This breed, formerly called Picard, was highly prized in hunting during the reign of Henry IV in France and Louis XIII in France and was in great demand. Selincourt had already paid a lot of attention to this, marveling and amazed at how these dogs drag a hare that flew by an hour ago in dry weather. Le Couteulx de Canteleu, in his book Manuel de Vénerie Française (1890) (Guide to French hunting – 1890), also praises Artois the dog.