E-Book, Englisch, 155 Seiten
Reihe: Comprehensive Owner's Guide
Pollet Bouvier Des Flandres
1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59378-719-6
Verlag: CompanionHouse Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
E-Book, Englisch, 155 Seiten
Reihe: Comprehensive Owner's Guide
ISBN: 978-1-59378-719-6
Verlag: CompanionHouse Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
Dr. Robert Pollet, a highly regarded expert on the Belgian breeds and an international judge,
Weitere Infos & Material
The breed’s name derives from the word bouvier, which means “cow-herder” in French. A beautiful example of the modern Bouvier des Flandres is Belg. Ch. Noska von Gewdraa Oel.
The exact origins of many breeds have never been documented or are said to be buried in history, because these breeds already existed centuries before any interest in “pure-bred dogs” began. For other breeds, their actual histories can be traced and their evolutions can be documented easily. Fortunately, with the Bouvier des Flandres much information is available on the breed’s beginnings and early history, although it is still rather difficult to trace the exact origin of the breed.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The word bouvier translates from the French to mean a person who tends bovines; therefore, it means “cow-herder” and, as a derivation, also “cow dog.” This has the same meaning as the Dutch Koehond. Mostly, when using the name “Bouvier,” it is the Bouvier des Flandres to which one is referring, although there are many other breeds that are used as cattle dogs.
Many characteristic Flemish names have been given to the Bouvier des Flandres, such as “Boever” (from the French bouvier); “Pikhaar” (pick hair) or “Pik,” which refers to the “picking” or rough hair; and “Vuilbaard” (dirty beard), referring, of course, to his beard and mustache, which soak up water when he drinks and become soiled.
The legendary Nic was of unknown origin but was a military dog and a well-known Belgian champion who died in 1926 and is considered as the founding sire of the Bouvier breed.
WHERE DOES THE BOUVIER COME FROM?
The complete and official name of the breed is Bouvier des Flandres, which is French, meaning “cow or cattle dog of Flanders.” In Dutch, the breed is named “Vlaamse Koehond” (Flemish cow dog) or “Vlaanderse Veedrijver” (cattle drover of Flanders). As the name indicates, the Bouvier originated in Flanders, which during the Middle Ages was a county that occupied territories of the presentday French département of Nord, the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders and the Dutch province of Zeeland. Because the Bouvier originated in Flanders, which was Belgian as well as French, the breed is considered to be both Belgian and French. Consequently, both Belgium and France are responsible for maintaining the official Bouvier des Flandres breed standard of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI), the main kennel club of continental Europe with member countries around the world.
BELGIAN BREEDS ON STAMPS
On May 26, 1986, four postage stamps were issued in Belgium to honor the Belgian working breeds. The Bouvier des Flandres and three Belgian Sheepdog breeds—the Malinois, Tervuren and Groenendael—were featured on the stamps.
THE CRADLE OF THE BREED: AN ABBEY
It is generally known that monks have given saints’ names to certain breeds, such as the St. Bernard and the Belgian breed the St. Hubert Hound (Bloodhound). We know, thanks to the research of Louis Huyghebaert, a major Belgian canine authority, who in 1948 published the history of the Bouvier in the Belgian magazine L’Aboi (meaning “The Bark”), stating that the monks of the abbey Ter Duinen were the first breeders of Bouviers. He also states that the Bouviers at that time were too common and too rustic (rough and unrefined) to be given the name of a patron saint.
The abbey Ter Duinen was founded in 1107 in Coxyde, on the western coast of Flanders. It became the biggest and most famous abbey in Flanders. The monks had their own fleet and they imported dogs from England, especially large, gray-brindle, rough-coated sighthounds, said to be Scottish Deerhounds and Irish Wolfhounds. The imported dogs were bred to the regional farm dogs. Through selective breeding, a large rough-coated dog was created: this is thought to be the ancestor of the Bouvier des Flandres. These predecessors of the Bouvier were excellent guard and defense dogs and very able cattle drovers.
THE EARLY BOUVIER: A FARMER’S DOG AND ALL-AROUND WORKER
Until 1900, not much is known about the evolution of the Bouvier des Flandres. He was a general farmer’s helper and cattle herder, and we know from people who lived around the turn of the 20th century that the life he led wasn’t enviable or happy at all; it was, in fact, quite a miserable life! He had to work night and day, and the tasks he had to perform were arduous and exhausting. He was able to perform his job, thanks to his strength, endurance and weather-proof coat, and, perhaps above all, thanks to his steady character and temperament.
Among the Bouvier’s chores were guarding, droving, hauling and churning. As a draft animal, he pulled milk and cheese carts and he turned millstones. It is said that the farmers docked the dogs’ tails to prevent injury and to make it easier to outfit them with harnesses, which were necessary equipment for draft work. The ears of the Bouvier were cropped in order to show that it was a working dog and not a pet, because at that time only pet dogs were taxed. The Bouvier did not come inside his owner’s house—when he wasn’t at work, he was a “bandog,” kept chained outdoors as a watchdog, a treatment now forbidden by law in his homeland.
CANIS LUPUS
“Grandma, what big teeth you have!” The gray wolf, a familiar figure in fairy tales and legends, has had its reputation tarnished and its population pummeled over the centuries. Yet it is the descendants of this much-feared creature to which we open our homes and hearts. Our beloved dog, Canis domesticus, derives directly from the gray wolf, a highly social canine that lives in elaborately structured packs. In the wild, the gray wolf can range from 60 to 175 pounds, standing between 25 and 40 inches in height.
CONFIDENT CHARACTER
As to the character of modern-day Bouviers, we find that they are neither shy nor aggressive, but very self-confident. The modern Bouvier is better adapted to life as a social companion and the new requirements of our increasingly less dog-friendly society, but he is certainly not a “softy.”
HEAVEN ON EARTH!
The Bouvier’s life as a farm dog was miserable and pitiful, the proverbial “dog’s life,” indeed! Many Bouvier fanciers now complain, “Where has his roughness gone?” They are referring to the breed’s roughness of the coat, behavior and character. In earlier days, everything and everybody he encountered were characterized by roughness and rudeness: the country, the weather, the farmer and the work for which he was used. How, then, could he manage all of this and survive? Of course, by being rough himself! But has he now become a “softy”?
Bouviers are no longer used primarily as working dogs, although they retain their working instincts and are willing and able to perform a multitude of tasks. This Bouvier functions as a “collecting dog.”
In a certain sense, we can admit that the Bouvier has changed indeed, but certainly only to a degree and in part due to his present-day improved living conditions. It is true that his coat became softer along with his character. He is less grim and crude now, and much friendlier, becoming perhaps a family dog first of all. However, we are absolutely sure that he is much happier now—he is well fed, well groomed and well cared for. This is his reward for the lives his ancestors endured without complaint, dutifully and willingly performing so many arduous tasks. It is as if the Bouvier has found a slice of “heaven on earth”!
FURTHER EVOLUTION OF THE BOUVIER
Documentation on the origin and the evolution of the breed is very fragmented, but we know that around the turn of the 20th century, before World War I, the Bouvier was crossbred to the Briard and the Picardy Shepherd (Berger de Picard). Very important was the international show in Brussels on May 21–23, 1910, although the Bouvier breed was represented by only two dogs—the male Rex (Pic x Bella) and the female Nelly (Beer x Sarah)—both owned by Mr. L. Paret from Ghent. They were judged by Mr. L. Huyghebaert, who was duly impressed by the quality of these dogs. In an article published in L’Aboi in 1948, 38 years after the show, he still remembered judging these two dogs, commenting on their excellent character and repeating what he had said decades prior—that the Bouvier should be gruff and rustic in appearance, like a “block” and never elegant. Mr. Paret is considered to have established, with the sire Rex and the dam Nelly, part of the foundation bloodlines of the present-day Bouvier.
TO CROP OR NOT TO CROP?
In the US, dogs in breeds that are traditionally cropped can be shown with either cropped or natural drop ears, as is the case in some European nations. In the UK and Australia, ear cropping has been banned for years, regarded as a useless, cruel procedure. American breeders and judges prefer the stylish look of cropped ears, which they believe give the dog’s head a more appealing, eye-catching appearance. Although some uncropped dogs are shown in the US, it is considerably more difficult to win a championship with a natural-eared dog in a breed that usually is cropped. If you do not want your pup’s ears to be cropped, you must let the breeder know from the start.
French Ch. Boyard du Bas Berry shows a remarkable head.
Irca de la Thudinie, Belgian Champion 1962, is an outstanding example of Justin Chastel’s “de la Thudinie”...
