70 Saber Tails Spring 2017

Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America

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Generations

In Our Fathers’ Footsteps

Written by Nick Frost

A Study of

Eng. Am. CH Dehra Urio

I

n the early eighties, I was lucky to pro-

cure the remarkable stud dog Salto de 

Crislaure of Morebess from Per Knudsen 

in Denmark.  Per was my mentor in PB-

GVs.  He had brought Salto from France to 

Denmark and bred him to bitches there 

with great results and was kind enough to 

let him come to me in the UK where we 

desperately needed a dog to cement our 

breeding program.  Salto bred in tandem 

with my stud dog Varon Zorro provided 

the cornerstone of the Dehra line. 

B

ack in Denmark, Per had a Salto daugh-

ter that I loved (so did Kitty Steidel – 

see her book!).  Her name was Nordic Ch 

Morebess Oleine De Biars.  I persuaded 

Per to breed Oleine to a young dog of 

his, Morebess Elegand de la Baules who 

was in-bred on valuable Rives de la Ga-

ronne lines, in particular to the remark-

able French dog, Urio des Rives de la Ga-

ronne.  (Both Per and I regarded the de 

la Garonne kennel as the foremost Petit 

kennel in France), and allow her to come 

into UK Quarantine and have a litter of 

puppies for me.  From this litter, I kept a 

dog, Ch Morebess Haveloc at Dehra and a 

bitch Morebess Helga.  Helga’s bite was a 

little off so I never showed her but I bred 

her back to her grandfather Salto and she 

produced for me the wonderful Eng and 

Am Ch Dehra Urio, named after his illustrious French ancestor.

F

rom the start, I knew this was a special and exciting dog.   He was one of those hard to breed petits – a small dog that 

still has correct proportions, good bone and a  very good front assembly.  He had a lovely head, good under jaw, 

Salto de Crislaure of Morebess with a young Nick Frost.  Salto was an incredibly influen-

tial stud dog that laid the foundation for many modern breeding programs.  Go back far 

enough in the pedigree of any of today’s PBGVs and you are likely to find at least one in-

stance of Salto as an ancestor.

Int Ch Eng Ch Dk Ch Salto De Crislaure De 

Sire:  Noire De L’Egalite

Dam:  Musette De Crislaure