(foto: de Haas)Amongst the hound breeds of today one cannot find a breed more noble as the Bleu de Gascogne with his royal look, his pride construction, his glittering coat and his powerfull voice. The excellent qualities which the Bleu de Gascogne owns, are an inheritance of his direct ancestor the Chien de Saint Hubert. This breed had not only given the broad chest and the long loins but also the hunting qualities: a good nose, a clear eye and the temper.
At the exposition in Paris in 1896 one had entered a black dog, which was according to one of the experts in those days (Count de Foix) a pure Gascogny hound. In that period there were two men who crossed blue Gascogny hounds with black ones and formed, through a constant selection, a line of black Gascogny hounds. In this crossing on could find two types: the old black Bloodhounds of the abbey of Saint Hubert and the Irish Kerry Beagle.
This crossing gave rumour to a lot of suppositions. If you cross hounds amoungst each other during four generations the product of these crossing became darker. In every blue litter are puppies with more black as the other puppies in that same litter.
The possibility of getting the Saint Hubert back by using Gascog- ny blood acknowledged the origin. The Gascogny was, by simple selection, evoluted from black Saint Huberts. So it was possible to cross the Gascogny and get a black Saint Hubert back.
After importation in the Gascogne the black Saint Hubert had adapted hisself at the hot summers by a blue coat. The rumour goes that the breed has been created by Charles IX, Only Charles IX lived long after the death of de Foix. It is however, possible that the dog of Gaston Phoebus, crossed with a Saint Hubert made the way free for the birth of blue dogs.
Also has been said the blue dogs, just as the grey ones (Chien Gris de Saint Louis) came from the Far East. During the crusades knights brought dogbreeds together and crossed these or took them with them to their country.
The Gascogny hounds are not known by authors. In contradiction to the English who took, after the war of 100 years, Bleus de Gascogne and Saintongeois with them to England, under the name Southern hounds. Vero Shaw writes in his book that the Southern hounds likely are one of the ancestors of the Otterhound. Also the Foxhound is mentioned in this story.