BAN

American Rare Breed Association  

FCI-Standard N° 34 / 14. 04. 1993 / GB

NORMAN ARTESIEN BASSET

(Basset Artésien Normand)

TRANSLATION : Mrs. Peggy Davis.

ORIGIN : France.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 12.12.1991.

UTILIZATION :        Small game hunting dog used for hunting with the gun.  Hunts as well by himself as in a pack, with giving tongue.  His short legs allow him to penetrate the most dense vegetation, there where the big dog cannot go, and to flush out the hidden game.  His favourite is hunting the rabbit, but he can just as well hunt the hare as the deer.  He tracks and flushes with great determination driving the game not fast, but with perseverance and giving voice.

CLASSIFICATION FCI : Group  6   Scenthounds and related breeds. Section  1.3 Small-sized Hounds.  With working trial.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : The controlled breeding of the short haired French Basset began in the years 1870.  From Bassets having an apparently common origin, Count Le Couteulx of Canteleu has fixed a utilitarian type with straight front legs called Artois, whereas Mr. Louis Lane has developed a more spectacular type, with crooked front legs, called Normand.  Only in 1924 the name Artesien Norman Basset (Basset Artésien Normand) was finally adopted for the breed and the club Mr. Léon Verrier, who took over as chairman of the club in 1927, at the age of 77, has wanted to strengthen the Norman character of the breed and in the book of standards of hunting dogs of 1930, where the two breeds, Basset d’Artois and Basset Artésien-Normand figure, we find the following reference to this breed : “The committee of the “Société de Vénerie” (Game Society) decides and notes that the Basset Artésien-Normand should not be but one stage of transition towards a Norman type, without any trace of Artois.”

GENERAL APPEARANCE : Long dog in relation to its size, well balanced, compact, recalling in his head the nobility of the big Norman hound.

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS :

Height at withers : length of body   = about        5 : 8

Depth of chest :       height at the withers  = about        2 : 3

Width of skull :         length of head          = about        1 : 2

Length of muzzle : length of skull   = about 10 : 10

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : Gifted with an excellent nose and a melodious voice, persevere but not too fast on the line, he permits his master to fully enjoy the hunting work.  Outgoing and of very affectionate nature.

HEAD

CRANIAL REGION :

Skull : Dome shaped, medium width; occipital bone apparent.  On the whole the head must have a dry look. 

Stop : Marked without exaggeration.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : Black and large, slightly protruding over the lips; nostrils well open.

Muzzle : Approximately the same length as that of the skull and slightly aquiline.

Lips : Upper lip covering considerably the lower lip, without, however, being too pendulous nor too tight-lipped.

Jaws/Teeth : Scissor bite, i.e. upper incisors covering the lower ones in close contact are squarely set in relation to the jaws.

Cheeks : Formed by one or two folds of skin.

Eye : Oval shaped, large, dark (in harmony with the coat), expression calm and serious; the haw (= conjunctival lining) of the lower lid may sometimes show without excess.

Leathers : Set as low as possible, never above the line of the eye, narrow at the base, well curled inwards corkscrew fashion, supple, fine, very long, reaching at least the length of the muzzle and preferably ending in a point.

NECK : Rather long, with some dewlap but without exaggeration.

BODY :

Back : Wide and well supported.

Loin : Slightly tucked up.

Croup : Hips a little oblique, giving a slight slant to the rump.

Chest : Of ovalized section, long, sternum well prolonged backward and prominent in front, with developed brisket.  Full flanks.  The brisket sternal line is distinctly below the elbows.  Ribs long, carried well back.

TAIL : Quite long, thick at base and thinning down progressively.  At rest the tip of the tail must just touch the ground.  Carried sabre fashion but never falling on the back; its extremity must not be like a plume.  On that subject it is absolutely forbidden to modify the look of the stern of show dogs.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS :

Seen on the whole : Forelegs are short and well-boned; they are half-crooked or a little less than half-crooked, provided there is a sufficient principle of crook visible.  Some folds of skin, without excess, on the pasterns, must be considered as a quality. 

Correct half-crooked forelegs

Shoulders : Muscular, oblique.

Elbows : Close to the body.

HINDQUARTERS :

On the whole and seen from the back, a vertical line going from the point of the high (buttock) goes through the middle of the leg, the hock, the metatarsal and the foot.

Thighs : Fleshy and muscular.

Correct hindlegs, thighs rounded and well muscled

Hocks : Strong, quite low, relatively bent, which places the hind foot slightly under the dog when he is at rest.  A small pouch of skin at the point of the hock (calcaneum) is not a fault.

Metatarsal : Short and strong.

FEET : Oval shaped, a little elongated, toes rather close and placed firmly on the ground giving maximum support.

GAIT / MOVEMENT  : Even, quite effortless and steady movement.

SKIN : Supple and fine.

COAT

HAIR : Close, short and smooth without being too fine.

COLOUR :  Fawn with black blanket and white (“tricolour”) or fawn and white (“bi-colour).  In the tricoloured dog, the head should be largely covered with tan hair and show a circle of darker hairs on each temple.  The black blanket or the black patches should be composed of solid black hairs or black hair with “grizzle” (realising thus the former characteristic of “hare pied” or ”badger-pied”).

SIZE AND WEIGHT  :

Height at withers : Males and bitches : 30 – 36 cm.

          Tolerance                +/- 1 cm for exceptional

                   subjects.

Weight :                                     15 – 20 kg.

FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

HEAD :

Flat skull.

Wide forehead.

Medial furrow too pronounced.

Eyes light, round and protruding, showing too much haw.

Leathers flat, too round, thick, high set and broad at base.

NECK  :

Short.

BODY  :

Topline soft or swayback.

Xiphoid process either too short or absent.

Ribs flat or deformed.

TAIL :

Too long, deviated or coarse.

FOREQUARTERS :

Shoulder straight, short, insufficiently muscled.

Out at elbows.

Pasterns touching each other, knuckling over.

Exaggerated crook with feet turning out excessively.

Flat feet.

Splay-feet.

HINDQUARTERS :

Thighs flat.

Hocks close, too wide apart.

COAT :

Hair soft, distinctly long or fringed.

Colour : black shading on the head.

BEHAVIOUR :

Timid subjects.

ELIMINATING FAULTS :

Timid or aggressive subject.

Serious anatomical anomaly.

Hereditary identifiable and disabling defect.

Lack of type.

Undershot or overshot mouth.

Eye very light.

Rear end of sternum too short with absence of xiphoid process.

Ribs very much deformed.

Forelegs completely straight.

Legs too weak.

Too much dark shading on the head.

Too much black-mottled giving the white a bluish tint.

Height at withers other than that of the standard.

Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.