Look in vain for a temperament chapter in FCI standard No. 324. The 2023 version describes this large French pack hound’s head, back and colour in a few pages, chiefly comparing it with a relative: English blood shows more clearly in the white-and-orange head than in the tricolour breed.
| FCI | Group 6 (Scent hounds and related breeds), Section 1.1 Large-sized Hounds, Standard No. 324, with working trial |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | France |
| Height at the withers | 60 to 70 cm, without separate male and female figures |
| Weight | Not specified in the FCI standard |
| Life expectancy | No reliable study figure found (N/A) |
| Coat | Short and not too coarse; white skin with orange or yellow patches |
| Colours according to the standard | White-lemon or white-orange, the orange neither too dark nor reddish; black or red hair is a fault |
Three colours, three standards
The FCI lists the large Anglo-French hound under three separate standards rather than as one breed with several colours. Alongside this one are the Great Anglo-French Tricolour Hound (Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore) and the Great Anglo-French White and Black Hound (Grand Anglo-Français Blanc et Noir). Definitive recognition of the white-orange breed dates from January 1983; the current French original from August 2023. It contains no breed history.
Broad skull, short ears
The requirement is a fairly strongly built, powerful dog. The head should be rather short and broad, skull fairly flat and stop pronounced. Lips fall over the lower jaw, making the muzzle look slightly square. Broad-set ears at eye level are quite thick and rather short. Back and loin are broad and muscular, feet fairly round, movement light-footed.
Lemon or orange, never red
Only two colours on white are permitted: lemon or orange, with orange neither too dark nor tending red. The nose is black or orange-brown. Near the end of the fairly long tail, a few coarser hairs sometimes stand away like ears of grain, explicitly described by the standard. A weekly rubber grooming mitt suffices for short hair; inspect ears and paws after undergrowth.
What a pack hound expects from daily life
Temperament is described only indirectly: a scent hound requiring a working trial, with aggression or excessive fear disqualifying. Its role implies a dog working long trails in a pack, needing distance, nose work and preferably canine company. Off-lead exercise in wildlife-rich country is risky; a long training line is the rule rather than exception.
Health: little data
No reliable lifespan figure exists. McMillan and colleagues list the breed but could not analyse it. Europe PMC yields only individual cases under the English name without colour variety, so they cannot reliably be assigned to this breed and are excluded here. Ask about the parents’ hip X-rays, eye results and ages reached in the line.
Who will enjoy this dog
People who hunt with hounds or provide considerable countryside work, live rurally and perhaps already have another dog. For a quiet city companion, little available time or a first dog, a smaller, less hunting-focused breed is wiser. Those still searching should first ask the French breed club about litters and packs.
Before deciding whether a large pack hound fits your life, try the breed quiz; the thinking behind it is explained in “Welcher Hund passt WIRKLICH zu dir?” (book in German). For those first weeks with a puppy, try our free Puppy Starter Pack. White with orange makes a strong magazine-cover canvas, with further ideas among our dog portraits.
Further reading
- Beagle: a nose with a dog attached, and what that means day to day
- Dog pulling on the lead: 5 mistakes almost everyone makes
- Is my dog overweight? How to assess body condition and ideal weight
Sources, accessed on 20.10.2026: FCI-Standard Nr. 324 Grand Anglo-Français Blanc et Orange (fci.be, German version dated 06.10.2023, English version dated 06.10.2023, valid original standard dated 01.08.2023); FCI breed page No. 324; McMillan KM et al., Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death, Scientific Reports 2024 (breed listed but not analysed).
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