FCI Standard 67/
Translation: John Miller and Raymond Triquet
Origin: France
Date of Publication of the original valid standard: 09.01.1999
Clck on the region of interest
UTILIZATION: Devil in the country,
angel in the house, that's our basset. It's a passionate hunter, that must,
from an early age, get used to obeying. Perfect assistant to the hunter
with a gun on territories of medium size, specialist for rabbit, but no
other game escapes from it.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. Group 6:
Scenthounds and related breeds.
Section 1.3 : Small-sized hounds with
working trial.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY: For a long time the Petit
Basset Griffon Vendéen had the same standard as the Grand
Basset, only the size was different (from 34 cm to 38 cm). The result in
utilisation was not very brilliant, because they were semi-crooked and as
heavy as the Grand Basset. That is why Mr. Abel Dézamy created a separate
standard for them. To define this hound, let us remember what Paul Daubigné
wrote: It is no longer a small Vendéen by simple reduction of the height,
but a small Basset harmoniously reduced in all its proportions and in its
volume, that is naturally endowed with all moral qualities which
presuppose the passion for hunting. A team of Petit Bassets won the
first edition of France's Cup on rabbit.
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Small, active and
vigorous hound, with a slightly elongated body. Proud tail carriage. Coat
hard and long without exaggeration. Expressive head; leathers well turned
inwards, covered with long hair and set below the level of the eye,
not too long.
BEHAVIOUR/TEMPERAMENT
Behaviour: Passionate Hunter, courageous,
likes the bramble and scrub.
Temperament: Docile but wilful and
passionate.
HEAD
Cranial Region
Skull: Slightly domed, not too
elongated nor very broad, well chiselled under the eyes, the occipital
protuberance quite developed.
Stop: Frontal indentation defined.
Facial Region
Nose: Prominent, well developed;
nostrils open, black apart from the white and orange coats where a brown
nose is tolerated.
Muzzle: Much shorter than that of the
Grand Basset but nevertheless very slightly elongated and straight. Muzzle
square at its end.
Lips: Covered with abundant moustaches.
Jaws/Teeth: Scissor bite.
Eyes: Quite large with an intelligent
expression, showing no white; the conjunctiva must not be apparent. The
brows surmounting the eyes standing forward but should not obscure the eyes.
Eyes must be of a dark colour.
Leathers: Supple, narrow and fine,
covered with long hair and ending in a slight oval, turned inwards and not
quite reaching the end of the muzzle. Well set below the level of the eye.
NECK : Long and strong; well
muscled; strong at set on; without dewlap, carrying head proudly.
BODY
Back: Straight, topline level.
Loin: Muscled.
Croup: Well muscled and quite wide.
Chest: Not too wide. Rather deep, reaching the elbow level.
Ribs: Moderately rounded.
Tail: Set high, quite
thick at its base, tapering evenly to its tip, rather short, carried sabre fashion.
LIMBS
Overall view: Bone structure quite
strong but in proportion to size.
Forequarters
Shoulders: Clean, oblique, well attached
to the body.
Forearm: Well developed.
Wrist (carpus): Very slightly defined.
Hindquarters
Thigh: Muscled and only slightly rounded.
Hock: Quite wide, slightly
angulated, never completely straight.
Feet: Not too strong*, pads hard, toes
very tight, nails solid. Good pigmentation of pads is desirable.
Gait/Movement: Very free and effortless.
Skin: Quite thick, often marbled in
the tricoloured subjects. No dewlap.
COAT
Hair: Harsh but not too long, never
silky or woolly.
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:
From 34 cm to 38 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, short muzzle, pincer bite, light eye, leathers set high, long,
insufficiently turned in or lacking hair.
Body: Too long or too short, lacking harmony, topline
insufficiently firm, slanting croup.
Tail: Deviated stern.
Limbs: Insufficient bone, lack of angulation, slack in pasterns.
Hair: Not dense enough, fine hair.
Behaviour: Timid subject.
ELIMINATING FAULTS
– Lack of type.
– Overshot or undershot mouth.
– Wall eye. Eyes of different colours (heterochromia).
– Lack of space in the sternal region; ribs too 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.
* Feet: pas trop forts in French, perhaps more accurately
translated by not too large or not too heavy