French dogs

Which aspect of dogs Aaron; breeding, training?

Braque de Bourbonnais, first time I hear of this breed. Looks strongly built for a pointer. I know the German shorthair pointer can sometimes do double duty as a guard dog, maybe this dog can too.

In protection dog circles the French are best known for the French ring sport. It's the most complicated protection dog sport out there. Mostly only malinois (belgian sheep dogs) are used in it and I think they're generally too small to be man stoppers. Their trainability and drive is very high however. In French ring so much demand is put on the dogs that IMO it's too much to ask from the dogs and takes away from the reality of the situation. It becomes more of an ego trip for the trainers showcasing their abilities. Typically French?

French ring sport.

French breeds that I like and consider that can produce good man stoppers are Bouvier des Flandres,

and the Beauceron.

Dan,

The Bouvier des flandres is a Belgian dog, don't let the French name fool you.

Very popular in Europe, but a bitch when it comes to insurance...

I looked it up before posting specifically so as not to make that mistake. From what I read Flanders is a region shared by France and Belgium. Other French names for the Bouvier are Toucheur de Boeuf (cattle driver) and Vuilbaard (dirty beard). With all that you may be right, the beginnings of most breeds are lost in history.

What do you mean about insurance? Are city owners of these dogs required to have insurance, only for these dogs?

Dan aren't your favorite "dogs" of the breed Jacques "Le Coq" Grandes

Le Gureux D'Amor:)

The history of Flanders or Vlaanderen(Dutch) is a colorful one, but its basically the most northern province of Belgium where Dutch still is the official language, bordering the Netherlands. At times it has been under French rule, but then again what part of Europe hasn't. The name vuilbaard you mentioned is a Dutch name. But anyway, all literature that I've ever read about the bouvier suggested it was Belgian, not French.

As for the insurance, they can be pretty temperamental and have a bad rep for biting people(hyped I believe), which translates into higher premiums. I was bitten by one when I was a kid, and from a kids perspective they are big bad monsters...

Jacques "Le Coq" was hilarious, when I saw the name I wondered how many people who don't speak Spanish or French got the joke. Practically every name in the movie had a funny meaning. It was also full of Canadian references which brought a smile to my face.

Gerald, no wonder vuilbaard wouldn't translate from French. I figured baard means beard so vuil has to mean dirty. I love that name, I find it so appropriate for the dog. With any good protection breed stability has to be one of the objectives of the breeders. Not simply a nervous aggressive dog that will bite anyone, especially a child. And as with any breed to make a good Bouvier takes a combination of good temperament (genetic) and correct upbringing.

Quote from seahunter49

Gerald, no wonder vuilbaard wouldn't translate from French. I figured baard means beard so vuil has to mean dirty. I love that name, I find it so appropriate for the dog.

You are right. Those fuckers are pretty shaggy looking.

Here's one that I trained years ago.

Nice coat on that dog, make them much more impressive than they really are...

Yep, a lot of dogs will look unimpressive to say the least when you bathe them. However I've seen some Bouviers shaved down and they're quite robust. Depending of course on the particular lines and how lean the owners keep them. More robust lets say than a big boned German shepherd.

Les dogues de Bordeaux are great mastiff type of dogs. I would love to have one ...