TWO LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT THE BOUVIER

1. Every Bouvier has an internal Executive Committee with whom it must consult before it acts. This of course slows down the processing of your requests (known euphemistically in Human Language as "commands".) Some Bouvs have Executive Committees with members that are very disagreeable with each other and have to argue endlessly over the smallest agenda items, in which case it can take forever for the Bouvier to process its decision. Often the discussion just gets tabled until the next meeting. You can tell when this has happened because your Bouvier just stares at you like you are crazy or he/she is deaf. Other Bouviers have exceptional Executive Committees that get along with each other and can make decisions quickly. These dogs are bred by the Hoyers, Jim Engel, and a few other select people in the country.

There are some trainers out there who have the skill to get inside the Bouvier and oust an entire unsatisfactory Executive Committee and install a new one. These people are called Geniuses.

2. Male Bouviers are born without brains. There is not a single breeder in the country who will admit to this, but if we did the proper xrays or MRIs this would be discovered to be a True Fact. This makes training Male Bouviers especially interesting. Yes, they also have Executive Committees, but they hold their meetings at the other end of the dog. People who have the ability to converse with the Executive Committees of Male Bouviers are called Sandybrockers.

Here is a fact about Bouviers that is well known: every dog needs a different solution. When it comes to the attention issue it's no different. One thing that worked real well for Beaucoup (female) was cheese cubes. That was the treat she'd work for, work enthusiastically for, pay attention for. For Gable (male), the type of treat has no effect. He has an off-on switch. When it's "on", you don't need anything. When it's "off", nothing can turn it on. This has to do with the fact that his E.C. is in his back-end, and the Executive Committee is working on Many Important Agenda Items simultaneously most of the time. We expect this to change in a few months.