Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen

Cheerful and busy, led by its nose, with a ready voice.
A Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen
Photo: Nathan150
Adult weight
11–18 kg
25–40 lb
Lifespan
13.7 yrs
Class · Family
also Companion

What it's like

In temperament it is cheerful, inquisitive and busy, friendly with people and other dogs, and strongly led by its nose, with an independent streak and a ready voice. In the twenty-twenties a Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen named Buddy Holly took the top award at the Westminster Kennel Club show in New York, a first for the breed.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Friendly with everyone
Independence
Decides for itself
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Very vocal
Prey drive
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

It has a wire or harsh coat. Loose hair stays caught in the coat until it is brushed, stripped or clipped out. Plan on a brush once a week, plus hand-stripping two or three times a year. It needs plenty of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen is a medium dog, about the weight of a grown Staffordshire Bull Terrier. It is one of the lightest medium breeds. Its weight is an estimate, not a published figure.

The body is longer than it is tall, on short but fairly straight legs, with a head longer than broad, long eyebrows, a beard and moustache, and a tail carried high like a sabre. The coat is harsh and rough with a thick undercoat, mostly white with markings in orange, lemon, black, sable or grizzle, or tricolour.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
Petit Basset Griffon Vendeens reach half their adult weight at about 5 months. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
051015202m4m6m9m12m18m
051015202m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
2.9–4.6 kg 6.4–10.1 lb
3.2–5.1 kg 7.1–11.2 lb
3 months
3.9–6.2 kg 8.6–13.7 lb
4.1–6.6 kg 9.0–14.6 lb
4 months
5.5–8.8 kg 12.1–19.4 lb
5.5–8.9 kg 12.1–19.6 lb
5 months
6.8–10.9 kg 15.0–24.0 lb
6.7–10.7 kg 14.8–23.6 lb
6 months
7.9–12.6 kg 17.4–27.8 lb
7.6–12.2 kg 16.8–26.9 lb
7 months
8.6–13.8 kg 19.0–30.4 lb
8.3–13.3 kg 18.3–29.3 lb
8 months
9.2–14.8 kg 20.3–32.6 lb
8.9–14.2 kg 19.6–31.3 lb
9 months
9.7–15.5 kg 21.4–34.2 lb
9.3–14.9 kg 20.5–32.8 lb
10 months
10.0–16.1 kg 22.0–35.5 lb
9.7–15.5 kg 21.4–34.2 lb
11 months
10.3–16.5 kg 22.7–36.4 lb
10.0–16.0 kg 22.0–35.3 lb
12 months
10.5–16.8 kg 23.1–37.0 lb
10.2–16.4 kg 22.5–36.2 lb
15 months
10.9–17.5 kg 24.0–38.6 lb
10.8–17.2 kg 23.8–37.9 lb
18 months
11–18 kg 25–40 lb
11.2–17.9 kg 24.7–39.5 lb

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen lived to about 13 and a half years, longer than the typical medium breed.

Where it comes from

The Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen comes from the Vendée, on France's west coast, where dense, thorny, rocky cover shaped a scent hound whose speciality is rabbit. Until Abel Dezamy wrote it a standard of its own, it was judged as a smaller Grand Basset; by the 1950s it was classed as a breed in its own right, and crossing the two was barred in 19754,8.

The Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen's name describes it: small, low to the ground, rough-coated and from the Vendée. Long kept by French huntsmen working on foot, the breed was taken up abroad in the later twentieth century, reaching Britain and North America, where it became established as both a show dog and a companion while still being hunted in packs in France. It was bred to push through brambles and broken ground, working rabbit and hare by scent and giving voice as it goes.

Breed standard

The Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen is judged against standard no. 67, in group 6, Scenthounds and related breeds4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.

Compare with related

Basset Hound
Scent hounds · Medium
Beagle
Scent hounds · Medium
Basset Fauve de Bretagne
Scent hounds · Medium
Mountain Cur
Hound · Medium
Or compare the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen with any breed you choose
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Sources

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