the ground.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS :

View of the ensemble : Forelegs strong, slight torsion may be tolerated up to semi-torsion (semi-crooked).

Shoulder : Muscled, without heaviness, and oblique.

Elbow : Very close to the body.

HINDQUARTERS :

View of the ensemble : From behind, a vertical line going from the point of the buttocks passing through the middle of the leg, the hock, the metatarsal and the foot.

Thigh : Long and muscled.

Hock joint : Large, slightly bent; quite let down.

Metatarsal : Short and strong.

FEET : Of a slightly elongated oval, toes lean and tight. Pads and nails black.

GAIT / MOVEMENT  : Balanced and quite easy.

SKIN : Not too fine; supple. Black or strongly mottled with black patches, never entirely white. Mucous membranes (hairless zones) black.

COAT

HAIR : Short; semi-thick; dense.

COLOUR : Entirely mottled (black and white) giving a slate blue effect; marked or not with more or less exended black patches. Two black patches are generally placed on either side of the head, covering the leathers, surrounding the eyes and stopping at the cheeks. They do not meet on top of the skull, they leave a white interval in the middle of which is frequently found a small oval shaped black spot, typical of the breed. Two more or less bright tan markings are