The King's White Hound, the Chien Blanc du Roi in French, was a

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable 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 seve ...

scent hound Canton_of_Bern.html" ;"title="Franz Rudolf Frisching in the uniform of an officer of the Canton of Bern">Bernese Huntsmen Corps with his Berner Laufhund, painted by Jean Preudhomme in 1785 Scent hounds (or scenthounds) are a Dog type, type of h ...

from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

that is now extinct. The breed was said to be the favourite of the French kings from

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

History

The King's White Hounds were said to have descended from a pure white St. Hubert Hound named Souillard that was gifted to King Louis XI by a poor squire from

Poitou Poitou ( , , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical ...

in 1470. The hound was passed to the king's daughter, Anne de Beaujeu, he was widely used at stud and his white progeny gradually replaced the hounds in the king's pack until the whole pack was white. Several notable infusions of outside blood were added to the pack, in 1500

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

introduced an Italian Pointer called Greffier, in 1520 François I introduced a powerful Grand Fauve de Bretagne called Miraud, and in 1560

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

gifted a Talbot Hound named Barraud to her husband

François II Francis II (; 19 January 1544 – 5 December 1560) was King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also King of Scotland as the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1558 until his death in 1560. He ascended the throne of France at age 15 af ...

, all of these infusions improved the breed. The White Hounds reached the height of their fame during the reign of

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

(1610–1643) when they were renowned throughout Europe for their speed, being able to run a

stag A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) a ...

down in half an hour and kill four stags in a day's hunting. By this time the breed displayed many

sighthound Sighthounds (also called gazehounds) are a Dog type, type of hound dog that hunts primarily by sight and speed, unlike scent hound, scent hounds, which rely on scent and endurance. Appearance These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it ...

features and hunted as much by sight as by scent. By Louis XIII's death the hunt employed over 90 hunt servants, and under

the pack consisted of over 100 hounds and costs continued to rise. Towards the end of Louis XIV's reign (1643–1715) the king was becoming too infirm to follow the fast paced White Hounds on horseback, wishing to follow the hunt from a carriage from 1700 the hounds were crossed with the slower

Norman Hound The Norman Hound is a now extinct breed of scent hound from France. Overview Little is known about the origins of the Norman Hound, it has been said it was developed from St. Hubert Hounds and local hounds from Normandy. The breed was introduce ...

s to slow them down. At the beginning of his reign (1715–1774),

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

wanted to revive the pack, so his son the

Count of Toulouse The count of Toulouse (, ) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surrounding county from the late 9th century until 12 ...

procured English

Staghound The Staghound, sometimes referred to as the English Staghound, is an extinct breed of scent hound from England. A pack hound, the breed was used to hunt red deer and became extinct in the 19th century when the last pack was sold. History The S ...

s which were crossed with the pack. In 1725 the pack was dispersed and the king adopted a new pack consisting of

English Foxhound The English Foxhound is one of the four foxhound breeds of dog. It is a cousin of the American Foxhound. They are scent hounds, bred to hunt foxes by scent. Description Appearance The breed standards' guidelines for showing English Fo ...

crosses. The King's White Hounds are believed to have been foundational in the development of a number of French hound breeds, including the Grand Griffon Vendéen, the

Porcelaine The Porcelaine is a French breed of dog of scent hound type. It was formerly also known as the Briquet Franc-Comtois after the historical Franche-Comté region of Burgundy, in eastern France. History The Porcelaine is thought to be a descen ...

and the

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) * Billy (surname), a surname (and list of people with the surname) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy ( ...

, the latter is sometimes called the Chien Blanc du Roi.

Characteristics

The King's White Hounds were large, powerful hounds, initially they were deep scenting, long eared

s close to the St. Hubert Hound, later they displayed many features of sighthounds. Charles IX said of them they "were as tall as grey-hounds, with heads as fine as braques ..." Whilst initially all white in colour, despite their name the White Hounds in fact came in a number of colours from pure white, to white with yellow, red or black spots or patches, to badger or pure black. They were said to have great courage and were not easily distracted by the large retinue of hunt followers that followed the royal hunts.

References

{{Extinct breeds of dog Scent hounds Dog breeds originating in France Extinct dog breeds

History

Characteristics

See also

References