The lively PBGV, a French scent hound of ancient origin, is a compact, bold hunter with an overall rough, unrefined outline. This casual and tousled appearance should never appear exaggerated nor trimmed or scuplted. This is the dog who should look as if he has had a bad hair day compared to the spruceness and neatness of many of the show dogs we see in the conformation ring who are variously trimmed, hand stripped, blow dried, fluffed and primped.
A relatively new starter in the show ring from only the 1990’s, the PBGV has been swept up in the excitement of a wonderful new find for the dedicated show people who have found this happy, extroverted little dog an easier piece of work than many others. His smaller legs are easy to run with and his rough, harsh, no barbering technique coat, a handier option in the grooming stakes.
There are a great preponderance of these intriguing little dogs out and about now with their charming appearance and determined intelligence. I am captivated by their willingness to please and their overall appealing picture of balance and stamina. Thrown into first hand exposure by two of our Plush Puppy vendors who are die hard PBGV people, I was struck by how little information there was to presenting this coat for the show ring with a professional approach yet maintain all the requirements for the breed to serve his original purpose and satisfy the standard.
With the emphasis on rough, harsh, tousled, unrefined outline etc there has been a temptation to present this breed as rough and harsh as can be and a good number are shown unwashed or washed well before show day to allow the coat to regain it’s harshness. Well and good that may be but it is a better option to show a clean dog if you can maintain coat texture and there are ways and means to achieve that.
If you are of the school who likes to bath then by all means do so using the Plush Puppy Shampoo of your choice e.g. All Purpose Shampoo or Herbal Whitening Shampoo well diluted for a low foaming version of a shampoo resulting in less bubbles, froth and static and thus, a less fluffy or soft appearance to the coat. Use at a ratio of a few (approx 5) squirts from the pump into a hydrobath tank or a gallon/4 lt bucket of water and sponge well through the coator diluted 15:1 in a squeezie bottle. If you have too many bubbles you have used too much. The bubbles however will be small, compact and low foaming. Beware any product that has large sized bubbles and froths all over the place. That type of action is disastrous for those seeking to maintain or create a harsh coat. Finally, rinse well.
Never, never, never use a conditioner. This will flatten and soften the harshest of coats – the last thing you want for your PBGV. Use instead for hydration, healthy vigour and shine, the Plush Puppy Seabreeze Oil in your final rinse. Use at the ratio of 2 teaspoons to 1/2 gal/2 lt water. Sponge well through the coat to the skin and leave in – do not rinse. This will not soften nor flatten the coat but allow you to moisturise and maintain a healthy continuity with the coat.
Blow dry and spray with Plush Puppy Ruffy Tuffy Coat Spray layer upon layer – in other words, spray and allow a few seconds to pass and spray once again and keep repeating till the desired level of harshness is achieved. This product is neither sticky nor difficult to work with and is totally water soluble without buildup to the coat. It does however allow you to gain the correct texture instantly.
The other option to cleanliness and still maintain texture is to use our innovative new product for cleaning and deodorising, Plush Puppy Powder Puff for Harsh Coats. Plush Puppy went way out of left field to create this product for Terriers and other harsh coated breeds. There really is nothing quite like it anywhere and we have had resounding success with all the coats we have used it on. It just gives you the chance to keep the coat clean, smelling fresh and have a rock hard coat. Truly! It’s unbelieveable the amount of texture you can create with this product. A wondrous powder that has no talc nor chalk in it’s makeup, this naturally sourced product leaves a light fragrance of mandarin and ginger. Simply sprinkle well through the coat using enough to reach down to the skin by ruffling with your fingers or brush and either keep brushing till you remove excess residue or even better, blow it out with the blow dryer. Bingo! instant clean.
Of course, we also have Plush Puppy Wonder Wash which is a self rinse product that really does clean sparkling white and that has been the mainstay so far for the PBGV’s. The new product Plush Puppy Powder Puff is a quicker, and drier option and as a bonus, gives that incredible texture to the coat. I cannot stress how much texture you will achieve with this. As harshness, roughness and wire texture is what is needed, then so be it. The standard is God after all.
You rarely should need to use Ruffy Tuffy if using Powder Puff as you will have all that texture and more but you do need to use something to achieve whiteness on legs etc. So Plush Puppy has created another new innovation, Fairy Frost for Harsh Coats. Again, free of chalk and talc etc this naturally sourced product will also give that nice crisp white look with the added bonus of extra harshness. Use as you would a chalk or white powder in your usual routine. This is a superb white grooming powder. Nothing, but nothing, that is available as a white grooming powder will give you texture like this will. It is white magic I tell you.
So, lastly, you are almost ready with your „easy option“ dog. Nothing is work free after all but we have endeavoured to give you what you seek to achieve and to do it as quickly and readily as possible. Don’t forget a good light spray of Plush Puppy Odour Muncher prior to ringtime. I am of the school that believes that judges use more than their eye to judge, using their hands and nose too. Let their hands be clean and their noses not offended is my golden rule. You can mist a bit of Plush Puppy Shine & Comb which is a glamour shine spray made of the wondrous new multiple molecule silicones available these days – at some cost I might add – that are totally water soluble and never build up. They are truly the new generation in ingredients – a far cry from the devilish old silicones that set like concrete and built up like old layers of paint causing the coat to become brittle. Yuk! Sadly the legacy lingers on and some people have not yet caught onto the new advances of the modern though expensive silicones which some manufacturers are still not prepared to put into the products.
You will be so confident with your bold little character – this hardy, little hunter of robust construction that should be able to work through a day’s hunting hare and rabbits or even feathered game if called to do so. Your Petit (small) as the Americans call him or your
Griff (Griffon meaning rough or wire coated) as the English say, is not one of 28 hound breeds bred in France to serve their original purpose for nothing. His origins in Vendeen on the west coast of France where the terrain required him to plough through brambles and thorns and clamber over rock etc necessitated his coat to be able to withstand this typical environment.
Your Petit will look a picture – this little roughy toughy of the dog world with his unkempt tousled coat and little low to the ground legs powering free at all speeds with great drive from the rear, will satisfy the most discerning of judges with his perfectly correct coat texture. No longer do you need feel nervous of having to clean and groom this wonderful dog.
CHERYL LECOURT