French White and Black Hound

✨ Key Takeaways

Quick Facts

Common Names & Variants

Modern aliases

Historical names

⚖️ Pros & Cons

Physical Appearance

Recognized colors

Coat

Other

Ears: Drop, set eye level. Tail: Thick at root, carried relatively high.

🕰 History

A pack hound assembled from the white hounds of Saintonge

Three large French pack hounds carry the bare label "Chien Français" -- the Tricolore, the Blanc et Orange and the Blanc et Noir -- and each is in effect a colour variety of a single modern French big-game hound rebuilt in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from older provincial blood. The French White and Black Hound is the black-mantled member of that trio, and its roots run back to the white "Greffier" dogs of the sixteenth century by way of the Saintonge Hound, an old hunting line of western France whose own origins the FCI standard frankly calls uncertain. The standard is careful on one point of pedigree that older books muddle: it states the breed has no connection with the Saint Hubert hound, the ancestral bloodhound type so often invoked for French scenthounds, and traces it instead to that distinct white-hound tradition. The breed is not a peasant landrace that drifted into existence but a deliberate French houndsman's type, fixed for one purpose: running red deer and roe deer in an organised pack across large country.

Made in the second half of the nineteenth century

The present type took shape in the second half of the 1800s, when breeders crossed the surviving Saintonge stock with two other large French hounds to firm up size, voice and pack steadiness. The FCI standard names the two formative crosses plainly -- the Poitevin and the Gascon-Saintongeois -- and it is from this blend, on the old Saintonge foundation, that the modern French White and Black Hound descends. It is worth correcting a widely repeated claim here: although English Foxhound blood circulated through several French pack-hound projects of the era, the breed standard treats any indication of Foxhound in the head as a severe fault -- a skull too voluminous, a muzzle too short and not square enough at the end -- so the type was deliberately steered away from the Foxhound stamp rather than built on it. The hound the standard describes is a French big-game pack dog, long in the muzzle and noble in the head, not an Anglicised foxhound in French dress. The black-and-white pattern, too, is policed for distinctness: a tricolour coat is a disqualifying fault, the single line that separates this breed from its sister Chien Français Tricolore.

A standard obtained in 1957

The breed obtained its standard in 1957, the date the FCI gives as its formal arrival, and it sits today in Group 6 (Scenthounds and Related Breeds), Section 1.1 (Large-sized Hounds), as Standard No. 220, with France as country of origin and the dog explicitly subject to a working trial. That working-trial clause is the most telling line in the paperwork: it states in effect that the French White and Black Hound is recognised as a functional hunting animal first, judged on what it does in the field rather than only on what it looks like in a ring. The current text behind the standard was drafted in 2007 by Pierre Astié, president of the Club du Chien d'Ordre -- the French body for ordered pack hounds -- with the cynologist Raymond Triquet, and the valid version was published on 4 November 2008. The careful, recent revision of the document is itself a sign of an actively maintained working breed rather than a relic kept on the books.

Numbers, kennels and the venerie that keeps it alive

This is not a rare breed in the sense that the Billy is rare, but neither is it a household dog. The FCI standard puts the population at roughly 2,000 animals with some 300 to 400 births a year, almost all of them bred for and kept in working packs by deer-hunting establishments rather than sold as companions. The dogs live and work in the meute -- the organised French hunting pack directed by mounted or following hunters -- and they are valued by deer hunts for a specific bundle of qualities the standard itself lists: a fine nose, diligence, seriousness on the line and a strong throat, the carrying pack voice that lets a hunt follow the chase by ear across country it cannot see into. A dog bred and reared inside that system spends its life among other hounds and human handlers, easy to manage in the kennels, and that working context explains far more about the breed than any list of show points. The hound exists because the French deer-pack tradition exists, and the two have risen and fallen together.

Recognition outside France

Internationally the French White and Black Hound is a French and FCI breed with a thin presence elsewhere. It is recognised by the United Kennel Club in the United States within its Scenthound group, but it is not an American Kennel Club breed and carries no AKC rank, which is the ordinary situation for a French pack hound kept overwhelmingly at home in working kennels. Outside the world of French and continental deer-hunting packs the breed is little seen, and what reputation it has abroad rests on its place in the broader family of French chiens courants -- alongside the Billy, the Poitevin, the Grand Bleu de Gascogne and its own sister varieties -- rather than on any companion following. For most of the dog-owning world it remains a name in the encyclopedias rather than a dog on the street.

Temperament & Personality

A serious worker bred for the deer pack

The French White and Black Hound's character was set by one job -- running red and roe deer in an organised pack -- and an honest account starts in the field rather than the living room. The standard's own behaviour clause is unusually plain about what deer hunts prize in the breed: a fine nose, diligence, seriousness and a strong throat. Translated out of stud-book language, this is a focused, hard-working, vocal hound with deep stamina and the self-reliance of a dog expected to hold a line in cover with little moment-to-moment direction. It is a willing animal at its work, not a flighty or fragile one, and the same qualities that make it valued on a deer line shape everything about how it lives.

Friendly with people, built for the kennel pack

For all its drive the breed is described in the standard as a friendly dog, close to humans and easy to manage in the kennels, and that is a fair summary of its temperament toward people. It is not sharp, suspicious or aggressive by nature -- a disposition that makes it a poor guard but a pleasant pack animal to handle -- and it accepts the company of its handlers and of the other hounds it lives among. The crucial point is that this sociability was selected inside a pack structure: the French White and Black Hound is a profoundly social dog that expects the company of other dogs and a settled routine of work, and it is at its best as one hound among many rather than as a solitary companion.

The nose, the voice and the limits they set

Like every large scenthound the breed couples an independent, dominant nose with a powerful working voice, and both run strong here. The melodious, carrying bay that hunters depend on to follow the chase is the same instrument that becomes a problem in a bored, isolated dog, and the prey drive that makes the hound excellent on deer makes off-lead reliability near game a genuine challenge. A French White and Black Hound on a hot line is not a dog that turns on a whistle, because a hound that could be called off the scent would have been useless in the meute it was bred for. None of this is a defect; it is the design working as intended, and it is exactly why the breed suits people who hunt or who can give it real scent-work and the company of its own kind, and frustrates anyone hoping for a quiet, biddable house pet.

🏡 Living With a French White and Black Hound

A working kennel dog, not a flat dog

The French White and Black Hound is one of the clearest "right home or wrong home" breeds in the hound world, and the deciding factor is whether a household can supply space, company and genuine work. This is a large, athletic pack hound bred to gallop after deer across open country all day, and its exercise need is correspondingly serious: long daily activity at a real working pace, safe off-lead running on enclosed ground, and ideally structured scent-work, tracking or actual hunting that occupies its outstanding nose as much as its legs. A short pavement walk does not begin to meet it. An under-exercised, under-occupied dog of this breed becomes restless, vocal and destructive, and its gentle indoor moments can mask the problem from a hopeful owner until it is well set in.

The company question

Because the breed was developed to live and work as one hound among a pack, isolation is its real enemy. A French White and Black Hound kept singly, without either canine company or a job, is the unhappy version of the dog. With its own people it is friendly, even-tempered and tolerant, and it can be good with children it has been raised among, given its essential gentleness toward humans. But the strong prey drive toward deer, hares and other moving animals makes cats and small pets a real consideration -- a hound raised from puppyhood with a household cat may accept it, while the instinct toward outdoor wildlife never switches off. This is a dog for an active, dog-experienced home, ideally one that already keeps more than one hound, rather than a first-time pet household.

Fencing and the rhythm of work

Secure, substantial perimeter fencing is non-negotiable. A hound that strikes a deer or hare line near a gap will be gone, and a large scenthound in an extended gallop covers ground fast and far. In its homeland the breed is almost always kept in kennels as part of a working pack rather than as an indoor companion, and it is a hardy, weatherproof dog that takes outdoor life in its stride -- precisely because kennel life comes bundled with the company of other hounds and the regular work of the hunt. Anyone keeping one as a companion has to build their week around supplying the activity, engagement and ideally the canine company that a working pack would otherwise provide.

🎓 Training & Exercise

Cooperative for a hound, but bred to read the line itself

The French White and Black Hound carries the productive tension common to working scenthounds: it is intelligent, friendly and genuinely cooperative with a handler it trusts, yet it keeps the independent judgement of a dog selected for generations to make its own decisions on a deer line in cover. For everyday manners, lead work and basic obedience it is a reasonable pupil -- the breed's even temperament and closeness to people give a patient trainer plenty to work with -- but it responds far better to calm, consistent, reward-based handling than to heavy correction, which a fundamentally gentle hound tends to shut down under. Training is best treated as a steady, lifelong conversation rather than a short course of drills.

Recall and the honest limit

Recall in the presence of live scent is the real ceiling on training this breed, as it is for the whole large driving-hound type. A dog that recalls perfectly in the garden may turn effectively deaf the instant it strikes a deer line in open country, and treating that as wilful disobedience misreads the animal: it is the precise behaviour that pack hunting selected for. The practical answer is the standard one -- build recall slowly across progressively more distracting settings, reward it richly every time, and make a long line or securely enclosed ground the default wherever scenting conditions are good. Hunters who work these hounds manage the issue by keeping the pack within working contact and reading the country, not by expecting gun-dog precision the breed was never built to give.

Socialisation and the pack instinct

Early, wide socialisation does as much work as formal obedience with a dog bred to live communally. A puppy that meets a broad range of people, dogs, environments and -- where relevant -- household animals during its first months grows into a settled, manageable adult, while one reared in isolation can become both over-bonded to its handler and awkward with strange dogs. Because the breed is so thoroughly a pack animal, exposure to other dogs in particular pays off, and an owner who keeps the young hound in calm, structured company builds the temperament the breed is meant to have.

Channelling the drive into real work

The breed's nose, stamina and pack instinct make it outstanding at the thing it was made for, and the kindest training an owner can give is a true outlet for that drive. Where deer hunting in the venerie tradition is legal and appropriate, the breed excels in the pack on red and roe deer. For owners who do not hunt, tracking, mantrailing and structured nose-work give the dog a purposeful job and turn its strongest instinct into cooperative engagement. The breed is far less suited to instant-compliance disciplines such as competitive obedience or high-level agility, where its independent, scent-led nature works against the split-second responses those sports reward. Match the activity to the dog's genuine talents and it is a willing partner; fight its nature and both dog and handler are frustrated.

✂️ Grooming & Coat Care

A short working coat that asks little

The French White and Black Hound wears one of the most practical coats in the large-hound world. The standard describes the hair as short, quite strong and dense -- a functional jacket built to shed brambles, water and the wet of the field rather than to draw a show judge's eye -- and it needs no clipping, stripping or professional grooming whatsoever. A weekly going-over with a firm-bristle brush or a rubber curry comb lifts dead hair, spreads the skin's natural oils and keeps the white-and-black coat looking clean. During the spring and autumn moults the dog sheds more heavily, and brushing every second or third day through those weeks keeps loose hair under control in the home. Bathing is occasional -- when the dog is genuinely dirty or smells of the field rather than on any fixed schedule -- using a mild dog shampoo that does not strip the coat's weather resistance.

Ears first, every week

The long drop ears are the real grooming priority, far more than the coat. Their hanging, close-fitting conformation invites the warmth and moisture in which ear infections begin, and a working or swimming hound is exposed to that risk often. Inspect both ears weekly for redness, discharge or odour, clean the outer canal gently with a veterinarian-approved cleaner on a cotton pad -- never pushing anything down into the canal itself -- and dry the ears carefully after swimming, bathing or wet field work. Catching the early signs of trouble and acting on them is what keeps a minor irritation from becoming a chronic, painful condition, and for a pack-worked dog it is simply part of the daily round.

Nails, teeth and the post-work check

Nails should be checked monthly. A hound worked or walked on hard ground may wear them naturally, but a dog exercised mostly on soft going will need trimming before the nails grow long enough to alter its gait. Dental care matters as much in this breed as in any large dog: regular tooth-brushing with a canine toothpaste is the most effective preventive against the periodontal disease that is otherwise near-universal, supported by appropriate dental chews. Because the breed works in rough cover, a hands-on check after every outing -- running the hands over the skin and coat, feeling between the toes and under the earflaps for grass seeds, ticks or thorns, and glancing at the eyes -- belongs in the routine alongside the brush and the nail clippers.

🍖 Diet & Nutrition

Feeding a hard-galloping pack hound

The French White and Black Hound is a large, athletic, energetic working dog, and its diet has to track both its real energy output and the way that output swings with the hunting season. A good-quality complete dog food matched to the dog's life stage -- puppy, adult or senior -- and to its activity level is the sensible baseline. A hound worked regularly in the field will burn far more than the same dog resting out of season, and the amount fed should rise and fall with the workload rather than sit at a single year-round ration. The feeding guide on the bag is a starting point, not a prescription; hands-on body-condition scoring is the more reliable everyday measure. A hound in good condition has ribs that are easily felt under a thin covering, a waist visible from above and a clear tuck-up behind the ribs when seen from the side.

Feeding the working season and the quiet one

The commonest nutritional mistake with any working hound is to keep feeding at the working rate once the work has stopped, and this breed's seasonal life makes the trap especially easy to fall into. During the hunting months a hard-driven pack dog needs a generous, high-energy intake to sustain long days of galloping after deer; out of season, when the same dog is doing a fraction of the work, the ration must come down to match or the weight creeps on before anyone notices. Overweight is more than a cosmetic issue in a large, hard-working breed: excess load accelerates joint wear and shortens the working career the dog was bred for. Measured meals rather than free-choice feeding, restraint with table scraps, and counting any training treats inside the daily ration -- not on top of it -- are the habits that keep the breed in trim.

Schedule, water and field practice

Adult hounds are normally fed twice a day, morning and evening, rather than in one large meal; splitting the ration steadies the dog and, in a deep-chested large breed, is a sensible precaution against digestive upset. Fresh water must always be available, and demand rises sharply on working days and in warm weather. As a matter of routine field practice, a hard-galloping hound should not be fed a heavy meal immediately before vigorous work -- a gap of roughly two hours between a full meal and the off is the standard, widely-followed precaution, particularly in a deep-chested dog. On a long hunting day a light meal well before the start, water through the day, and the main feed given after the dog has cooled and rested suit the breed better than a single large pre-work meal. Puppies need more frequent, smaller meals appropriate to their age, transitioning to the adult pattern as they mature.

🐶 Buying & Adopting a French White and Black Hound

A working pack breed, not a pet-shop dog

The French White and Black Hound presents an unusual buying picture, and a prospective owner should understand its working orientation before getting attached to the idea. With a population the FCI standard puts at roughly 2,000 animals and some 300 to 400 births a year, this is not a vanishingly rare breed, but the great majority of those dogs are bred for and kept in deer-hunting packs rather than sold as companions. Outside France and the continental venerie world the breed is barely present at all. A would-be owner anywhere else should set realistic expectations from the outset: finding a dog will mean approaching French breeders and the national hunting-hound community directly, accepting a substantial waiting period, and budgeting for the veterinary checks, paperwork and transport that an international placement requires. There is no standardised global price for the breed, and any source advertising ready availability of a French White and Black Hound at an ordinary pet-dog price deserves scepticism rather than enthusiasm.

Where to begin: the French hunting-hound bodies

The right first contacts are the official French bodies and the breed's working community. The Société Centrale Canine is the national kennel club of France and the natural starting point for finding ethical breeders, while the breed's parent body, the Club du Chien d'Ordre, represents the French pack-hound interest that drafted the current standard. The FCI nomenclature entry for Standard No. 220 connects enquirers to national cynological organisations elsewhere on the rare occasion a dog turns up outside France, and in the United States the United Kennel Club recognises the breed within its Scenthound group. Because the breed is so concentrated in working packs, much of the real expertise lives with the hunts that run them, and a serious enquirer will end up talking to people whose first concern is whether a dog will get the work and pack company it needs. A responsible breeder will want to discuss the parents' hip results and the dog's intended life, and will ask searching questions about the buyer's space, fencing, dog-handling experience and ability to provide real exercise and engagement.

A sober assessment of fit -- and of adoption

Breed-specific rescue is effectively non-existent outside France simply because the breed is so concentrated in hunting kennels, though French White and Black Hounds occasionally appear in general hound rescue in their home region, usually as dogs that proved unsuited to a home that could not meet their needs -- precisely the mismatch this guide aims to prevent. Whether buying or adopting, the honest question is the same one the breed has always posed: can you provide a large, energetic, intensely social pack hound with the space, the secure fencing, the work and ideally the canine company it requires? For an active rural home with the room and the inclination to give the dog a real job -- ideally one that hunts -- it is a sound, friendly and rewarding partner. For a town household wanting an easy companion, it is the wrong dog, and recognising that before the purchase is a kindness to everyone, the dog most of all.

📜 Breed Name Etymology — iDogNames original research

A name that is simply a colour and a country

The breed's name is the most literal in the French hound canon: Chien Français Blanc et Noir translates word for word as "French dog, white and black." There is no founder's surname here as in the Billy, no province as in the Poitevin, no porcelain sheen as in the Porcelaine -- just the nationality and the coat. The naming reflects a deliberate twentieth-century French scheme in which a single modern big-game pack hound was recognised in three colour varieties, each labelled "Chien Français" followed by its colour: Tricolore for the tricolour, Blanc et Orange for the white and orange, and Blanc et Noir for the white and black. The name is, in effect, a classification rather than a poetic title, and it tells a buyer exactly what to expect on the dog's back.

Blanc et Noir -- white and black, in that order

The two colour words carry the breed's identity. Blanc is French for "white," from the Frankish blank meaning bright or shining, and noir is French for "black," from the Latin niger. The order matters and is faithful to the standard's description: the ground is white, carrying a black mantle or spread black markings, so the dog reads as a white hound marked with black rather than the reverse. The same construction names the sister breeds -- Blanc et Orange for the white-and-orange variety -- and the consistency of the formula is itself the point, a tidy French naming system for a set of closely related pack hounds distinguished only by colour.

The English name and the older Saintonge label

English-language usage translates the name directly as the French White and Black Hound, a phrase that simply restates the French rather than supplying any native English word, since the breed has no English-speaking history of its own. Behind the modern colour-name lies an older identity worth recording: the breed descends from the Saintonge Hound, the chien de Saintonge of western France, and ultimately from the white "Greffier" dogs of the sixteenth century. Those earlier names point to place and to a historic strain, where the modern name points only to nationality and coat -- a shift in naming that mirrors the breed's own consolidation from old provincial blood into a single recognised French type.

Name forms at a glance

🏛 Naming Traditions — iDogNames original research

French venerie names for a French deer hound

Because the French White and Black Hound is so completely a creature of the French deer hunt, owners who want a fitting name reach naturally for France -- and, more specifically, for the venerie tradition that produced the dog. French pack-hunting has its own deep well of hound names, often short, vowel-rich and chosen to carry across country when a houndsman calls the pack: names like Vaillant (valiant), Tambour (drum, for a deep voice), Fanfare and Tayaut -- the French hunting cry, the equivalent of "tally-ho" -- all belong to that living tradition. Traditional French given names such as Gaston, Aimé, Margot or Colette sit equally well on a dog whose whole identity is rooted in the French countryside and its hunts.

The breed's striking coat offers a second rich vein. French colour words -- Blanc and Blanche for the white ground, Noir and Noiraud for the black mantle, Pie for the pied marking, Moucheté for the speckling the standard names -- tie a name directly to the dog's appearance. And the breed's purpose gives a third: names drawn from the red and roe deer it runs (Cerf for the stag, Chevreuil for the roe deer), from the woodland country it works, or from the melodious voice that hunters prize. Whichever direction an owner takes, the strongest names are the ones that reflect what the dog actually is -- a large white-and-black French pack hound, bred for the deer chase and built to be heard.

🐾 Themed Names for Your French White and Black Hound — iDogNames original research

French venerie and hound-tradition names

• Tayaut -- the French hunting cry, the equivalent of "tally-ho"; pure venerie tradition
• Vaillant -- French for "valiant"; a classic French pack-hound name
• Tambour -- French for "drum", honouring the deep, carrying voice
• Fanfare -- the flourish of horns at the hunt; spirited and French
• Trompette -- French for "trumpet", another nod to the ringing bay
• Clairon -- French for "bugle", for the hound that gives tongue on a line
• Rapide -- French for "swift", for a ground-covering galloper
• Marquise -- a noble French name for a distinguished pack hound

Coat and colour names (white and black)

• Blanc -- French for "white", for the breed's white ground colour
• Blanche -- the feminine form of white, for a bitch
• Noir -- French for "black", for the black mantle
• Noiraud -- French for "dark one", a fond name for a black-mantled hound
• Pie -- French for the white-and-black pied marking
• Moucheté -- French for "speckled", for the ticking the standard names
• Domino -- a black-and-white name in plain English
• Magpie -- the black-and-white bird, for the breed's two-tone coat

French heritage and Saintonge names

• Saintonge -- the old western French region behind the breed's ancestry
• Greffier -- the historic white French hound strain the breed descends from
• Gaston -- a classic French male name with a houndsman's ring
• Margot -- a warm, traditional French female name
• Aimé -- French for "beloved", a fond name for a devoted hound
• Colette -- a classic French female name with literary depth
• Loire -- the great river of west-central France
• Poitou -- a western French province in the breed's family history

Hunt, quarry and voice names

• Chasse -- French for "the hunt", the breed's reason for being
• Meute -- French for the hunting "pack", this breed's natural unit
• Cerf -- French for the red deer stag, the breed's prized quarry
• Chevreuil -- French for "roe deer", the other game it runs
• Piste -- French for "track" or "scent trail"
• Echo -- for the carrying, melodious voice in cover
• Galop -- French for "gallop", the breed's preferred gait
• Chasseur -- French for "hunter", for a born pack worker
• Ranger -- plain English for a dog built to cover ground all day
• Scout -- for the methodical scenting work of the hound

More French heritage names

• French Trail - best for a French White and Black Hound name rooted in France rather than generic style
• Western France; descended from the Saintonge Hound of the Saintonge region Ridge - best for a regional landscape cue tied to the French White and Black Hound story
• Local Line - best for a name that respects local breed history
• Old Route - best for migration, trade, field or pastoral routes behind the breed
• Heritage Note - best for a page where origin should be treated as context, not decoration
• Village Path - best for rustic, local or landrace-style background
• Working Home - best for a dog whose name should remember large pack scenthound (chien courant) bred to hunt red deer and roe deer in organised packs (the venerie tradi
• Country Mark - best for a concise country-of-origin cue

More work and purpose names

• Cold Nose - best for a French White and Black Hound tied to older scent trails
• Track Bell - best for a hound whose voice marks the trail
• Scent Check - best for a dog that confirms track direction
• Long Trail - best for endurance over rough or wooded country
• Forest Cast - best for methodical search through cover
• Leash Rule - best for wildlife and road-safety management
• Checkback - best for a trail dog who learns to return to the handler
• Settle - best for calm at home after scent work

More coat and build names

• White And Black With A Black Mantle - best for a French White and Black Hound whose color or markings deserve a simple call name
• Short, Strong, Dense Coat - best for the short, strong, dense coat type on this breed
• White Blaze - best for a clear face or chest marking
• Dark Mask - best for a dog with a strong muzzle or face marking
• Weather Coat - best for outdoor or working-dog coat context
• Strong Frame - best for a dog whose build is part of its function
• Bright Eye - best for an alert expression
• Ground Step - best for a name tied to movement and body type

📋 Breed Standard at a Glance

FCI Standard No. 220 -- general appearance and size

The French White and Black Hound is a large French scenthound classified by the FCI in Group 6 (Scenthounds and Related Breeds), Section 1.1 (Large-sized Hounds), and is subject to a working trial. The standard describes a large pack hound of distinguished and balanced build, long in proportion -- the length of body from point of shoulder to point of buttock equals the height at the withers -- with a muzzle long compared to the skull. Males stand 65 to 72 cm at the withers and females 62 to 68 cm, with a tolerance of plus or minus one centimetre; the dog is lean and muscular, built as an endurance galloper rather than a heavy hound. The overall impression is of an athletic big-game pack dog made to cover ground after deer.

Head, coat and colour

The head is rather long and in harmony with the body, never heavy or coarse, expressive and well carried; the skull is slightly domed and rather narrow, the nose black with well-open nostrils, the eyes dark with an intelligent, trusting expression. The ears are set at eye level, slightly curled, and when drawn forward should reach at least the base of the nose leather. The coat is short, quite strong and dense. Colour is obligatory white and black: a black mantle, or more or less widely spread black markings, with possible black or bluish speckling, and tan freckles permitted only on the limbs. A pale tan dot sits above each eye, with pale tan on the cheeks, below the eyes and ears and at the base of the tail, and the so-called "roebuck mark" on the thigh is quite frequent. Notably, a tricolour coat is a disqualifying fault -- the line that keeps this breed distinct from its sister Chien Français Tricolore.

Body, movement and working requirements

The body is that of an athletic stayer: a chest more deep than broad reaching the elbow, ribs long and rather flat than round, a rather long but well-sustained back, a muscled loin and a slightly sloping croup. The tail is quite thick at its root and carried relatively high in the action of the hunt. The preferred gait named in the standard is an effortless, supple and extended gallop -- the movement of a hound built to run deer over distance. That the FCI lists the breed as subject to a working trial is the most telling line in the document: it reflects the insistence that this remains a functional hunting dog, bred and judged for the pack work it was created to do rather than for the show ring alone.

🏆 Recognition

FCI standard No. 220 (Section 1.1 -- Large-sized Hounds), recognized in 1957.

Other registries

Breed clubs

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What is a French White and Black Hound like?

It is a friendly, diligent, hard-working deer-pack hound. The FCI standard prizes its fine nose, diligence, seriousness and strong throat, and describes it as close to humans and easy to manage in the kennels -- a gentle dog toward people, which also makes it a poor guard. Its defining feature is that it is an intensely social pack animal bred to live and work among other hounds: it has an independent nose and a powerful carrying voice, strong prey drive on deer, and it does best with space, real scent-work or hunting, and the company of other dogs rather than as a solitary house pet.

How big does a French White and Black Hound get?

It is a large French scenthound. Under FCI Standard No. 220 males stand 65 to 72 cm at the withers and females 62 to 68 cm, with a tolerance of plus or minus one centimetre, and adults typically weigh in the region of 30 to 35 kg. It is lean and muscular -- the build of an endurance galloper made to run deer over distance rather than a heavy, bulky hound.

What health problems does the French White and Black Hound have?

It is generally regarded as a sound, hardy working hound, but it is kept overwhelmingly in hunting packs and almost no formal, breed-specific health data exists, so its profile is understood through breeder and veterinary observation rather than statistics. The predictable practical concerns are otitis externa in the long pendant ears -- managed by weekly inspection, gentle cleaning and careful drying -- and hip dysplasia, for which radiographic screening of breeding stock is advised. As a hard-galloping field dog it also picks up working injuries such as thorn punctures, grass seeds and ticks. This is general educational information, not veterinary advice.

Is the French White and Black Hound a good family dog?

For an active rural household with space, secure fencing and dog-handling experience, it can be a friendly, even-tempered companion that is gentle with its people and good with children it has been raised among. But it is not a typical pet: it is a large, energetic deer-pack hound that needs serious daily exercise and a real scent-work or hunting outlet, it is an intensely social animal that does badly kept alone, and its strong prey drive means cats and small pets require careful management. It is unsuited to a quiet urban flat or to first-time owners, and because it is bred mostly for working packs it is rarely available as a companion outside France.

How much grooming does a French White and Black Hound need?

Very little, where the coat is concerned. The short, strong, dense coat needs only a weekly brush with a firm-bristle brush or rubber curry comb, with more frequent brushing during the spring and autumn moults, and occasional bathing when the dog is genuinely dirty -- it needs no clipping or stripping and cleans and dries easily. The real grooming priority is the long pendant ears, which trap warmth and moisture and are prone to infection: weekly inspection, gentle cleaning of the outer canal with a veterinarian-approved product and careful drying after wet work are essential. Nails need monthly checking and teeth benefit from regular brushing; a hands-on check for ticks and grass seeds after work in cover is sensible for this rough-country breed.

How much exercise does a French White and Black Hound need?

A French White and Black Hound needs exercise that matches its history and build. Plan for daily movement, training and mental work connected to large pack scenthound (chien courant) bred to hunt red deer and roe deer in organised packs (the venerie tradi. The right amount depends on age, health and individual temperament, so owners should balance activity with rest rather than relying on a one-size routine.

📚 Sources & Further Reading

Every load-bearing factual claim on this page is anchored to one of the sources below. iDogNames does not synthesize from secondary aggregators.

• fci standard pdf FCI Standard No. 220 -- French White and Black Hound — Fédération Cynologique Internationale (2008)
• breed club official French White and Black Hound -- FCI nomenclature entry No. 220 — Fédération Cynologique Internationale (2024)
• breed club official Société Centrale Canine -- national kennel club of France — Société Centrale Canine (2024)
• wikipedia Chien Français Blanc et Noir -- Wikipedia — Wikipedia
• breed club official French White and Black Hound -- UKC breed listing — United Kennel Club (2024)
• book The New Encyclopedia of the Dog — Dorling Kindersley (2000)
• veterinary org Otitis Externa in Animals -- overview and management — Merck Veterinary Manual (2024)
• veterinary org Hip Dysplasia -- evaluation and screening — Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (2024)
• other French White and Black Hound -- breed profile — Dogster (2024)

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