Home / Questions / Grand Griffon Vendéen
Some, but not a lot. The breed record rates the Grand Griffon Vendéen at 3 out of 5 for barking, and the honest translation is a dog that speaks on occasions rather than on principle. This is a Sporting breed from France with a Bright, cooperative, outdoorsy and loyal temperament, and its voice is a tool it uses rather than a soundtrack it lives inside. For most households the volume is unremarkable, noticeable on the day the doorbell rings six times and invisible for the quiet weeks between, which is exactly what a middle score is supposed to mean.
Owners describe the enthusiast of the griffons: all the Vendeen eagerness at full size, wrapped in a magnificent rough coat. Owners describe a magnificent, eager companion: the Vendee's big rough diamond, delighted with work and devoted at rest. Recognition today sits with the FCI, whose standard guides breeders in most countries. France produced the Grand Griffon Vendéen, a large gundog breed bred to work with hunters in the field, finding, flushing and retrieving game.
Numbers first, because they explain the voice. The Grand Griffon Vendéen carries a bark score of 3 of 5, flanked by energy at 5 of 5, shedding at 3 of 5 and grooming effort at 3 of 5. The breed needs 60 to 90 minutes of exercise a day, stands 24 to 28 inches and belongs to the Sporting group, with roots in France. Its social ratings read Friendly with strangers for strangers and Good with dogs for other dogs, and both audiences feature in the barking story below.
Context decides the volume with this breed. In a quiet house on a quiet street, a Grand Griffon Vendéen can go whole days near the bottom of its range; move the same dog beside a school route or a busy fence line and the 3 out of 5 starts earning its number. A dog passing the house, a noise in the night that does not resolve, a squirrel at close quarters: reported, briefly. What a middle score means in practice is that the list is short and the reports end. The Grand Griffon Vendéen's Bright, cooperative, outdoorsy and loyal temperament and its 60 to 90 minute exercise need set the baseline, and a dog that has had its exercise and its company files fewer reports than one that has had neither.
The Grand Griffon Vendeen suits active rural households that want the grandest of the Vendeen rough coats: a big, shaggy pack hound of unusual cooperation. Bred to work all day beside people, per the overview, it wants its humans involved. Owners describe the most willing of the grande griffon family: a hound that actually wants to be taught.
For completeness, the record's remaining lines: the Grand Griffon Vendéen comes from France, in the Sporting group, and its color line reads: The standard accepts a range of colors and patterns, and individual markings vary a lot. Its coat is recorded as Rough, harsh double coat, shaggy but not woolly, with eyebrows and a mustache, over a thick undercoat. The breed's known health watch points, Hip and elbow dysplasia, Eye conditions and DNA screened conditions, quietly shape the noise question in the senior years, when senior status arrives around age 7 years and hearing, joints and routine all change how a dog experiences its street. The barking verdict on this page describes the typical adult; the whole record describes the dog whose barking it will actually be.
Look sideways for a moment at the breeds this record finds most similar: the Weimaraner, the Drentse Patrijshond and the Gordon Setter. Their bark ratings are not identical to the Grand Griffon Vendéen's 3 out of 5, which is worth remembering in both directions: do not borrow a similar breed's quiet reputation, and do not lend this one's volume out. Cross shoppers get more from comparing the full records side by side than from any single number, which is why each name on the shortlist carries its own page on this site.
Managing a middle voice is mostly about not accidentally training it upward. The commonest household error is paying barks with the thing barked for: the door opens, the visitor enters, the dog is let out, while it is still barking, and the lesson lands cleanly. Windows improve with access management: film on the lower glass, a garden layout that does not post the dog at the fence for the whole day. The Grand Griffon Vendéen's trainability, rated 4 out of 5, is more than enough for this program; what it needs from the owner is consistency, because a mid-score breed keeps a precise ledger of which barks worked.
Ten to twelve years puts senior status around seven: twice yearly checks, joint friendly exercise and continued rambles. Adolescents are at maximum stamina and enthusiasm, and scent work plus long lines carries the household through.
Keep the record's figures in view while you decide. Height 24 to 28 inches, weight 66 to 77 lb, lifespan 10 to 12 years, exercise 60 to 90 minutes a day. Barking 3 of 5, energy 5 of 5, trainability 4 out of 5. A small dog's 3 out of 5 and a giant dog's 3 out of 5 are different acoustic events, which is why the size lines belong on a page about noise: pitch, volume and the neighbor's tolerance all scale with the dog producing them.
That is the core of the breed's vocal life, and its strangers rating reads Friendly with strangers. In the Grand Griffon Vendéen's case the setting matters as much as the rule: this is a breed with very high energy and a bark level of 3 out of 5, so its voice is heard against a fairly specific home backdrop. A Grand Griffon Vendéen with a bark score of 3 out of 5 announces unfamiliar people as a matter of course; whether the announcement is a single bark or a full report depends on the score, the dog and how the visitor behaves. Friends who visit often graduate quickly to the greeted list. Strangers who behave strangely, lingering at the fence, staring in at the window, get the extended edition whatever the score says.
Often, yes, and the record's dog rating, Good with dogs, frames why. With the Grand Griffon Vendéen, whose typical weight runs 66 to 77 pounds and whose lifespan reaches 10 to 12 years, the honest answer also changes a little across the dog's life, from puppyhood to senior status at about 7 years. Barking at dogs is usually one of three things: a greeting that overshoots, frustration at a lead or fence that prevents a greeting, or a warning to keep distance. The Grand Griffon Vendéen's score, 3 out of 5, predicts the volume of whichever it is. A dog that is exercised, 60 to 90 minutes a day for this breed, and taught to settle and look back at its owner owns a volume control that an under exercised dog simply does not have. Grand Griffons are eager, good natured and unusually cooperative for pack hounds, passionate for the hunt and affectionate at home.
Start with the cause, not the noise. The Grand Griffon Vendéen's own numbers frame it: shedding at 3 out of 5, grooming at 3 out of 5, and a height of 24 to 28 inches, which is the household this voice has to fit into. Meet the exercise need first, 60 to 90 minutes daily, then teach a settle cue in calm moments so it exists in loud ones, and reward the pauses after barking rather than shouting through them. Manage the stages the dog performs on, windows, fences, the front door routine. At 3 out of 5, this breed's trainability of 4 out of 5 makes the program very workable, but it is a program of weeks. Anyone selling you a silent Grand Griffon Vendéen by Friday is selling you fear, not training.
Last updated: November 11, 2026