KENAI
Grand Bleu de Gascogne

The breeds · scenthound · scenthound

UKC Scenthound · FCI standard 22

Grand Bleu de Gascogne.

FCI 22: scenthound used for hunting with the gun and sometimes for coursing big game, but also hare hunting, generally in a pack or individually as a tracking hound (Group 6 Scenthounds, Section 1.1 large-sized hounds, with working trial). UKC: first and fundamentally a hunting/working breed, a trail hound "par excellence"; a trail hound of moderate speed. RKC: long-legged aristocrat of the French scent hounds. Wikipedia (fr): used for shooting (a tir) or hunting with hounds (a courre) of big game; first Bleu types described in Gaston Febus's Livre de chasse (14th century) for wolf, bear and boar; regarded as the source of the Midi hound breeds..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayRKC: exercise more than 2 hours per day.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 25.5 to 28.3 in · bitches 23.5 to 26.8 in

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Low and high span FCI and UKC. No center.

Coat

FCI 22: hair short, quite thick, very dense; colour entirely mottled black and white giving a slate-blue effect, with or without extended black patches (two on the head covering the leathers and eyes, a white interval between them, often a small black oval spot); two bright tan marks above the eyes ('quatre-oeille') and traces of tan on cheeks, lips, inner ears, legs and under the tail. UKC: short, thick and very dense; any other coat is a disqualification. RKC: coat length short; sheds; colours blue, blue and fawn, tricolour, blue black and tan.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · Short, thick, very dense coat (FCI 22, UKC)

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale

Derived from the coat description (short dense = 4). No measured data.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

RKC: exercise more than 2 hours per day.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band 'more than 2 hours' mapped to 150 min by the library rule. A scenthound band for a pack hound; not measured.

Exercise need

RKC: more than 2 hours per day; size of home large house; large garden.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

RKC page header: lifespan 'Under 10 years' (the RKC's own band on the Imported Breeds Register, not a study).

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Kept as text only; no Dogs Trust or Teng row exists for this breed.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · RKC: grooming once a week.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band 'once a week' = 2 (weekly brush).

Grooming

RKC: grooming once a week; sheds.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 22: scenthound used for hunting with the gun and sometimes for coursing big game, but also hare hunting, generally in a pack or individually as a tracking hound (Group 6 Scenthounds, Section 1.1 large-sized hounds, with working trial). UKC: first and fundamentally a hunting/working breed, a trail hound "par excellence"; a trail hound of moderate speed. RKC: long-legged aristocrat of the French scent hounds. Wikipedia (fr): used for shooting (a tir) or hunting with hounds (a courre) of big game; first Bleu types described in Gaston Febus's Livre de chasse (14th century) for wolf, bear and boar; regarded as the source of the Midi hound breeds.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Registry sources only: no non-registry source (breed club, hunting press, Wikipedia) could be read from this environment.

Primary game

FCI 22: big game (hunted with the gun, sometimes coursed) and hare; FCI history: in the 14th century the packs of Gaston Febus, Comte de Foix, hunted wolf, bear and boar with the breed. UKC: used to hunt wolves at creation; since the wolf's demise adapted to wild boar, deer, fox and hare. RKC: used originally for hunting wolves, and more recently for hare. Wikipedia (fr): big game, but also hare.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

The three sources agree on big game and hare; the lists differ in detail (UKC adds deer and fox; FCI adds bear). Both stand.

Also used on

UKC: deer, fox and hare besides wild boar. FCI: hare, and coursing of big game. RKC: hare.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Search pattern

FCI 22: very fine nose; sonorous howling voice with deep tones; very intent in his way of hunting; instinctively a pack hound; calm temperament, obeys orders easily; used in a pack or individually as a tracking hound. UKC: hunts in a leisurely, methodical manner with great determination, tremendous endurance, remarkable scenting ability and a deep, powerful melodious voice; works in close proximity with other hounds and handlers. Wikipedia (fr): worked in pack or individually; very fine nose and a deep-toned baying voice ('voix de hurleur aux tons graves'); instinctively enjoys pack life.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Registry sources only: no non-registry source (breed club, hunting press, Wikipedia) could be read from this environment.

Field trial standard

FCI 22 classifies the breed Group 6, Section 1.1 'with working trial'; the standard prints no trial rules.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Working-trial rules (France: SCC / breed club) not read.

No KENAI kennel lists the Grand Bleu de Gascogne yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 3 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Great Gascony Blue, Great Blue Gascony Hound, Grand Bleu

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

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