The GBGV Makes a Grand Entrance to Westminster

By Amy Fernandez

As we know, AKC’s 192nd breed, the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen makes its Westminster debut in this year’s Hound Group. All things considered, it’s fair to wonder why it took so long. Its purebred heritage is respectably ancient. Moreover, the compact model, the PBGV–recognized way back in 1990–justifiably ranks among AKC’s greatest modern success stories, a fact that has also heightened anticipation for the arrival of the super-sized version.

But it’s not for us mere mortals to question what goes in the sanctified realms of AKC. And we will probably never get the whole story on this conundrum. But some of it can be attributed to that cavernous philosophical divide traditionally separating kennel club convention from pack hound methodology. Like all hound packs, the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen was devised and polished strictly for functionality. Yes, that’s the same underlying motivation for everything we’re doing. However, the nuts and bolts of pack hound construction, by its nature, dif- fer drastically from regulation kennel club procedures. It’s all about a unified working pack. The singular merit of one ideal specimen is never the end goal.

It’s also important to note that this working theory of purebred development was firmly established centuries before any kennel club ideological zeal overran the place 150 years ago. France, birthplace of the GBGV, might qualify as the cradle of scenthound civilization. French ideals of Venerie, the DIY precepts of hunting and hound management documented in those gorgeous medieval treatises, sowed the seeds of over 40 distinct breeds.

But getting back to this one. The Vendéen Hounds were originally cultivated in multiple forms to hunt the rugged terrain of the Low Poitou or Vendee region of western France. Four distinct types emerged, the Grand Griffon Vendéen, standing 23-26 inches and weighing 66-77 pounds, the Briquet, 20-22 inches at the withers, weighing 48-53 pounds, and two Basset versions, the PBGV and the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen.

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Posted by Alex on Feb 28 2019. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.