The Grand Fauve de Bretagne was a
breed
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
of
scenthound from
Brittany used to
hunt wolves and
wild boar. The Grand Fauve de Bretagne were large rough-coated hounds, their coats were short, dense and harsh, and they were a uniform pale golden-brown in colour. Grand Fauve de Bretagnes were renowned for their unruly natures, being very difficult to control; their temperament suited them for hunting dangerous game like
wolf and
wild boar, but due to their unruliness they were also known to kill sheep and goats against their huntsman's wishes.
The Fauve de Bretagne hounds were known in France from the 16th century, in 1520
Francis I of France was presented with a hound "Miraud" by the Breton Admiral
Claude d'Annebault; Francis subsequently kept a pack. In 1570,
Charles IX of France in his ''
La Chasse Royale'' listed the Fauve de Bretagne as one of the principal breeds of French hounds. With the extirpation of wolves from much of France in the mid-19th century these hounds became rare; by 1873 it was recorded that purebred examples were hard to find and it was believed only three packs retained the bloodlines; in subsequent decades the breed became extinct.
Some Grand Fauve de Bretagne hounds had been crossed with
Briquet Griffon Vendéens to create the
Griffon Fauve de Bretagne; these smaller hounds retain much of the appearance of the Grand Fauve de Bretagne.
See also
*
List of dog breeds
This list of dog breeds includes both Neontology#Extant taxa versus extinct taxa, extant and extinct dog breeds, Designer breed, varieties, landraces, and dog types. A research article on genomics, dog genomics published in Science/AAAS defines m ...
*
List of extinct dog breeds
References
{{French dogs
Scent hounds
Dog breeds originating in France
Extinct dog breeds