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Bordeaux Dogue

The Bordeaux Dogue is one of the most ancient French breeds, probably a descendant of the Alans and in particular, the alan vautre of which Febus, Count of Foix, said in the 14 th century, in his livre de Chasse that the holds his bite stronger than three sight hounds. The word dogue first appeared at the end of the 14 th century. In the middle of the 19th century these ancient dogue were hardly renowned outside the regionof Aquitaine. They were used for hunting large animals such as boar, for figting for the garding of houses and cattle and in the service of butchers. In 1863 in the first french dog show took place in paris in the Jardin d'Acclimatation. The dogues de Bordeaux were entered under thier present name. There have been different types: The Toulouse type, the paris type and the Bourdeaux type, which is the origin of today's dogue. The breed, which had suffered greatly during the two world wars, to the point of being threatened with extinction after the second world war, got off to a fresh start in the 1960's.

General appearance ** Typical concave lined brachycephalic molossoid. The Dogue de Bordeaux is a very powerful dog.with a very muscular body yet retaining a harmonious general outline. He is built rather close to the ground, the distance sternum-ground being slightly less than the depth of the chest. Stocky athletic, imposing, he has a very dissuasive aspect.

Important ** The length of the body is superior to the height at the withers, in the proportion of 11/10, measured from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock. The depht of the chest is more than half the height at the withers. The maxmium length of the muzzle is equal to one third of the length of the head. The minimum lengthof the muzzle is equal to one quarter of the lenght of the headIn the male the perimeter of the skull corresponds more or less to the height at the withers.

Behavior & Temperament *** An ancient fighting dog, the Dogue de Bordeaux is gifted for guarding, which he assumes with vigilance and great courage but without aggressiveness.A good companion, very attrached to his master and very affectionate. Calm, balanced with high stimulus threshold. The male normally has a dominant character.

Head **Voluminous, angular, broad, rathershort, trapezoid when viewed from above and in front.

Cranial Region ** In the male: The perimeter of the skull measured at the level of its greatest width corresponds roughly to the height at the withers. In bitches: it may be slightly less. Its volume and the shape are the consequences of the very important developmentof the temporals, supra orbital arches zygomatic arches and the spacing of the branches of the lower jaw. Well we will have the upper region of the skull is slightly convex from oneside to the other. Fronto nasal deppression or stop is very pronounced, almost forming a right angle with the muzzle 95 to 100. The frontal groove is deep, dimninishing towards the posterior end of the head. The forehead dominates the face. However it is still wider than high. The head is furrowed with symmetrical wrinkles, each side of the median groove. These deep ropes of wrinkles are mobile depending on whether the dog is attentive or not.

Facial Region & Muzzle ** Powerful, board, thick, but not fleshy below the eyes,rather short, upper profile very slightly concave, with moderately obvious folds. Its width hardly decreasing towards the tip of the muzzle, when viewed from above it has the generalshape of a square. In relation to the upper region of the skull, the line of the muzzleforms a very obtuse angle upwards. When the head is held horizontally the tip of the muzzle truncated, thick and broad at the base, is in the front of a vertical tangent to the anterior face of the nose. Its perimeter is almost two thirds of that of the head. Its length varies betweenone third and one quarter of the total length of the head, from the nose to the occipital crest. The limits stated maximum one thidt and minimum one quarter of the total length of the head are than permissible.but not sought after, the ideal length of the mazzle being between these two extremes.

Nose ** Broad, well opened nostrills, well pigmented according to the mask. Upturned nose snubbed permissible but not if it is set back towards the face.

Jaws ** Very powerful, broad. Undershot the undershot condition being a characteristic of the breed. The back face of the lower incisors is in the front of and not in contact with the front face of the upper incisors. The lower jaw cures upwards.

The chin is well marked and must neither overlap the upper lip exaggeratedly nor be covered by it.

Theet ** Strong, particularly the canines. Lower canines set wideapart and slightly curved. Incisors well aligned especially in the lower jaw where they from an apparebtly straight line.

Upper lip ** Thick, moderately pendulous, retractile. When viewed in profile it shows a rounded lower line. It covers the lower jaw on the sides. In front te edge of the upper lip is in contact with the lower lip then drops on either side thus forming a reversed wide V .

Cheeks ** Prominent, due to the very strong development of the muscles.

Eyes ** Oval, set wide apart. The space between the two inner angles of the eyelids is equal to about twice the length of the eye ( eye opening ). Frank expession. The haw must not be visble. Colour , hazel to dark brown for a dog with a black mask, ligthter colour tolerated but not sought after in the dogs with either a brown mask or without a mask.

Ears *** Relatively smal,of aslightly darker colour than the coat.At its set on the front of the base of the ear is slightly raised. They must fall back, but not hang limply, the front edge being close to the cheek when when the dog is attenive. The tip of the ear is slightly rounded ; it must not reach beyondthe eye. Set rather high, at the level of the upper line of the skull, thus appearing to accentuate its width even more

Neck ** Very strong, muscular, almostcylindrical. The skin is supple, ample and loose. The average circumference almost, equals that of the head. It is separated from the head by a slightly accentuated transversal furrow, slightly curved. Its upper edge is slightly convex. The well defined dewlap stars at the level of the troat forming folds down to the chest, without hanging exaggeratedly. The neck, very, broad at its base, merges smoothly with the shoulders.

Body & Topline ** Solid with a broad and muscular back, withers well marked, broad loin, rather short and solod, rump moderately sloping down to the root of the tail.

Chest *** Powereful, long deep, broad let down lower than the elbows; Broadand powerful breast who'slower line inter - axillae is convex towards the bootom.Ribs well let down and well sprung but not barrel shaped. The circumference of the chest must be between o,25 to 0,30 greater than the height at the withers.

Underline ** Curved, from the deep brisket to the rather tucked up, firm abdomen, being neither pendulous nor whippety.

Tail ** Very thich at the base. Its tip prefererably reaching the hock and not below. Carried low, it is neither broken nor kinked but supple. Hanging when the dog is in repose, generally rising by 90 to 120 from that postition when the dog is in action, without curving over the back or being curled.

Limbs & ForeQuarters** Strong bone structure, legs very muscular.

Shoulders ** Powerful, prominent muscles. Slant of shoulder blade medium about 45 to the horizontal angle of the scapular-humeral articulation a little more than 90.

Arms ** Very muscular.

Elbows ** In the axis of the body, neither too close to the thoracic wall nor turned out.

Fore Arms ** Viewed from the front, straight or inclining slightly inwards thus getting closer the the median plane, especially in dog with a very broad chest. viewed in profile, vertical.

Metacarpal region ** Powerful. Viewed in profile, slightly sloping, Viewed from the front sometimes slightly outwards thus compensating for thr slight inclination of the forarm inwards.

Feet ** Strong. Toes tight, nails curved and strong, pads well developed and supple, the dogue is well up on his toes despite his weight.

Thigh ** This bordeaux dog is very developed and thick visible muscles.

HindQuarters ** Robust legs with strong structure, well angulated.

Stifle ** In a parallel plane to the median plane or slightly out.

Legs ** Relatively short, muscled, descending low.

Hock ** Short, sinewy, angle of the hock joint moderately open.

Metatarsus ** Robust, no dewclaws.

Hind feet ** Slightly longer than the front feet, toes tight.

Movement ** Quite supple for a molossoid. When walking the movements is free, supple, close the the ground. good drive from the hindquarters, good extension of the forelegs, especially when trotting, which is the preferred gait.

When the trot quickens, the head tends to the drop, the topline inclines towards to the front, and the front feet get closer to the median plane while striding out with a long reaching movement of the front legs. Short gallop with vertical movement rather important. Capable of great speed over short distances by bolting along close to the ground.

Skin ** Thick and sufficiently loose fitting.

Hair ** Fine, short and very soft to touck.

Coat ** Self-coloured, in all shades of fawn, from mahogany to isabella. A good pigmentation is desirable. Limited white patches are permissible on the chest and the extremities of the limbs.

Size ** Height should more less correspond to the petimeter of the skull.

Dogs ** 60-68 cm at the withers

Bitches ** 58-66 at the withers. 1 cm under and 2 cm over will be tolerated.

Mask ** Black mask, the mask is often only slightly spread out and must not invade the cranial region. There may be slight black shading on the skull ears, neck and top of the body. The nose is then black.

Brown mask; used to be called red or bistre, the nose is then brown, the eye rims are also brown.

No mask: the coat is fawn: the skin appears red also formerly called red mask. The nose is then reddish or pink.

N.B. Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully into the scrotum.