French White and Black Hound

The French White and Black Hound descends from the Saintonge Hound, whose own origins the FCI standard admits are uncertain. It has no connection with the Saint Hubert, though there is probably distant ancestry among the famous white “Greffier” dogs of the sixteenth century. The present type appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century and was later influenced by crossing with the Poitevin and the Gascon-Saintongeois.

It received its standard in 1957, the year French hounds were reorganised into the French and the Anglo-French groups. The FCI text puts the population at roughly two thousand dogs producing three to four hundred births a year, and credits the 2007 revision to Pierre Astié, president of the Club du Chien d'Ordre, and his committee, working with Raymond Triquet.

The Société Centrale Canine describes a hound valued in roe deer packs for the combination of a fine nose, thoroughness, seriousness and voice, hardy enough to keep up a good pace for several hours and reliable when the quarry changes. It is friendly with people and easy to keep in kennels, but expects its handler to be accepted as the leader of the pack.

The breed is registered by the FCI.

What the standard asks for

Bred for: Pack Hound for big game

“Large pack hound, distinguished an d of balanced build”
— FCI standard no. 220

Coat colour: Obligatory white and black, with a black mantle or with more or less widely spread black markings and possible black or bluish speckling, or even tan freckles but the latter only permitted on the limbs.

Size, standard by standard

• FCI — height 65-72 cm (males), 62-68 cm (females)

Full standards: FCI.

• The breed received its standard in 1957, when French hounds were reorganised.
• Its ancestor, the Saintonge Hound, is extinct.
• The FCI standard names the people who drafted its 2007 revision.
• The population is put at roughly two thousand dogs.
• The Société Centrale Canine notes it hunts roe deer and red deer.