The Brussels Griffon has three varieties that share everything, barring slight coat and color differences. They are named the Griffon Bruxellois, Griffon Belge, and the Petit Brabancon. The Brussels Griffon is a small breed with a height of 7 to 8 inches and a weight of between 6 and 12 pounds. People should note that human newborns sometimes weigh about 6 pounds.
This Brussels Griffon toy dog has effulgent, radiant eyes, a very short, flat nose, and much hair streaking profusely from the cheeks and chin. In fact, it resembles a very big beard emerging from the lower semi-circle of its face. This Brussels Griffon dog hails from the beautiful city of Brussels, Belgium.
The Brussels Griffon is either in the rough-coated and smooth-coated kind. The first variety of Brussels Griffon is stringy, coarse, and voluminous. The latter is glossy, shiny, simple, straight, and short. The litter has approximately 2 puppies. They live about as long as most toy dogs with a 15 year maximum, most of the time. The face is rounded, domed, and features a beard much longer than the diameter of the face itself.
The eyes, nose, and mouth occupy an area much shorter than the profuse beard underneath of the Brussels Griffon. The flat face with black muzzle and bulbous eyes is distinguished, charming, and expressive. Fortunately for Brussels Griffon owners, the dog loves to snuggle, and it has an air of vanity or narcissism. Couple this with its human expression and gigantic heart, and you have a loving, cute cuddling partner.
The Brussels Griffon coat comes in the big colors of red, black, black and tan, black and red, and all colors allowed for the Petit Brabancon. The dog's hair takes on a lighter hue if its cut short with clippers or overtly trimmed. Short-nosed toy dogs were all the rage in Belgium for several hundred years. The particular advent of the Brussels Griffon is its own story. Belgian coachmen needed rat hunters so they employed an offshoot of the modern-day Brussels Griffon. Eventually, it was bred with toy dogs like Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Pugs that were imported from all over Europe. This was during the 1800's. It's interesting because many toy dogs were bred and kept by royalty to begin with. The Brussels Griffon almost disappeared during the two World Wars. World War II could have killed it off entirely; however, hard-working English breeders kept them going.
In a modern American movie, As Good As It Gets, the supporting actor owns a Brussels Griffon, and the Best Picture nomination proved to be good for the dog's popularity. The dog has a very large head in proportion to its body which is all the more hilarious because of its beard. Its key characteristic is its sweet temperament, but its memorable head is a close second. Brussels Griffons were popular amongst all classes, including the Royal courts, during its history in Belgium.
