Once upon a time, there was a breed called the Basset Griffon Vendéen, and two sizes for the breed were acknowledged, the Petit and the Grand. Only in the late 1970s was breeding between the two sizes banned in France, this leading the way to a complete separation of the two sizes – and this was a good thing because there is more than size that distinguishes the two from each other.
Heads, for instance, are different. Generally speaking, the Grand’s head is longer and narrower. The Petit skull is “domed, oval in shape when viewed from the front.” It’s also broader between the ears than the Grand head. Proportions, too, are different: The Petit’s muzzle is slightly shorter than the Grand’s from nose to stop, and it’s straight. The Grand’s nose is slightly Roman. The ears on the Petit are shorter than on a Grand whose ears are described as reaching “at least to the end of the nose.”
The Grand, of course, has longer legs, and a slight crook on his front legs is permitted in a Petit. The Grand has a significantly more rectangular outline than the Petit who is only somewhat longer than tall. The Grand’s tail is “rather long,” while the tail on the Petit is “of medium length.”
Two breeds with similar names, but ultimately, quite different from each other when you know what to look for.
Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen by Gill Evans is available as a print here.