T

hePBGVhasmadeabighithereintheUnited
Statesinthelast29years.Yet,therearenotasmany
PBGVsshowntoday,threedecadesafterhisarrival,

becausethecompetitionisstrongandtheowner/handler
isfrustratedincompetingonthespecialsstagewiththe
professionalhandlers.Whydidtheprofessionalseyethem
andwanttoshowthemimmediately?Easyanswer:The
breedishappy,showy,enthusiastic,withflamboyancyand
flash.Howperfectfortheshowscene!

FromhisdevelopmentintheruggedVendéenregionof

France,thePBGVwasthesmallestoffourrough-coated
houndsofthatregion.Hislargercousin,butstillconsidered
‘basset’totheFrench,theGrandBassetGriffonVendéen,
willbeseeninMiscellaneousinJanuary2014.

ThePBGVsbusyness,activityandenthusiasmforallhe

meetscoupledwithhisrusticandreadyappearancegiveone
theimpressionofenergycompacted,andthatheis.Alertat
alltimes,henoticeseverythinginhisenvironment.Since
hemissesnothing,heisneverborednorboring!

Ihavebroughttogethersomeexperiencedvoicesinthe

breedtogiveperspectiveonbreeding,judging,livingwith
andtheversatilityofthePBGVcharacter.RobynWallis,
RokeenaKennel,Australia,scouredtheglobetofindthe
verybestwithwhichtostart.HerfirstbreedwasGordons.
ShehashadgreatsuccesswithPBGVs.Shehasanidealshe

workstoward.Youmayrecallherbigwinnerhere,“CJ”with
JaneMyersafewyearsago.Robynwilljudgeourregional
priortoournationalinMay2014.Readhercommentson
breeding/selectionconsistencythatfollow.

NickFrost,originallyfromtheUK,isaforemostauthority

onthisbreed.Heintroducedanddevelopedthebreedin
England.Itwasalong,verydifficultprocessduetothe
quarantineatthattime.HisDehraKennelisknown
internationally.HehashadmanyPBGVCAnational
specialtywinnersandhasjudgedournationalandmany
importantinternationalshows,includingPBGVsatthe
recentWorldCongress.ManyofourdogsintheUnited
StatesandthoseinEuropehavetheDehraprefixintheir
pedigrees.Nick’sarticleonjudgingthebreedgivesusinsight
intothePBGV’sreasonforbeingandtheimportanceofhis
distinguishingfeatures.NicknowlivesinSouthCarolina.

SusannahCooperspentsixyearsasthecorresponding

aecretaryofthePBGVCAandwasbreeder/co-ownerofWD
atthe2013national.Shehasalsobeeninvolvedintracking.
Shejudgedthesweepsatthe2012PBGVCAregional.
Susannah’scommentsspeakvolumesforthemanyowner
handlersinthebreedtoday,andshehassomethoughts
thatjudgesmightdulyconsideraswell.

SandyBustindescribesherselfasahobbybreeder.A

highlightforherwaswinningBISSatthe2006national

28

www.pbgv.org

March2014

ISaberTails

EnergyCompacted:

ThePetitBasset

GriffonVendéen

IPBGVCAEducation

byPBGVCAJECChairKittyStiedel

Reprintedwithpermissionfromthe
January2014issueofSightandScent.