The Gascon Saintongeois is 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 ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

of the

scenthound Franz Rudolf Frisching in the uniform of an officer of the Bernese Huntsmen Corps with his Berner Laufhund, painted by Jean Preudhomme in 1785 Scent hounds (or scenthounds) are a Dog type, type of hound that primarily hunts by scent rather than ...

type, recognised in two varieties, ''Grand'' (large) and ''Petit'' (smaller than the Grand, but ''not'' a small dog). Originating in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the breed is used for hunting in packs and descends from the old Hound of Saintonge type of large hunting dog.

Characteristics

The breed is a very typical French hound, with a lean and muscular body, long legs, long drop ears and pendulous flews (lips). The size for the Grand is 65 to 72 cm (25.6 to 28.3 ins) at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...

, females at total 24 to 26 inches; the size for the Petit is 56 to 62 cm (22 to 24.4 ins) at the withers, making it still a fairly large dog; females are slightly smaller. Grands weigh 66 to 71 pounds. The eyes are dark chestnut. It has an elongated head. Its black nose is well-developed and the lips are pendent. It has a deep chest and a strong back. The tail is elegant and saber. The colour of the coat is white with black patches, sometimes speckled or ticked with black. Ears and face around the eyes are black and the cheeks are tan, but there should not be a tricolour appearance. Two tan markings are above the eyes, and sometimes a tan marking is found on the base of the upper thigh, which is called the "roe buck mark". Faults, which indicate the dog should not be bred, include lack of substance, weak back, deviated tail, cow-hocked, or legs that are too angulated or straight, which would impede running ability, as well as being off-colour, overly aggressive or overly shy. The breed is noted for its good nose, excellent voice and beautiful gallop, important attributes in a hunting dog. It is instinctively a pack dog.

History and use

Only three old Saintongeois hounds survived the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, two dogs and a bitch. Count Joseph de Carayon-Latour in the mid-19th century crossed the last of the old Hound of Saintonge with a few of the remaining old-type

Grand Bleu de Gascogne The Grand Bleu de Gascogne is a breed of hounds of the scenthound type, originating in France and used for hunting in packs. Today's breed is the descendant of a very old type of large hunting dog, and is an important breed in the ancestry of ma ...

. The hounds that were white with black ticking were retained and later given the name Gascon Saintongeois. In the middle of the 20th century, hunters in the southwest of France selected smaller dogs from litters of Grand Gascon Saintongeois for hunting hare and other small game. These became the Petit Gascon Saintongeois. The Grand Gascon Saintongeois is used for hunting big game, including

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

and sometimes

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...

, usually in a pack. The Petit Gascon Saintongeois is a versatile hunter, usually used on

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...

and

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

, but it can also be used for big game.

References

External links

Search The Open Directory Project (DMOZ) links for clubs and information about the Gascon Saintongeois

Petit Gascon Saintongeois in Northern ItalyGascon Saintongeois in France
{{French dogs Dog breeds originating in France FCI breeds Scent hounds

Characteristics

History and use

See also

References

External links