Grand Bleu de Gascogne

The Grand Bleu de Gascogne is a French scenthound bred to hunt in packs. It descends from a very old type of large hunting dog and has played an important part in the ancestry of many other hounds.

History

The breed’s ancestors were contemporaries of the St Hubert Hound and the English Southern Hound. The Comte de Foix kept a pack in the 14th century, and Henry IV of France kept one in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In the past these hounds hunted deer, wolves and boar.

The Grand Bleu has a long history in the United States, where it was first bred in the 18th century. In 1785 General Lafayette gave George Washington a pack of seven, and Washington compared their voices to the bells of Moscow. There are now more Grands Bleus in the United States than in France.

Other hounds owe a good deal to the breed. After the French Revolution it was used to revive the old Saintongeois, producing the Gascon Saintongeois. The Bluetick Coonhound is considered a direct descendant, and Sir John Buchanan-Jardine used the Grand Bleu in creating the Dumfriesshire Hound. In Britain, native hounds with blue marbled coats are still called Frenchies after it.

Appearance

This is an imposing hound of the oldest type: lean and muscular, with long legs, a slightly domed head, long drop ears and drooping lips. Males stand 65 to 72 cm at the withers and females 62 to 68 cm, and the dogs weigh 36 to 54 kg (80 to 120 lb). The word Grand in the name, though, does not necessarily describe the dog’s size; in most cases it simply marks a pack used on larger game.

The coat is white mottled with black, which gives an overall slate-blue look. There are black patches on each side of the head, with a white area on top of the skull holding a small black oval, and tan marks like eyebrows over the eyes.

Temperament

The Grand Bleu should carry itself with calm strength. It is by instinct a pack hound, noted for its focus on the hunt, its good nose and its deep, sonorous howl. In the field it is considered a slow and ponderous worker. Today it is used on hare, boar, deer and other game.

Care and health

No unusual health problems have been documented for the breed.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.