Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen
A short-legged, rough-coated French hare hound with a huge personality and a bigger voice. Cheerful and sturdy, but nose-driven, vocal, and creative about escaping.
- Weight
- 11–18 kg
- Lifespan
- 14–16 years
Weight and lifespan are reference ranges from the breed guide. They vary by sex, lineage and individual dog and do not predict your dog’s ideal weight or lifespan. Read the care descriptions alongside the individual dog’s history.
Background and characteristics
The Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen is a working hare hound from the Vendee in western France, and the name reads like a spec sheet: petit for small, basset for low to the ground, griffon for the rough coat, Vendeen for the region. The country there is thorny, rocky and unforgiving, which explains both the harsh weatherproof coat and the stamina packed into a dog that stands about fourteen inches tall.
Temperament and living together
The personality is the selling point. PBGVs are outgoing, funny and unbothered by strangers, and they generally get on with other dogs, having been bred to hunt in packs. What comes with that is genuine hound independence.
Once the nose engages, your recall cue is background noise. They dig, they climb, and they will find the weak point in a fence. They are also loud.
The bay is a working tool for telling a hunter where the dog is, and it carries a long way.
Exercise and play
Plan on an hour or more of daily activity, ideally including scent work. Twenty minutes of hunting for hidden treats in the yard does more for a PBGV's behaviour than an extra mile of walking. Under-stimulated dogs of this breed bark, dig, and rearrange the garden.
Coat and everyday care
Coat care sits in the middle. The harsh outer coat over a soft undercoat needs brushing two or three times a week, with attention to the armpits, belly and behind the ears. Dead hair is best hand-stripped or plucked rather than clipped, since clipping softens the texture over time.
The long ears need checking weekly. On health, discuss patellar luxation, hip dysplasia, hypothyroidism, epilepsy, and primary open-angle glaucoma, which is documented in the breed; a red or cloudy eye is an urgent visit, not a wait-and-see.
Home environment and care planning
If you live in an attached home or a neighbourhood with noise rules, take the voice seriously before you commit. Fencing should also be planned for a dog that digs under as readily as it climbs over.