Breed Priorities – Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen

by Nikki Riggsbee

This discussion is not intended to promote fault or part judging. Nor is it to imply that any characteristic called for in the standard is unimportant. Judging, and breeding, is about prioritizing and about what the judge or breeder must have and what will be forgiven. Discussing priorities can help in learning how to better evaluate a breed. Questions, Comments, or Concerns? Contact AKC Judge Ms. Nikki Riggsbee at Email: nriggsbee@aol.com

When the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen joined the AKC hound group in 1991, they came in a variety of shapes, as I remember seeing them. Their casual appearance was emphasized, and sculpting of the coat forbidden. The outlines have become more uniform, and the casual appearance is still important, even with more grooming going on.

Mentors remind us that their dogs are “Petits” and should have Petit characteristics, differentiating themselves from their bigger cousins across the pond. Now that the Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen will enter regular AKC hound competition at the beginning of next year, recognizing the differences between the two breeds becomes more important.

So I was especially curious to see what would be most important to PBGV experts. We found thirty-two experts to invite to join our survey project, fifteen breeder-judges and seventeen parent club breed mentors. Twenty-six agreed to participate, and seventeen surveys arrived by the deadline.

The experts have been in the breed almost twenty-seven years on average. Those who judge have been doing so for an average of almost fifteen years. Most of the breeder-judges have judged the national as well as other PBGV specialties, plus several of the mentors have judged sweepstakes at the national.

PBGV Virtues

The experts were asked to prioritize a list of virtues from the breed. The list below has the characteristics in sequence by the average of the experts’ ranks, with 1 being the most important.

1. Shoulders well laid back
2. Strong bone with substance in proportion to overall dog
3. Length from elbow to ground slightly more than half the height from withers to ground
4. Chest rather deep, with prominent sternum
5. Coat rough, long without exaggeration, harsh
6. Front action straight, reaching well forward
7. Bold and vivacious in character
8. Back visibly level from withers to croup
9. (tie) Hind legs parallel and have great drive
9. (tie) Hindquarters strong, muscular, with good bend of stifle
11. Casual, rather tousled appearance
12. Length of muzzle slightly shorter than length from stop to occiput
13. Strong, tapered tail, carried like a saber
14. Ears narrow, fine, set on low, reach almost to end of nose
15. Eyes large, dark, with good pigmentation, somewhat oval, showing no white
16. Scissor bite

There wasn’t as much agreement on the most important characteristics as I had expected. Maybe they consider many features most important, and the experts arranged them in different orders. Eight virtues had majority opinions, but most were not large majorities.

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Posted by Alex on May 26 2017. 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.