The Brussels Griffon is not an ancient breed, having been known in its present form somewhere between 1870 and 1880. Though accepted as a pure bred dog now, the Brussels Griffon started out as a combination of various breeds. There is no doubt that the Affenpinscher, the Ruby Toy Spaniel, and the black Pug were the basic breeds which were crossed and re-crossed with the stable dog called the Griffon d’Ecurie to produce the breed of today.

In all probability crosses with other breeds were made, possibly the Irish Terrier and the Yorkshire Terrier. All helped to produce the monkey faced dog with the flat face, upturned under jaw, the large round expressive eyes and the domed forehead.

In the mid 1880’s several members of the Belgian Royal Family became interested in this breed and began breeding and showing many excellent specimens, This royal patronage gave the Griffon great social prestige. which helped to popularize the breed.

 The early 1890’s saw several Brussels Griffons imported into England where they slowly became   popular until 1900 when the breed was granted a place in the Stud Book Registry and  found a place  in the purebred dog world of great Britain.  The hardships of World War One almost decimated the   breed in its native land. Only a few were saved.  Sometime later Griffons were bred again though not in numbers and in trying to eradicate the webbed foot which was considered a fault.  The Belgium Breeders shunned all breeding stock known to produce the webs. The end result was almost disaster and quality diminished as the best bloodlines were eliminated. Then the Second World War happened and stopped most of the breeding in Belgium. With the help of imports from other countries the breed was established again.                                                                                                                                 

The British have done a great job of breeding top quality Brussels Griffons and the vast majority in Canada and the U.S.A. today are descended from England.