Spring 2017  Saber Tails 23    

Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America

Honoring Our PBGV Breed Standard

Submitted by Micki Nesbit

O

ur members who wrote the PBGV breed standard and those members who approved it have done a commendable 

job in respecting the purpose of our breed for the scent hound it is.  With its good voice purposefully used, and its 

tail held like a saber, a PBGV can easily be followed by a hunter in the field as it seeks its prey, the rabbit, which has the 

ability to rapidly change direction to avoid its pursuer in a seemingly endless manner.

A

s the energizer bunny keeps on going and going, our PBGVs must be able to do the same during a day’s hunting.

T

o hunt all day, our PBGVs need good lungs.  With a deep chest and ribs extending well back, our standard does 

provide just the body to house those lungs.  Our breed’s ratio of height to body length also gives PBGVs the chance 

to change direction rapidly.  If we look at a master of the ability to do this too, with the cheetah, we do not find a short-

backed animal.  In our PBGVs, a well-muscled croup supplies the musculature which serves as the fulcrum for good 

transference of power from the rear to the front, thus enhancing the ability to change direction rapidly.

O

ur standard calls for a harsh coat of medium length that is ideal for the PBGV’s hunting conditions.  Thankfully we 

have resisted the temptation to breed more coat into our breed as has often happened with other coated breeds.  

Winners of our Saber Tails photo competition vouch for the fact that we do like that tousled appearance.

I

f we look at our standards revision, refining our breed’s height helped keep PBGVs from becoming too small.  The pro-

portion of height to length is also in our standard’s revision.  Although the ratio between height to length has been 

redefined in our revision, it actually allows for a longer bodied dog than in our original standard.  A 14 inch PBGV would 

be 16.6 inches from withers to buttocks which would leave less than 4.5 inches between the sternum and withers to be 

1.5 times length to height as given in our original standard.  The PBGV’s body length is definitely sufficient to provide 

the lung capacity and maneuverability our breed needs.

B

reeders, exhibitors, handlers and club members will bear the responsibility in honoring our breed standard and to 

present our dogs in a manner that respects that standard.  When a PBGV is set up, it should call to mind a PBGV in 

motion in the field with its saber-like tail.  If one were to draw a saber from its scabbard, he would hold the saber at about 

2:00.

W

hy do breeders and exhibitors breed and and show our breed in a way that does not honor that standard?  There 

are several probably reasons.  During the 2016 football season, the singer of our national anthem at one game 

took four and a half minutes to sing what usually takes just over two minutes.  Apparently, the singer would rather dis-

My Voice Freely & Purposefully Used...

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