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France has produced more varieties of hounds than any other
area of the world. Indeed, most of today’s scent hound
breeds had their origins in medieval kennels of French
religious orders and feudal aristocrats.

Scent hounds are those dogs which trail their prey by
scenting the air and ground where that prey has passed. To
this end, these dogs will all have fairly long ears to help stir
up that scent as they carry their heads close to the ground,
and long muzzles with added nasal surface for a very keen
sense of smell.

Many of these French dogs had among their ancestors the
large running hounds of the “chiens courants” of the Middle
East. These tall, deep chested hunters arrived on the
southern coasts of Europe nearly 2,500 years ago via the
Phoenician Mediterranean Sea trade. Phoenicia was a
narrow city-state located on the eastern rim of the
Mediterranean. Only twelve miles wide and 100 miles long, it
was too small to support its population by agriculture.
Instead, it became a nation of sailors. The Phoenicians
established colonies as far west as today’s France and Spain
bringing with them their prized hounds.

Near the centre of these European colonies was an area
known in the middle Ages as “Gascogne,” now called
Gascony. At that time it was a semi-independent duchy
bounded on the west by the Bay of Biscayne and on the south
by the Pyrenees Mountains which separated it from Spain.
This region took its name from the Basques or “vascons” who
had migrated there. Moreover, this part of France has given
us the Bleus de Gascogne.

As early as 1385 there are references to the large bleu
hounds of Phebus Comete de Foix or Phebus of Gascon.
They were said to have a superior nose and be quite capable
of scenting over difficult and often dry terrain. Their style of
hunting, slower than many other strains of the time, allowed
them to pace themselves in the heat. The mottled bleu coat
was reputed to be the result of the skin developing a dark
pigment capable of enduring the intense sunlight of the
region. These dogs were used by Phebus to hunt wolves and
by his descendents to take deer and boar. Some dog
authorities feel that the Grand Bleu de Gascogne may be one
of the most important breeds ever developed, not only for its
virtues, but for the impact it has had on the creation and
development of many other breeds of hounds, bird dogs, and
retrievers. It is estimated they have contributed to at least 80
different breeds worldwide, including, of course, the American
coonhound breeds.

The Grand Bleu is a direct ancestor to three other Bleu
breeds. As the large game population in Europe gave way to
increased agriculture and human expansion, breeders in the
area saw a need for the addition of smaller hounds to their
kennels to pursue rabbit and hare which were still quite
plentiful. Selective breeding for smaller hounds began to
yield “bleus” in other sizes. Whereas Phebus’s Grand Bleus
might have been 28” at the withers, “Petit” or small bleus
were closer to 20-24”. Essentially by selecting dwarfed over
normal leg bones, the shortest or “Basset” type was finally
reduced to just over a foot in height. A fourth Bleu breed was
created by crossing Bleus to rough coated hounds of middle
Europe and became known as the Griffon Bleu de
Gascogne. This last breed resembles the Petit Bleu with a
coat textured like that of an Irish Wolfhound.

The Basset Bleu de Gascogne is possibly the most reserved
of Europe’s several basset breeds. (To the French a basset
is any hound less than 15”) They are much more likely to
observe new people from a distance than approach with the
full body wiggle of some many Basset Hounds. Differences
from the Basset Hound also include a finer build, less depth
of chest for the same overall height, and shorter and thinner
ear leather. The coat is very short without an undercoat and
the skin is tightly fitted or “dry” about the head and legs. As a
result, the Bleus do not have the sad eyed appearance
associated with the Basset Hound. The Bleus are also much
more alert of attentive to everything in their environment. On
occasion, this behaviour seems closer to that of a Beagle
than the stereotypical Basset Hound. The identifying
characteristic of all four of the Bleu de Gascogne breeds is
their blue colour. It is made of irregular black patches on a
white background which is, in turn, speckled with black.
Several blue shades are found. These include slate blue, a
greyish blue to a charcoal blue, steel blue and blue black.
The total body colour is determined by the relation of the base
colour to a specific colour phase which may be open-ticking,
blue-ticking, dappling, and blue-roaning. This striking coat is
always accented by “fiery tones” or points of tan, copper,
brown, or mahogany above the eyes, on the cheeks, and
along the legs.

The first recorded arrival of the Bleus to the United States was
that of the Grand Bleus shortly after the American Revolution
when Lafayette presented a pair to George Washington. It is
their descendents and further imports which local breeders
used to create the Bluretick Coonhound.

Today all 4 of the 4 Bleu de Gascogne breeds are
represented in North America. There are fewer than 20
Grands in the US and Canda, a handful of Petits with hopes
of litters in the next few years, a sole breeder of the Griffons in
Canada, and about 30 Bassets.