Basset Fauve de Bretagne Information & Dog Breed Facts

The Basset Fauve de Bretagne is a dog breed indigenous to France and is also known as the Fawan Coloured Brittany Basset. The breed can trace its ancestry back to France as early as the 16^th century. The breed’s history started when Francois I. had a pack of Breton hounds which he was hunting alongside, on a regular basis.

Francois’s dogs were believed to be Grand Fauve de Bretagnes, which are now extinct, however, their DNA has continued in the lineages of the modern rough-coated Griffons and Bassets, including in the Basset Fauve de Bretagne. The Grand Fauve de Bretagnes were much larger in physique, and the breed was introduced by Admiral d’Anneboulde to the French court in the 1520s. One of these dogs, named Mirraud, extensively used by the royalty, got into the pack of Francois I. Until the French Revolution, the aristocracy enjoyed exclusively the privilege of keeping hounds and hunt with them via horseback. However, as a result of the Revolution, after 1789, these aristocratic privileges were abolished, allowing anyone to hunt and to keep hound breeds. Most of the peasants did not own a horse, thus they necessitated a short-legged hunting companion, that they could keep up the pace with on feet, so the Basset was created. The Basset Fauve de Bretagne’s breeding process is rather unclear, but it is believed that through selective breeding, the smaller specimens of the purebred Grand Fauve de Bretagnes were crossed with each other, in order to develop a short-legged, smaller, yet purebred Fauve de Bretagnes, with their unique behavioral and physical characteristics. The Basset Fauve de Bretagne derives their name after their small appearance, because the word ‘bas’ in French translates to ‘low’, thus the basset means low set. The breed inherited their ancestors’ heightened sense of smell, stoicism, and stamina, which made them ideal partners in pursuing smaller game including hare, rabbits, foxes, roe deer, and occasionally even wild boar on the rugged terrain.

Despite the fact that the Basset Fauve de Bretagne became extremely popular in France, in all classes of society, in the early 20^th century, the breed’s population numbers decreased drastically by the end of the Second World War. There have been many rumors indicating that the breed went completely extinct. Their numbers also declined for the reason that some started to cross-breed them with other breeds like the Basset Griffon Vendéen and the Wirehaired Dachshund. These outcrosses and unregulated breeding processes were continuous until the 1970s. Thus, it was hard for the breeders to revive the population numbers and to regain the Basset Fauve de Bretagne’s original form.

Fortunately, over time, by the end of the 20^th century, the Basset Fauve de Bretagne became the second most popular dog breed. The first Basset Fauve de Bretagne specimens were imported to the United Kingdom in the early 1980s, and the UKC (United Kennel Club) recognized the breed in 1991. The breed slowly, yet steadily increased its popularity in the UK as well since then. The AKC (American Kennel Club) accepted the breed in 2015, into their Foundation Stock Service, moving towards full recognition. Nowadays, the Basset Fauve de Bretagne is mostly kept as an active, friendly, and outgoing family companion in Europe and in the United States of America, yet in France, a few huntsmen are still using the breed for their original purpose, to hunt for small game.