There is only one Bouvier Des Flandres
The Bouvier Des Flandres is one of the most popular breeds in the Netherlands. The Breed was in the last 10 years always in the top 5 of the most popular dog, most of the time on place 1 or 2. Even when the ear cropping law came through on the 30th of April 1989, it didn't change. It's even a question if the new law, which is probably due around 2001, and which prohibits cutting of the tail will make a difference. This situation made that the amount of breeders and kennels was rising a lot in the last decade. Together with the big amount of puppies each year in the Netherlands this surely had a bad side as well, I shall not deny that. We had our share of problems with Hip dysplasia and other nasty diseases, but we don't have to exaggerate this. It is a utopia to expect that you can wipe out these diseases completely , as everyone knows with two complete HD free dogs you can still find sometimes some descendants with Hip dysplasia . The only thing we can do, (and I know it for sure that we do), through making hard decisions during the selection of our breeding dogs, making x-ray in time and use the guidance in breeding from the NBC (Nederlandse Bouvier Club), take care that these diseases are limited to the extreme minimum. The fact that in the Netherlands we have these problems fairly under control, is mainly because of good judgment and hard selection of the Dutch breeders, also the issued rules and laws are responsible for this and make sure that we have a good breeding product. Of course the breeders are the one's who profit from dogs with a good health and a good character and it's good customer relations for the breed and for themselves. That the breeders have confidence in their own dogs reflects in the fact that they, in the most cases, are giving a written guarantee on their puppies. Because the Netherlands is small and compact, the breeders are meeting each other frequently on working field and shows. That should be an advantage but also in the Netherlands you will hear people talk about the changes, which are not always desired for the breed In a lot of cases it's the character of the dogs which is the hot item. The people who are using the Bouvier for working will tell you that they think that the character of the Bouvier is deteriorating in the last decade, they say it's becoming to soft and that's the reason that the Bouvier is not achieving on the field. Another fact, which we have to live with, is that most of the Bouviers are coming to live in a normal domestic circumstances with children and are not used as a working dog, but just as a pet. This makes that the dogs who are coming in such a family surrounding are not trained for field work and will lose or better, they will not train their aspects the need for the field work during the first education, and their reactions will be a lot more calm, like you expect form a pet. This doesn't mean that if you take the same puppy and train it from the beginning for the fieldwork it wouldn't be able to achieve good results in the fieldwork. The only thing I try to point out to you is that a lot of what is becoming of the dog is dependent on the first education and owner of the dog. It's easy for everyone to get a dog aggressive and then point a finger to the breeder and tell him that the character isn't good (that is something we shouldn't do). Sure there are always cases in which you can say that there is something wrong with the character and that is not only in Holland but everywhere in the world you can find examples of these dogs and not only Bouviers . In such cases you get people who tell you not to buy your dog, which you want to use for fieldwork, from a breeder who is taking his dogs to shows, but to buy them from a different breeder. This is very wrong because then you assume that there are two kinds of Bouviers and that is not the case. I know it's hard but these people should take the trouble and go talk to the breeders and take a look how they can achieve a more understanding for each other and work together for a better breed. I even dare to say that I can find a dog who can easily achieve good results in IPO I,II,III from breeders who are showing their dogs it doesn't matter if the name is Grendarcohof, Dafzicht or van de Lage Banken. But still the question remains why the Bouvier is disappearing from the working field ? The answer isn't as easy as I would like it to be but I think a great part of it is the fact that the Bouvier is taking more time for the first learning parts than for instance the Melemoir or the German shepherd and you will see these breeds more often on the working fields. It would be great and more fun if we had fewer problems but if the people who love to work with their dogs and the breeders would take some interest and listen to each other (not only in Holland but also in America) then we should be released from the insane delusion : two breeds of Bouvier Des Flandres. We better work together on one good healthy breed instead of two half breeds so one Bouvier des Flandres. Greetings from |