After the revolution, two brothers Emile and Arthur de la Besage of Montmorillon who lived in Poitou sought to revive the breed, they collected whatever remaining Poitevins they could, including two from the Larrye pack, and reestablished a pack. In 1842 disaster was to strike the de la Besage hounds with an outbreak of rabies in the kennels nearly destroying the pack, the breed was revived by the importation of English Foxhounds, a carefully considered crossbreeding program was implemented and within three generations the Foxhound influence was barely perceptible within the pack. The breed suffered greatly during the First and Second World Wars and at the end of the Second World War further outcrossings to English Foxhounds were necessary to reconstitute the breed. Whilst the Poitevin was originally created to hunt the wolf, several packs are still maintained in France but today are used to hunt boar and deer in the traditions of the 'Grande Vénérie'. The Poitevin was central to the development of the two most popular of France's packhound breeds, the Grand Anglo-Français Tricolore and Chien Français Tricolore, as well as the Anglo-Français de Petite Vénerie.