Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore

✨ Key Takeaways

Quick Facts

Common Names & Variants

Modern aliases

Historical names

⚖️ Pros & Cons

Physical Appearance

Recognized colors

Coat

Other

Ears: Drop, long. Tail: Long, carried in action.

🕰 History

An English cross written into a French name

Of the three large Anglo-Français pack hounds, the Tricolore wears its mixed parentage most plainly: it is the variety that shows the deepest debt to the English Foxhound, the product of crossing that English pack hound onto the tricoloured French chiens courants — above all the Poitevin — to build a tall, sound, fast pack dog for the great chase. The "Anglo-Français" half of the name is not decoration. Where a pure Chien Français Tricolore is a French hound bred down French lines, the Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore openly carries significant English blood, and to a French houndsman that distinction is the whole point of the breed.

What "Grand" actually means

The word grand misleads English readers who take it for a comment on size. In the French venerie vocabulary that named these hounds, grand marks the dog out as one bred to hunt grand gibier — large game, the red deer and wild boar — in the grande vénerie, the mounted pack hunting of big quarry, as opposed to the petite vénerie that pursues hare, fox and other small game. The contrast is with the separate Anglo-Français de Petite Vénerie, a smaller hound for small game; it is not a contrast of stature alone. A Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore is "grand" because of the size of the quarry and the scale of the pack it runs in, and only incidentally because it is a tall dog. The same logic runs through the whole French hound vocabulary, where a breed's name is read first as a statement of what it hunts and how, and only second as a description of the animal itself.

Three colours, three foundations

The Anglo-Français hounds were sorted by coat into three large varieties, each tracing to a different French foundation laid under the English Foxhound. The Blanc et Noir (white-and-black) descends mainly from the old Saintongeois line by way of the Bâtard Anglo-Saintongeois; the Blanc et Orange (white-and-orange) leans on the Billy and shows a great deal of Foxhound character; and the Tricolore — black, white and tan — rests above all on the tricoloured Poitevin crossed with the English Foxhound. The Tricolore became the most numerous of the three, the working face of the Anglo-Français family across much of hunting France, and it remains the one most likely to be met in a French deer pack today. The three are close cousins rather than unrelated breeds, sharing the same Anglo-French method of construction and differing chiefly in which French line was laid beneath the common English cross, and a single large kennel might once have run hounds of more than one colour before the studbooks separated them.

The English Foxhound and the French chase

To understand why French huntsmen reached for English blood at all, it helps to see what the two hunting cultures wanted from a hound. The native French chiens courants — the Poitevin, the Gascon-Saintongeois, the various Français lines — were prized for an exceptional nose, a deep musical voice and the patience to puzzle out a cold or broken line, the qualities that suit the slow, methodical unravelling of a scent in heavy cover. The English Foxhound, bred for the fast, galloping fox-chase across open country, brought a different set of virtues: speed, drive, soundness of build and a steadiness in the pack that made a large body of hounds work as one. Crossing the two was an attempt to graft English pace and pack discipline onto French nose and voice, and the Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore — the variety in which the Foxhound shows most strongly — is the clearest result of that ambition. The breed is, in effect, a deliberate compromise between two national ideas of what a pack hound should be.

The 1957 reckoning of names

For much of their early history these crossbred packs went under a tangle of local and descriptive names, and the line between a "French" hound and an "Anglo-French" one was drawn loosely from kennel to kennel. The order came in 1957, when French cynology reorganised the whole group and ruled that any French hound carrying English Foxhound blood would have Anglo-Français appended to its name, reserving the bare Chien Français label for the lines bred without that English cross. It was that reform, more than any single breeding decision, that turned a working habit into a recognised breed: the Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore as a named, standardised animal dates from this mid-century tidying of the French hound nomenclature rather than from a foundation event in a single kennel. The 1983 FCI standard simply set the seal on what the 1957 reform had already organised on paper.

A pack tool, recognised but rarely a pet

The Fédération Cynologique Internationale accepted the breed on a definitive basis on 27 January 1983 — the date its valid standard, FCI Standard No. 322, was also published — placing it in Group 6 (Scent Hounds and Related Breeds), Section 1.1 (Large-sized Hounds), with France as country of origin and a working trial attached. In North America the United Kennel Club recognises the breed; the American Kennel Club does not, and there is no AKC rank to quote. None of that recognition has turned the Tricolore into a companion breed. It lives, almost without exception, in the working deer and boar packs of rural France, kept by hunters in kennel rather than in the house, and it is very seldom seen outside that world. It is a breed defined by its job, and an honest account has to keep returning to that fact: the Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore is a hunting hound that happens to have a pedigree, not a pet that happens to hunt.

Temperament & Personality

A driving pack hound, not a household dog

The Tricolore's character is the character of the meute — the working pack — and an honest account starts there rather than with its manners indoors. This is an energetic, hardy, single-minded scent hound bred for stamina and self-reliance over a long day in the field, carrying enough English Foxhound blood to give it pace and pack steadiness on top of the French hound's deep nose and voice. With the people it knows it is sociable, even-tempered and far from sharp; the breed has the friendly, uncomplicated disposition typical of the large pack hounds and is not nervous or aggressive toward humans. But it is bred and kept as a working animal, and the breed is best understood as a hunting tool with a temperament tuned for cooperation inside a pack rather than for life as a single companion at the hearth.

Sociable in the pack, demanding alone

Because it was selected to live and work shoulder to shoulder with a dozen or more other hounds, the Tricolore is fundamentally a social, pack-oriented dog that does poorly in isolation. Among its own kind, given the structure of the kennel and the routine of the hunt, it is cooperative and settled. Taken out of that world and kept singly without company or work, the same dog grows restless, vocal and difficult — not from any defect of temper but because every instinct it has is pointed at a pack life it is no longer being given. An owner outside the hunting world has to recognise that the breed's good nature is bound up with companionship and a job, and supply both or expect trouble.

The nose, the voice and the limits of recall

Like every chien courant the Tricolore hunts with an independent nose and a strong, carrying voice, and both run high in this breed. The melodious bay that lets the hunt follow the chase by ear is the same instrument that turns into relentless noise in a bored, under-exercised dog; and the powerful prey drive that makes the breed superb on deer and boar makes off-lead reliability near live game a genuine problem. A Tricolore on a hot line is not a dog that comes back to a whistle, because a hound that could be called off the scent would have been useless in the pack it was bred for. This is the design working as intended. The breed rewards people who hunt or who can give it serious, structured scent work and space, and frustrates anyone expecting a quiet, biddable companion bred for the sofa.

🏡 Living With a Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore

Built for kennel and country, not the flat

The Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore is about as clear a "right home or wrong home" breed as exists, and the deciding question is whether you can give it the space, company and work it was made for. This is a large, athletic pack hound bred to run all day over open country behind big game, and its exercise need is correspondingly serious: long daily activity at a real working pace, off-lead running in securely enclosed ground, and ideally genuine scent work, tracking or hunting that occupies its outstanding nose as much as its legs. A short pavement walk does not touch it. An under-worked Tricolore becomes restless, loud and destructive in a way that its easy indoor moments can hide from a hopeful owner until the habit is set. Rural and semi-rural homes with land suit the breed; a town flat is the wrong setting entirely.

Company, other dogs and small pets

Bred to live in a pack, the Tricolore is a deeply social dog that does badly kept alone and far better with canine company or, in its native setting, as one hound among many. With its own people it is affectionate and tolerant, and it can be good with children it has grown up alongside, given its essential gentleness toward humans. The real cautions are two. First, the strong prey drive toward deer, hare and other moving animals means cats and small pets are a genuine consideration; a hound raised from puppyhood with a household cat may accept it, but the instinct toward outdoor wildlife never switches off. Second, while the breed is generally amiable with other dogs in a pack context, the scale and energy of a large driving hound mean introductions and multi-dog management still need a confident, experienced hand.

Fencing, kennelling and the working rhythm

Secure, substantial perimeter fencing is non-negotiable. A Tricolore that strikes a deer or hare line near a gap will be gone, and a big scent hound in pursuit covers ground fast and far. In France the breed is very often kept in kennels as part of a working pack rather than indoors, and it is a hardy, weatherproof dog that takes outdoor life in its stride — but kennelling suits it precisely because it comes with the company of other hounds and the regular work of the hunt. A single Tricolore shut alone in a run with neither company nor a job is the unhappy version of the breed. Anyone keeping one as a companion should plan to build the week around the activity, engagement and society a working pack would otherwise supply.

🎓 Training & Exercise

Cooperative by pack instinct, independent on a line

The Tricolore carries the productive tension common to working pack hounds: it is intelligent, good-natured and genuinely cooperative — its English Foxhound inheritance adds a measure of biddability and pack discipline that some of the purely French hounds lack — yet it keeps the independent judgement of a dog bred for generations to make its own decisions on a scent in cover. For everyday handling, lead work and basic manners it is a reasonable pupil, and its friendly attachment to its handlers gives a patient trainer something to work with. But it responds to calm, consistent, reward-based handling far better than to heavy correction, which a fundamentally amiable hound tends to shut down under. The most successful owners treat training as a steady, lifelong routine rather than a short course of drills.

Recall and the honest limit

Recall in the presence of live scent is the real ceiling of Tricolore training, as it is for the whole driving-hound type. A dog that recalls reliably in the garden can become effectively deaf the instant it strikes a deer or hare line in the open, and reading that as disobedience misjudges the breed: it is exactly the behaviour that pack hunting selected for. The practical answer is the standard one for a powerful scent hound — 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 manage it by keeping the pack within working contact and reading the country, not by expecting the instant recall the breed was never built to give.

Socialisation for a big, bold hound

A confident young Tricolore grows fast into a large, powerful dog, and early, broad socialisation does as much practical work as formal obedience. A puppy that meets a wide range of people, dogs, environments and — where relevant — household animals in its first months matures into a steadier, more manageable adult, while one raised narrowly can become both over-attached to its handlers and harder to settle around novelty. Calm, consistent leadership from the start, and refusing to let a bold youngster learn that pushiness pays, keep the breed's size and drive comfortably within bounds.

Channelling the drive into real work

The Tricolore's nose, stamina and pack instinct make it outstanding at the thing it was created for, and the kindest training an owner can offer is a true outlet for that drive. Where hunting is legal and appropriate, the breed excels in the grande vénerie on deer and boar; for those who do not hunt, tracking, mantrailing and structured nose work give the dog a purposeful job and turn its strongest instinct into willing engagement with a handler. The breed is poorly suited to instant-compliance disciplines such as competitive obedience or high-level agility, where its independent, scent-led nature fights the split-second responses those sports reward. Match the work to the dog's real talents and the Tricolore is a willing partner; fight its nature and both dog and owner are left frustrated.

✂️ Grooming & Coat Care

A short working coat that asks little

The Tricolore wears one of the most practical coats in the large-hound world. It is short and close, a functional double jacket built to shed bramble and weather 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 black-white-and-tan 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 water-crossing 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 Tricolore 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, 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-running pack hound

The Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore 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 Tricolore 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 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 the Tricolore's seasonal life makes this 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 behind big game; 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 a Tricolore in trim.

Schedule, water and field practice

Adult Tricolores are normally fed twice a day, morning and evening, rather than in one large meal; splitting the ration steadies the dog and, in a reasonably 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-running 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, moving to the adult pattern as they mature.

🐶 Buying & Adopting a Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore

A hunters' breed, sold into hunting homes

The Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore presents one of the more difficult buying pictures of any recognised breed, and a prospective owner should grasp how thoroughly it is a working dog before getting attached to the idea. The breed is kept almost entirely in the deer and boar packs of rural France, bred by hunters for hunters, and the great majority of dogs produced each year are destined for those packs rather than for sale as companions. Outside France it 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 Société Centrale Canine directly, accepting a substantial wait, 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 Tricolore at an ordinary pet-dog price deserves scepticism rather than enthusiasm.

Where to begin: the SCC and the French packs

The right first contacts are the official French bodies and the breed's working community. The Société Centrale Canine is the national keeper of the breed in its homeland and the natural starting point for finding ethical breeders, and the FCI nomenclature entry for Standard No. 322 connects enquirers to national cynological organisations elsewhere; in North America the United Kennel Club recognises the breed and is the relevant registry. Because the breed is so concentrated in working packs, much of the real expertise lives with the hunters who 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 life it needs. A responsible breeder will want to discuss the parents' hip results and the dog's likely outlet, and will ask searching questions about the buyer's space, fencing, dog-handling experience and ability to provide real exercise and engagement. A breeder who asks none of this and offers a puppy on demand is a warning sign, not a convenience.

A sober assessment of fit — and of adoption

Breed-specific rescue is effectively non-existent outside France simply because the breed is so scarce, though Anglo-Français 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, pack-bred scent hound with the space, the secure fencing, the company, the work and the experienced handling it requires? For an active rural home with the room and the inclination to give the dog a real job — ideally one that hunts — the Tricolore is a sound, good-natured 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

Reading the name part by part

The breed's name is a compact description of what the dog is, set down in the French venerie vocabulary that produced it. Grand marks it as a hound for grand gibier — large game, hunted in the grande vénerie — rather than a reference to height; Anglo-Français records the deliberate cross of English Foxhound blood onto French hounds that defines the type; and Tricolore names the coat, the black, white and tan that sets it apart from its white-and-black and white-and-orange siblings. Put together, Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore reads, almost literally, as "the large-game Anglo-French tricolour hound." Few breed names carry so much of the dog's history and purpose on their surface.

Anglo-Français: the English thread made explicit

The heart of the name is the hyphenated Anglo-Français, and it exists precisely to be honest about ancestry. Where a Chien Français hound is bred down French lines, the Anglo-Français carries a documented English Foxhound cross, and French cynology made that distinction a rule of naming in 1957, appending Anglo-Français to every French hound that had taken the English cross and reserving the plain Chien Français for those that had not. The name is therefore not a flourish but a classification: it tells a French houndsman at once that the dog before him is a deliberate Anglo-French pack hound rather than a pure native breed.

The English form and the meaning of the colours

In English the breed is rendered as the Great Anglo-French Tricolour Hound, a near word-for-word translation in which "Great" stands for grand and "Tricolour" for tricolore. The French original is the form used by the FCI and in the breed's homeland, and English usage simply borrows it or translates it directly; there is no separate native English name, because there is no native English breed. The tricolore itself — three colours — is the oldest and plainest part of the name, a colour label of the kind the French applied across their hounds, and in this breed it points to the black, white and tan that distinguish the Tricolore from the Blanc et Noir and the Blanc et Orange within the same Anglo-Français family.

Name forms at a glance

🏛 Naming Traditions — iDogNames original research

French venerie names for a French pack hound

Because the Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore is so completely a creature of the French hunt, owners who want a name that fits the breed 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 Tayaut — the French hunting cry, the equivalent of "tally-ho" — Vaillant (valiant), Tambour (drum, for a deep voice) and Fanfare 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.

The breed's tricolour coat offers a second rich vein. French colour words — Noir for the black saddle, Blanc for the white ground, Roux or Fauve for the tan markings — tie a name directly to the dog. And the breed's purpose gives a third: names drawn from the deer and wild boar it hunts, from the grande vénerie it serves, or from the melodious voice that hunters prize. Whichever direction an owner takes, the strongest Tricolore names are the ones that reflect what the dog actually is — a large Anglo-French pack hound bred for the great chase and built to be heard.

🐾 Themed Names for Your Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore — 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's pealing voice
• Rapide — French for "swift", for a ground-covering pack hound
• Marquis — a noble French name befitting a hound of the grande vénerie

Tricolour coat names (black, white, tan)

• Noir — French for "black", for the saddle or patches over the white
• Blanc — French for "white", for the breed's ground colour
• Roux — French for the reddish-tan of the markings
• Fauve — French for "fawn"/tan, for the tan points
• Domino — for a cleanly marked black-and-white hound
• Patch — plain English for a boldly patched coat
• Sable — for the dark saddle of a tricolour hound
• Saddle — for the black mantle the breed carries

Anglo-French heritage names

• Poitou — the western French region of the Poitevin, a breed foundation
• Anjou — a French province of hound country
• Loire — the great river of west-central France
• Gascon — for the Gascon-Saintongeois blood behind the Anglo-Français
• Foxley — a light nod to the English Foxhound in the breed's making
• Windsor — for the English half of the Anglo-French cross
• Margot — a warm, traditional French female name
• Colette — a classic French female name with literary depth

Hunt, quarry and voice names

• Chasse — French for "the hunt", the breed's reason for being
• Meute — French for the hunting "pack", the Tricolore's natural unit
• Cerf — French for "deer"/stag, the breed's big-game quarry
• Sanglier — French for "wild boar", the Tricolore's other quarry
• Piste — French for "track" or "scent trail"
• Echo — for the carrying, melodious voice in cover
• 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
• Bugle — English for the horn, echoing the breed's ringing bay

More French heritage names

• French Trail - best for a Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore name rooted in France rather than generic style
• France; bred in working hound packs of the grande vénerie across rural France Ridge - best for a regional landscape cue tied to the Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore 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 French pack scenthound (chien courant) bred to hunt big game -- red deer and wild boar -- in organised p
• Country Mark - best for a concise country-of-origin cue

More work and purpose names

• Cold Nose - best for a Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore 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

• Tricolour (black - best for a Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore whose color or markings deserve a simple call name
• Short, Close, Double Coat - best for the short, close, double 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. 322 — general appearance and size

The Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore is a large French scent hound classified by the FCI in Group 6 (Scent Hounds and Related Breeds), Section 1.1 (Large-sized Hounds), and is subject to a working trial. The standard describes a strong, well-built pack hound of evident French-and-English ancestry — a sound, balanced dog made to run big game in a pack rather than a refined show animal. Dogs stand in the region of 60 to 70 cm at the withers, the build powerful and athletic, with the bone and substance of a hound expected to cover hard country all day behind deer and boar. The overall impression is of a robust, purposeful large hound built for endurance and pack work.

Head, coat and colour

The head is of moderate length and fairly broad, carried with the open, willing expression of a pack hound; the ears are set on at roughly eye level, long and pendant, hanging close in the manner of the French chien courant. The coat is the breed's defining mark in its name: short and close, a double coat, and tricolour — black, white and tan in the combination that distinguishes it from its Blanc et Noir and Blanc et Orange siblings. The black is typically carried as a saddle or large patches over a white ground, with tan markings about the head and limbs, the whole effect clean and clearly read at a distance, a practical virtue in a pack the hunter must follow by eye as well as by ear.

Body, movement and working requirements

The body is that of a powerful stayer: a deep, well-developed chest giving good lung room, a strong back, a muscular loin and well-angulated hindquarters built to drive the dog efficiently over rough ground for hours. The tail is long and carried in the action of the hunt. Movement is free, easy and ground-covering at the trot — the gait of an endurance hound rather than a sprinter. That the FCI lists the Tricolore as a breed subject to a working trial is the most telling line in the standard: 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. 322 (Section 1.1 -- Large-sized Hounds), recognized in 1983.

Other registries

Breed clubs

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore like?

The Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore is an energetic, hardy, hunt-driven pack hound. With the people it knows it is sociable and even-tempered -- a friendly, uncomplicated dog that is not sharp or nervous toward humans, which also makes it a poor guard. Bred to live and work in a pack, it is fundamentally social and does poorly kept alone; carrying English Foxhound blood, it has pace and pack steadiness on top of the French hound deep nose and strong, carrying voice. It is not a typical pet and does best in an active home that can provide space, canine company and real work.

How big is a Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore?

It is a large French scenthound. Under FCI Standard No. 322 it stands in the region of 60 to 70 cm at the withers, with weight broadly around 30 to 35 kg. It is a strong, powerful, athletic hound built as an endurance stayer to cover hard country all day behind big game. The word grand in the name refers to hunting large game in large packs rather than to exceptional body size.

What health problems does the breed have?

The breed is generally a sound, athletic hound with a typical lifespan of about 10 to 12 years, but it is kept almost entirely as a working pack dog in France and almost no formal, breed-specific health data exists for it. 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 deep-chested large breed it warrants the usual bloat precautions: split meals and a gap between feeding and hard work. This is general educational information, not veterinary advice.

Is it a good family dog?

For an active rural household with space, secure fencing and dog-handling experience, the Tricolore can be an affectionate, 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 pack hound that does poorly kept singly, needs serious daily exercise and a real scent-work or hunting outlet, and has a strong prey drive that means cats and small pets require careful management. It is unsuited to a quiet urban flat or to first-time owners. Outside France the breed is very rare and held mostly in working packs, so acquiring one usually means a long wait and direct contact with French breeders.

How much grooming does it need?

Very little, where the coat is concerned. The short, close double 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. 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 Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore need?

A Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore needs exercise that matches its history and build. Plan for daily movement, training and mental work connected to large French pack scenthound (chien courant) bred to hunt big game -- red deer and wild boar -- in organised p. 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. 322 -- Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore — Fédération Cynologique Internationale (1983)
• breed club official Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore -- FCI Nomenclature Entry (Standard No. 322) — Fédération Cynologique Internationale (2024)
• breed club official Société Centrale Canine -- national kennel club of France — Société Centrale Canine (2024)
• breed club official Great Anglo-French Tricolor Hound -- UKC breed standard — United Kennel Club (2024)
• wikipedia Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore -- Wikipedia — Wikipedia
• wikipedia Anglo-Français and Français (hound) -- Wikipedia — Wikipedia
• book The New Encyclopedia of the Dog — Dorling Kindersley (2000)
• veterinary org Otitis Externa in Dogs -- overview and management — Merck Veterinary Manual (2024)
• veterinary org Hip Dysplasia -- evaluation and screening — Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (2024)

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