This French hound breed was bred to be used in hunting ungulates in general. In our country it is widely used in Tuscany in wild boar hunting, proving to be a courageous, resistant and very shrewd dog. His nose allows him to find the wild without fail, and once identified he adopts particular techniques to stop the wild boar and allow the hunter to kill it.
The Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie belongs to Group 6 - hounds and dogs for blood tracks, according to the classification of the FCI This breed is the result of various crosses made between four breeds particularly gifted in hunting: "Petit Blu de Gascogne", the "Petit Gascon Saintongeois", the "Harrier" and the "Beagle".
From these crossings and selections they were divided by the French into three different breeds, two of medium size and one of small size. The nationalism of the French also emerged on this occasion, to the point that they argue that the bloodline of the dogs used for the first mating was not half English and half French, but exclusively French, through only the English blood supply. in order to obtain functional improvements and the standard in general. In France the Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie is a fairly widespread breed, in fact there are several specimens divided into packs to be used in fox hunting. In our country they are mostly bred in the Tuscan Maremma area, where they are used in pack for wild boar hunting. In Italy this breed, given its excellent qualities and ability to hunt wild boar, is enjoying some success: some breeders assert that this success will only increase over the years. The Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie is a medium-small dog, presenting itself with a very harmonious appearance. It is considered a remarkably balanced breed in structure, with a solid construction, without excessive heaviness. Upon careful close examination, one realizes that its silhouette closely resembles that of a typically French dog. Its anatomical structure is lean and of the right proportions.
The Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie is a breed that has been selected primarily for hunting in packs. It naturally possesses all the typical behaviors of hounds. Of particular interest are its excellent olfactory qualities, undeniably very well developed, its remarkable resistance to fatigue, a characteristic that allows the breed to be used in work for many hours without stopping, while maintaining fast paces. The Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie has a very strong character, proving to be a quite combative and energetic dog: for this reason it is also used by many hunters for wild boar hunts, which require dog breeds that know how to deal with such a difficult prey. . His energy and courage during the hunt travel in parallel with his enormous affection towards the owner and the family in general.The height of this breed is between 48 and 56 cm, for a weight which varies from 16 to 20 Kg.
The chest has descended at least to the point of the elbow and is well developed. The ribs are long and moderately rounded. The back is supported and straight., With the loins quite short and muscular. The belly is quite full, a little raised, even if it is not like that of a Greyhound. The croup is slightly sloping and quite long. The head is elongated, without exceeding in width, with a slightly accentuated occipital draft. The skull is slightly convex, but not rounded and the front drop is not very pronounced. The muzzle is moderately elongated, drawn, straight or slightly ram-like depending on the specimen. The nose is well pigmented, with well opened nostrils to steal even the smallest trace of the wild. The dentition is complete in development and number. The neck has no dewlap and is well detached. The ears are set slightly below the eye line and to the touch they are soft, slightly turned, of medium width, reaching the distance of two fingers from the root of the nose. The eyes, very expressive, are large, brown in color and denote a sweetness connected to liveliness. The forelegs are quite strong, broad and straight when seen in profile, while the hind legs have muscular and well descended thighs. The hocks are slightly angled and close enough to the ground, while the feet are dry and closed.
The gait of the Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie, pleasing to the eye, is very elastic, lively and confident, a characteristic which proves the extraordinary resistance of this breed to long walks in difficult terrain. This is due to the remarkable and very developed and evident musculature of the Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie. The tail has a medium length, quite thin, well set in the extension of the line of the loins and with thick hair without being spiked.
The skin is fine, wrinkle-free with well-stretched fabrics. The coat is short, dense and smooth.
Finally the colors: the Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie can be tricolor white, black with lively markings and black truffle. Or black and white, with pale markings, black, white and orange truffles, tobacco truffles. Its very fine smell and its great speed allow the Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie to find the wild very quickly, without ever losing track of the trail. When the petit has found the wild, it never gives it respite by keeping close in the run. In particular, this breed is appreciated when the boar stops, since at that moment the hound demonstrates all its intelligence and shrewdness: it goes around it, standing at about eight / ten meters and continuing to bark. In this way, it is very difficult for a boar, even if large in size compared to the dog, to fatally injure him, because the anglo-français dodges his charges by exploiting the great speed and moving away a few meters. This exceptional dog never stops barking and signaling the position of the game to the hunter. This allows the hunter to always have close contact with the Anglo-Francaise de Petite Vénerie.