DOGUE DE BORDEAUX the
courtesy of the DOGUE DE BORDEAUX SOCIETY OF AMERICA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
HISTORY T he Dogue de Bordeaux is an ancient breed whose origins are not exactly clear, but there are “hints” of such a classification of this breed dating back to the 1200s where Brunetto Latini mentions a type of dog called the Matin as, “The others are mastin, great and fat and with very great power, which hunt wolves, boars, bears and all big game, they fight fiercely, even against men.” These Matins did not look like our mod- ern day dogue; different colorations and different builds, but it is likely that these Matins were the forefathers of our breed. Phoebus, in the 1300s, describes this type of dog by saying, “The mastins (matins) aren’t rare. Everybody has seen them. Their task is to guard the animals and the dwelling of their master. They defend and guard but are ‘mean’ dogs of ‘mean’ size (in this text ‘mean’ equates with ‘ugly’).” Not much store was set by these dogs. They were used to guard and hunt, but if one was killed during hunting it was not a great loss. In the 1500s, Jean de Clamorgan uses the word ‘dogue’ to describe this canine, stating, “Others are called dogues, to attack, bite and hold boars, bears or wolves.” Charles Estinne in the same century wrote, “The dogues… for guarding the house, of which there are always one or two, enclosed during the
day and on the chain, which are freed at night to roam and guard the courtyard against thieves.” So it is clear to see that our modern day dogue has a long his- tory of hunting large game and protect- ing the dwelling of his master, the latter quality he continues to do to this day. In 1863, listed in a Paris exhibition catalogue were four “Dogues de Bor- deaux”, where our name was first offi- cially used. A second exhibition took place in 1865 with no dogues attend- ing and the next time they were listed was the exhibition of 1883, a span of 20 years, during which France experi- enced war and unpleasant conditions. The dogues that were listed in these exhibition catalogues did not look like our modern day dogues; different color- ations of coats were described and not until the exhibition of 1887 were the dogues shown properly called “Dogue de Bordeaux”. Fast forward to the Second World War. By this point the Dogue de Bor- deaux is an established breed and show- ing in exhibitions, puppies are being bred for not only the show ring but for their ancient purpose—to guard the farms in the French countryside. The Germans very quickly occupied parts of France and it was very hard for the peo- ple of France to feed themselves on their rations, let alone their dogues. Dogues were put down for lack of food, some were turned loose to fend for themselves
and many were killed outright by the occupying army. Dog shows continued during this time and on July 5, 1942 a show was held where only one bitch and one male are present. On February 14, 1943, L’Eleveur magazine reports, “We regret to record that among the kennels, which have been seriously affected, are those of the Dogue de Bordeaux, at least in the Bordeaux region. Practically the only one who has been able to keep some dogues is Mr. Jagourt, one of the oldest breeders.” The war was over on May 8, 1945. The first post-war show is organized for July 29th and per L’Eleveur magazine, “the Dogues de Bordeaux were conspic- uous by their absence”. In 1946 at the Paris show there is not a single Dogue de Bordeaux exhibited. A list was com- piled of breeding stock as of January 1, 1946 and sadly only four Dogues, young enough to be bred, remained. Slowly additional Dogues emerge from the provinces and the rebuilding process begins. HEALTH & TEMPERAMENT As a result of their unfortunate his- tory, the Dogue de Bordeaux does have health issues. Some are just the result of being a larger breed (orthopae- dic issues), but owners can see heart issues, cancers, thyroid and skin and allergy issues. Owners of this breed need to be prepared for possible future
292 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , M ARCH 2017
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