150 
FOREST AND STREAM 
A Typical Griffon in Action. 
the president of the 
commission of dele¬ 
gates, Baron Von 
Plats, and the presi¬ 
dent of the French 
Griffon Club, Baron 
Guigins, a formal 
document in which it 
was agreed that the 
two families, the 
Stichelhaar and the 
Griffons, formed to¬ 
gether the race of 
“wire-haired g r i f - 
fons.” The following 
standard was adopted 
for all: Wire-haired 
Pointing Griffons — 
Head: Big and long; 
hair rough and thick, 
not too long but with 
moustache and eye¬ 
brows well marked; 
skull not too wide; 
nose long and square; 
stop not too pro¬ 
nounced. Ears: Me¬ 
dium, flat, not wrin¬ 
kled, placed not tod 
low; hair short, 
slightly mixed with 
long wire hair. 
Eyes: Large, not covered by eyebrows; 
color, yellow or brown; expression, always 
intelligent. 
Nose: Always brown. 
Neck: Fairly long, and straight. 
Chest: Deep, not too wide. 
Height: Males, 22 to 24 inches; females, 
20 to 22 inches. 
Shoulders: Fairly long and oblique. 
Ribs: Well arched. 
Forelegs: Straight and vigorous; hair, 
thick and rough. 
Hindlegs: Hair thick and rough; thighs 
long and well muscled; hocks well turned. 
Back: Vigorous loins, thick and strong. 
Feet: Round and firm, toes well closed. 
Tail: Carried horizontally, point slight¬ 
ly raised; hair thick but not feathered, 
docked generally one-third to half. 
Coat: Color preferable, steel-grey with 
liver marking or liver mixed with white or 
roan; admitted also, white and liver, and 
white and orange. 
Hair: Hard and rough, resembling some¬ 
what pig bristles, never curly or woolly; 
undercoat fine and downy. 
A race of dogs to have survived through 
four centuries must have certain remark¬ 
able qualities. Almost every man loves 
a dog and that every dog lover loves his 
own dog more than some other fellow’s 
goes without saying. Nevertheless, a dog 
lover wants the best dog he can get to 
begin loving. 
Nearly all races of to-day are the pro¬ 
duction of certain sections, due to climatic 
conditions, and the character of the coun¬ 
try and game, and represent the survival 
of the fittest. 
The griffon is par excellence the dog for 
swamps and rough country, his coat af¬ 
fording him protection from cold and 
dampness, thorns and briars, as no other 
dog’s does. He has been bred for centuries 
with this object in view. 
The shooting in such territory compre¬ 
hends a much more varied bag than that of 
the plains and requires a greater degree of 
intelligence in the dog as well as keenness 
and persistence. A quitter is hopeless there. 
\ 
T HE griffon has always been a man’s 
one dog, and an all-day dog. As a 
race, they are built more for strength 
and endurance than speed, though indi¬ 
viduals under favorable conditions and 
training have shown as great speed as any 
other breed of bird-dogs- They are as a 
race close ranging, covering the roughest 
ground thoroughly, 
and being especially 
adapted in America 
to grouse, woodcock 
and snipe. They are 
natural retrievers on 
land or water, and are 
easily broken to any 
and all game. They 
produce a higher per¬ 
centage of pups show¬ 
ing good average nose 
quality I believe than 
any other of the ex¬ 
isting races. Dogs of 
this race have been 
imported into Amer¬ 
ica several times pre¬ 
vious to 1900, but 
generally individuals 
only, which have 
been lost to view. 
It was left to Mr. 
Louis A. Thebaud, of 
Morristown, one of 
their greatest admir¬ 
ers and an enthusi¬ 
astic sportsman, to 
really establish them 
in this country. Ow¬ 
ing to his persistent 
efforts, in which no trouble or expense has 
been too great, and in which he has found 
a cordial co-worker in Dr. E. B. Ilyus, of 
Lancaster, Pa., the cream of the race 
has been brought to America; and their 
offspring seems to have found such favor 
among sportsmen as to indicate their being 
a permanent addition to our races of gun- 
dogs. 
The Griffon promises to fulfill all the 
wants of the sportsmen who love rough 
shooting and derive their greatest pleasure 
from a mixed bag. 
Interest in them has developed rapidly 
but there has been so much uncertainty 
as to what constitutes the correct type, as 
well as the most successful lines of breed¬ 
ing, that Forest arnd Stream is gratified 
at being able to place this authoritative ar¬ 
ticle before its readers. 
Percival Rosseau, the author to whose 
courtesy we are indebted for the article 
and illustrations, is an American by birth 
who has lived many years in France. His 
pictures, for he is an artist, have gained 
for him distinction abroad and his Ameri¬ 
can following is growing rapidly. De¬ 
voted to field dogs of all kinds and the 
Griffon in particular, he has made a care¬ 
ful study of this breed. 
w 
The Griffon is easily trained. It is not unusual for puppies five or 
six months old to point and back the first time they are taken afield. 
