Origin

The Bichon á Poil Frisé, or Bichon Frisé belongs to the Bichongroup. Which consists the Maltese, Havanese, Bologneser, Coton de Tuléar and the Petit Chien Lion. This group do have a collective origin and come from the Mediterranean Sea. Besides they descend from the companiondogs who had to cheer up the sailors. The Bichon Frisé is  recognised by the F.C.I. (Federation Cynologique Internationale) as a  French-Belgium  breed.

History
There are some difference of opinions about the existence of the Bichon Frisé. Some are saying that the breed would be a descend of the breed Barbet in the Mediterranean. And others do say that the breed would be crossed with the Maltese, Bolognese and little white Poodles. These  Bichons were taken in the 15e century by Italian sailors to the island Teneriffe. They named him Bichon Teneriffe. During the renaissance the Bichon Tenerife were taken to France. Also in the 16th century the breed became very populair en loved by the Spanish court. These types of dogs were painted very often by the Spanish royal painter Francis Goya y Lucientes. Because of their size these Bichons were very easy to take them everywhere. They also were loved at the French court as well as the English courth.In 1789 after the French revolution had been stopped the popularity of the Bichons decreased. Even in the first of the 20th century they lived as streetdogs. Because of their acrobatic trics they have been used by streetmusicians and also worked as circusdogs in the circus. After worldwar 1 some of the lovers started to get the breed on the rails. They started with a breedingprogramme. The official standard  came in 1933. They have changed the name Bichon Teneriffe into the name Bichon á Poil Frisé. In 1934 the  F.C.I.  recognised the Bichon Frisé  in the French book as a French/Belgium breed. Round 1979 the first Bichons have been registered in the Dutch kennelclub. The Bichon Frisé is in Holland not that populair as in the Scandinavian countries, Amerika and France. In avobe mentioned countries the Bichons are beautifully groomed and been showed at dogshows. In France they do groom a bit and some do groom them more. They prefer more the naturel look.