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BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BREED
The beginnings of the Griffon breed seem to be
very vague. There are two theories about their
origins. One claims that it is a very old breed
and the other that it was not known before 1880
and is a mixture of recent breeds.
Those who favour the old breed theory base their
thoughts on the famous picture in the National
Gallery of `The Marriage of Arnolfini and
Cenani' painted in 1434 by Jan van Eyck. A great
authority on the breed, the late Sir Howard
Handley Spicer, said that the little dog in this
painting was very like the first importations
from Belgium. It has a Griffon-type body, but
not the flat face. I have a bronze of a Griffon
by Mene and the head of that is very much nosier
than those of the Griffons of today. However,
one must remember that the word "Grifion" means
rough coated so it could have applied to other
breeds also.
Common thought is that the present day Griffon
was evolved by crossing and re-crossing the Pug,
the Toy Pinscher, the Toy King Charles Spaniel
and Affenpinschers. Whatever the theory adhered
to it is agreed that the breed originated in
Belgium and by 1880 they were recognizable as
the little rough coated ratting dogs of hackney
coachmen in Brussels.
Soon after 1880 a committee met to draw up a
standard and by 1890 Griffon Bruxellois had
become the rage. Queen Astrid of the Belgians
made it au-fait to have a Griffon by breeding
them herself and they quickly became favourable
at European courts. And, as so often happens
when a breed becomes popular and fashionable,
all sorts of people became interested and worked
on improving the breed. The chief cross was the
Pug which gave the large head and eyes, the
cobby body and wide, deep chest. It also gave
the black colour and smooth coats, and hardened
the rough coats. Originally no one wanted the
smooth puppies until breeders realized what good
qualities they had. They were then recognized as
a separate variety called Petit Brabancons. When
the Toy King Charles Spaniel was used as another
cross it passed on the glorious red colour, the
very flat nose, and unfortunately in some cases
the webbed feet. There are those who think that
the Irish Terrier and the Yorkshire Terrier
played a part in improving the breed. The size
and shape of the Irish Terrier head worries me,
but certainly we get the soft top-knot of the
Yorkie cropping up occasionally.
Aus / NZ CH
"RAWEKE" Hansel
Member website;No:2
Toy Dog Club of Qld.
AUSTRALIA.
Thank you
for viewing our website;
Helmut
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Smooth coat
Griffon
Aus / NZ CH
"RAWEKE" Gretel
About the mid 1890s the British became
interested and imported dogs from Belgium, as
did people in the United States of America. So
many Griffons were exported from Belgium that it
caused grave concern there. The 1914-1918 war
hit the Belgium breeders hard and it was lucky
that enough stock was in England to keep the
breed going.
At
some stage between the World Wars Belgium
breeders decided to make a stand against
Griffons with webbed feet. It was declared a
disqualification. This excluded many of the best
dogs, and while the fault was eradicated, by
1939 there were few Griffons left. However they
did not have this lack of foresight on their
own. I attended a seminar in the United Kingdom
about 1980 and there were a number of breeders
who wanted webbed feet eliminated, claiming they
were responsible for slipping stifles amongst
other things. Thank goodness there were enough
vociferous people to stop them from passing
compulsory rules about this.
World War II stopped all breeding and when dog
shows started again there was only one big
kennel left; that of Mlle Warzee. It was from
her strain of dogs that the breed revived. In
England the breed slowly gathered popularity and
with amazing rapidity the type was set. The
first Griffon to achieve Best in Show in the
United Kingdom was the great Ch. Skibbereen
Victor of Campfield, bred by Mrs. Scholfield and
campaigned to all his wins by Mrs. Street of the
famous Skibbereen Kennels.
Since those early days the
breed has gone from strength to strength while
managing to avoid the wild enthusiasm that some
other breeds attract resulting in indiscriminate
breeding for monetary gain. Thankfully Griffons
have just maintained their appeal to those few
who really love them and have the breed at
heart.
ALL ENQUIRIES WELCOME;
This is a good place to select your C.C.C.
registered Puppy, They are all Vet checked,
wormed and Vaccinated.
 +(61)
Address:
Australia ,Q.L.D.
This
website is available for any one, is a member
Toy Dog Club of Queensland,OR
C.C.C.(Q)
and breed GRIFFON
Contact:
Helmut -
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ENDE
