Braque de l'Ariege

In 1940, Bernard Senac-Lagrange compiled the history of the Braque de l’Ariege. There are some historians that disagree with Senac-Lagrange’s account of the breed’s history but the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) has accepted this version of the breed’s history and published a condensed version with the FCI standard. Senac-Lagrange claimed the Braque de l’Ariege originated when the Braque Francais was crossed with the Braque de Meridonal. There is at least one dispute of this theory. Jean Castaing argues that the Braque de l’Ariege originated from crossing the Braque Francais with the Braques Saint Germain. Either way, it was agreed upon that the Braque Francais was one of the original breeds used to create the Braque de l’Ariege. These large dogs were bred in the southern France region of Ariege in the 1800s. The breed standard was written in 1905 during the Societe Canine du Sud-Ouest dog show. The committee given the task of writing the breed standard asked sculptor Henry Villard for his input. Villard had created a life-sized sculpture of what the ideal the Braque de l’Ariege should look like. This life-sized sculpture is currently residing at the School of Veterinary Medicine in Toulouse. The popularity of the Braque de l’Ariege rose sharply in the first few decades of the 20^th century. During this time there were a lot of questions regarding the purity of many of the bloodlines. Some breeders began breeding English Pointers to their Braque de l’Ariege. Other breeders began breeding for an all white dog instead of an orange and white dog. This caused albinism to occur. The breed lost popularity when many were no longer able to hunt with the effectiveness of a pure Braque de l’Ariege because of the English Pointer influence. By 1937 select breeders led by Senac-Lagrange began searching for pure-bred Braque de l’Ariege that did not have the influence of the English Pointers. It took years for the breed to rebound. A breed club was established in 1989 to ensure the breed remained pure.