Home / Breeds / Chien Français Blanc et Orange
Calm, sociable, musical and single minded on a trail. From France.
Non-Sportinglarge breedFranceStandards checked
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France produced the Chien Français Blanc et Orange, a large scent hound bred to follow scent trails for hours, on game from rabbits to boar, baying so hunters can follow. The nose is in charge outdoors and the stomach indoors: this breed needs scent games, steady training and strict portion control.
What the Chien Français Blanc et Orange was for, in France, was work: to follow scent trails for hours, on game from rabbits to boar, baying so hunters can follow. That single purpose, kept up over generations, explains the breed better than any show result. FCI recognition gives the breed a single published standard across most of the world. Short, smooth, fine hound coat, close lying and weather hardy.
Calm, sociable, musical and single minded on a trail is the record's Blanc et Orange, the white and orange member of the Chien Francais trio: a great pack hound of the grande venerie, developed from the same Gascon and foxhound foundations as its black and white cousin, in the rarest of the three colours. They are sweet, even tempered and intensely pack oriented, affectionate with people and happiest among dogs. Puppies are bright, lemon patched charmers; adults are athletic, devoted companions. Owners describe a hound of classical elegance and unusual rarity, gentle at home and magnificent in full cry.
Energy (5/5)
Trainability (3/5)
Grooming needs (3/5)
Shedding (3/5)
Barking (4/5)
Good with children: Good with children
With other dogs: Good with dogs
With strangers: Friendly with strangers
Apartment life: Not ideal
Coat: Short, smooth, fine hound coat, close lying and weather hardy. Shedding is moderate and grooming minimal.
Colors: The standard accepts a range of colors and patterns, and individual markings vary a lot.
Feed to a visible waist tuck and weigh monthly; this breed does best on a routine of consistent meals, training in short sessions and daily exercise matched to its type. Brush weekly and check ears, teeth and nails as part of the routine. Long ears drag through everything and need weekly cleaning. Weight creeps up silently in this food loving type, so weigh monthly.
Sixty to ninety minutes a day at the top of the range: the Blanc et Orange is the rarest of the three Chien Francais breeds, a great white and lemon pack hound of the grande venerie, bred for mounted hunting of deer and boar. Long hikes, scent work and free running in secure areas fill the programme. The nose is in charge outdoors and the stomach indoors, per the overview: this breed needs scent games, steady training and strict portion control. Puppies need gradual building. Weight creeps up silently in this food loving type, per the care notes. A worked Blanc et Orange is a calm, sociable house dog; an idle one is a large, musical athlete without employment.
Brush weekly and check ears, teeth and nails as part of the routine, per the care notes, working through the short, smooth white and lemon coat: minutes a week, with white coats showing the day's work honestly. Long ears drag through everything and need weekly cleaning, exactly as the notes say. Weight creeps up silently in this food loving type, so weigh monthly. Nails need trims, teeth benefit from brushing. Puppies need kind ear handling habits from the start.
Train the Blanc et Orange with food, patience and pack logic. The nose is in charge outdoors and the stomach indoors, per the overview, so lessons are paid in excellent food and kept short and clear. Recall exists in two states, reliable when the nose is idle and fictional when it is working, so the goal is management plus manners: secure areas, long lines, an emergency response and excellent household skills. Group training suits the pack brain beautifully. Kindness and clarity produce a polished, devoted companion.
The Chien Francais Blanc et Orange suits very active rural hunting households, ideally with other dogs, that want the rarest of France's great pack hounds. Calm, sociable and musical in the record's words, good with children, exceptionally good with other dogs and friendly with strangers, it rates apartments as not ideal because exercise, voice and pack needs push outward. Expect a companionable, noble dog that treats the household as its pack. Owners describe a white and lemon aristocrat: gentle at home, glorious afield, and rare enough that keeping one is an act of preservation.
About $40 per month for a typical 65 lb adult eating roughly 3.7 cups a day of a standard quality food ($1.60 per lb). Full breakdown in our food expense calculator.
Plan 60 to 90 minutes a day of walks, play and training. Under exercised dogs of most breeds invent their own projects, and they rarely pick good ones.
Typical US range $42 to $77 per month for accident and illness cover. Estimate only, based on market ranges for this breed's risk profile; see the insurance estimator and the insurance guide.
On the monthly figures above, a typical adult year runs to about $479 for food and $504 to $924 for insurance, before routine vet care, grooming and gear. Year one costs more: vaccinations, spay or neuter surgery, a crate, bedding and training all land at once.
How weight typically builds with age for a large breed, and when full size arrives.
| Stage | Age | Typical weight |
|---|---|---|
| Puppy | 8 weeks | about 7 to 9 lb |
| Puppy | 4 months | about 15 to 21 lb |
| Puppy | 6 months | about 26 to 36 lb |
| Young | 9 months | about 37 to 51 lb |
| Young | 12 months | about 45 to 61 lb |
| Adult | 18 months | about 52 to 71 lb |
| Adult | 24 months | about 55 to 75 lb |
| Adult | Full grown | 55 to 75 lb (standard range) |
| Senior | From about 7 years | Healthy weight stays in the adult range; watch for slow gain or loss |
Growth pattern follows the size class growth curves published by the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, applied to the adult weight range in the breed standard. Individual puppies vary; steady growth matters more than hitting any single number, and your vet's growth checks come first.
Puppies need socialisation beyond the pack, ear care habituation, gradual exercise building and secure fencing audited before the nose fully engages. Adolescents are at maximum stamina and curiosity, and scent work plus long lines carries the household through. Adults enjoy a sturdy prime: keep weight measured, ears clean and the outings long and serious. Ten to twelve years puts senior status around eight to nine: twice yearly checks, joint friendly exercise and continued rambles with the pack. Old Blanc et Oranges stay gentle, musical and devoted.
Hip screening and eye checks are the standards for scent hounds, and the long ears need watching for infection. Keeping this food loving type lean is itself a health measure.
Facts follow the Chien Français Blanc et Orange breed standard (AKC, The Kennel Club and FCI standards agree on the essentials for this breed). Health notes summarize the conditions breed clubs and veterinary bodies most often flag for this breed. They are general information for choosing and caring, not a diagnosis or a substitute for your vet.
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A typical lifespan is 10 to 12 years. Weight control, dental care and screening for the breed's known conditions give a dog the best chance of reaching the top of that range.
Food for a typical adult runs about $40 a month at a standard quality tier, and accident and illness insurance usually falls between $42 and $77 a month in the US. Try the full cost calculator for a complete year one and yearly picture.
Good with children. As with every breed, supervise dogs and children together and teach children to respect the dog's space.
Plan on 60 to 90 minutes a day, split between walks, play and training games. Puppies and seniors need gentler, shorter sessions.
The white and orange colour was always the least numerous of the three, and the breed survived the twentieth century in very small numbers, rebuilt around a few packs. It remains the connoisseur's Chien Francais.
White French pack hound cousins: the Blanc et Orange is the lemon marked Chien Francais at 55 to 75 pounds. The Billy is the Poitou dog, usually whiter and slightly racier. Both are grande venerie aristocrats.
Once exercised, calm and sociable in the record's pattern. They are pack hounds of the grandes, needing serious exercise, company and tolerance for the voice.
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