The fastest of all bassets: that is how the FCI standard describes the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen, immediately followed by a sentence worth taking seriously. Tenacious, courageous and a little stubborn, it needs obedience training from its earliest youth.
| FCI | Group 6 (Scent hounds and related breeds), Section 1.3 Small-sized scent hounds, Standard No. 33, with working trial |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | France |
| Size (height at the withers) | Males 40 to 44 cm, females 39 to 43 cm, tolerance of 1 cm above or below |
| Weight | not specified in the FCI standard |
| Life expectancy | median 13,7 years for a British combined group including Petit and Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen and Basset Fauve de Bretagne (McMillan et al. 2024) |
| Coat | hard, not too long, flat, never silky or woolly; pronounced eyebrows without obscuring the eyes |
| Colours in the standard | white-black, black with fawn or sandy markings, white-orange, tricolour, fawn with black overlay, sandy with black overlay with or without white patches; solid black or white disqualifies |
Paul Dezamy and the 43 centimetres
Like all bassets, it descends from larger dogs, here the large Griffons of the Vendée. At the end of the 19th century, Count d’Elva deliberately sought straight-legged dogs. Paul Dezamy chiefly established the type, fixing height at around 43 cm because dogs of that size were needed for hare coursing. Today, it hunts furred game from hare to wild boar. Its smaller cousin is the Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen, and the longer-legged relative the Briquet Griffon Vendéen.
Short legs, but straight
The standard wants a harmonious dog with straight legs and no excessively long body; bowed or half-bowed limbs disqualify. A 2025 University of Missouri study investigated the short legs: all 41 GBGV with leg length within the standard carried one or two copies of an FGF4 retrogene on chromosome 18, while six markedly taller dogs had none. None of the 47 dogs carried the chromosome 12 variant associated with disc disease in other breeds (Mhlanga-Mutangadura et al. 2025). This does not prove lower disc-disease risk.
Stubborn, with a love of thorns
Fast, vocal on the trail, courageous and in love with thorn hedges and undergrowth: that is the standard’s description. A little stubborn but well behaved, with the handler responsible for control. In everyday life, this means clear, kind rules from the start and plenty of repetition.
Walking boots and a brush
This is no sofa basset. Long hikes, tracking and search games in undergrowth provide activity, using a long line where game is plentiful. Brush the hard coat, never silky or woolly, weekly and remove burrs. Long-haired ears reach beyond the nose and need regular checks.
What health evidence exists
No separate lifespan figure exists: McMillan and colleagues combined it with two related bassets (median 13,7 years). An inherited muscle disease has also been described: a 2007 case series reported three related puppies with X-linked muscular dystrophy, whose parents were healthy (Klarenbeek et al. 2007).
An honest assessment
A match for hunters and consistent, sporty people with dog experience. First-time owners or anyone valuing off-lead freedom should choose differently. With patience, this small stubborn dog follows you through every thicket, provided no hare trail intervenes.
Before such an independent hunter moves in, try the breed quiz; our book helps weigh things up thoroughly: “Welcher Hund passt WIRKLICH zu dir?” (book in German). For starting with a puppy, there is the free Puppy Starter Pack. That tousled face looks lovely as a poster in a wooden frame or a digital artwork to download.
Further reading
- Beagle: a nose with a dog attached, and what that means day to day
- Puppy training: the 5 rules that really work
- The socialisation period: why “as much as possible” is the wrong advice
Sources, accessed on 20.10.2026: FCI-Standard Nr. 33 Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen (fci.be, German version dated 15.10.1999, English version dated 14.02.2001, valid original standard dated 09.01.1999); Mhlanga-Mutangadura T et al., Absence of FGF4 Retrogene Insertion on Chromosome 18 Results in a Tall Phenotype in Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen Dogs, Veterinary Sciences 2025; Klarenbeek S et al., Canine X-linked muscular dystrophy in a family of Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen dogs, Journal of Comparative Pathology 2007; McMillan KM et al., Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death, Scientific Reports 2024.
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