Bouvier De Flanders.

I own one, but has anyone else met one or has owned one?

What are your thoughts on the breed?

Just curious as I noticed they are not a very popular breed.

Mafia Princess is still over at my house and too lazy to sign in. This is from her:

I really thought I wanted a Bouv... I like them, but after this article I doubt I want to actually own one. Don't Buy a Bouvierr

There are a few in local agility here. They do okay.. The teenager that runs them freely admits that they didn't really research and picked a breed based on looks and bought 2 of them. They lucked out. They are pretty low drive and not dying to work. I was looking at Bouvs *for* endless exercise personally..

I've worked a few. Very agile for their size. All of them were very quick, strong and pretty fast. Weren't balanced enough for me though tempermentally for the training we do. But i'm basing that on a pretty small sample size. They aren't terribly popular so you don't come across them very much.

The highlighted part is a tad suprising for me because my bouv now and past Bouvs have been such high drive and very active and are always on the go. I find that they have a huge prey drive as well as they need a job. As a child we would hook Shadow up to a harness and a wagon and she would pull my brother and I around all day.

I've met a few. I like the breed a lot, but it can be difficult to find a good bouv. A good bouv is a lot of fun though. Someday I might own one, but I have a few other breeds on the list first and by the time I get there, I might not have the energy for one.

I love the "bouvier bounce".

My first thought was 'Oh lord, the grooming' lol

I totally agree. I was REALLY curious about the family's choice of Bouvs.. we've talked on more than one occasion about their dogs. If they had been proper typical Bouvs this family would have a nightmare on their hands.

I just hope that people don't see her dogs and not do research into breeds. Though only seeing them at a trial you wouldn't know how easy going hers are.. but I've talked at length with her and they are pretty low drive and not typical.

The drive is what drew me to the breed..

Yes, I hope so too because that would be total Havick and then some! A proper Bouve is a very intense dog.

They also have crazy herding instincts, which can be come a problem if you are not willing to deal with that because they are so big and can weigh over 100 pounds LOL!! Having a huge dog nipping at your heels is not fun :rofl1:

We would always take shadow to my grandparents who had cattle and she would herd and chase thoes cattle all day if we let her.

Hi!
I´m the happy owner of a female Bouvier.
Here´s a link to a post I once made about her.
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/t42695-2/#post549768
Here´s a recentish photo of her.
http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz184/mariana8dogs/DSC05626.jpg
I´ll be glad to share my experiences about Bouviers with you!

all I know is that if I got one, he would be named Mister Flanders lol

and I would style his bangs just like mine because that dog totally looks like me in the morning after im overdue for a haircut!! lol

only met one. it was typical in personality. nice dogs if you want something in that energy level & protectiveness that doesn't look like a tough dog to the average idiot.

I grew up down the block from one - I thought it was a gorilla being walked on a leash (from a distance) the first time I saw her In my defense, I was like 5...

She was pretty low-key, but I think she was a little older... well-behaved, lovingly tolerated the antics of me and my friends, as we loved her dearly... otherwise she just kind of seemed uninterested in new people.

I know a guy who breeds them. He's got lines out of KNPV (Dutch police) stock. They are tough, hard dogs. The male is completely unapproachable by anyone but him, but that's what he wants.

They sure as heck don't look like the blow dried one in the first pic. Like the article that was linked, they look like shaggy farm dogs. His male has more of a wire coat, while the female has a softer looking coat. They are both smaller, the male is around 80lbs and the female around 70ish.

Here's a couple pics from his site:
Male:


Female:

those are the bouv's i'm used to seeing, well as used to them as I can be with the few I see. KNPV lines as well, but not for me.

Wow, that male doesn't look anything like the Bouvs I've met or seen! I guess I'm too used to seeing them fluffed up, but even his structure looks different? The female looks closer, but I'm guessing she had a brushing or something.

The male looks alot like my male not as stocky, and longer and natural tail lol. It looks like the male was shaved and then his hair was growing out. We shave out bouves in the summer.

But my female looks alot like the female picture more compact, deep chest.

The female also has a longer, grown out coat so that might make then look different.

My only experience is with a mix. My dad's neighbor had an intact male bouv and my dad had an intact female malamute, and neither were terribly responsible and the result was some very strange looking pups, lol. My dad kept one, "Sugar." She was never a house dog, always tethered outside. She ended living out with my horse. She was a good watch dog but friendly with us and GREAT with my horse. She was a pretty effective hunter too. That dog regular killed full grown raccoons and ground hogs while tethered.

I've only seen a couple. I worked at a kennel back in HS and we had one come in all the time. She was super layed back. I researched the breed before deciding on the Giant Schnauzer.

My first husband had a friend who bred, showed, and trained Bouvs. He had a group that he rented at night as guard dogs to various businesses (otherwise were house dogs). As a wedding gift, we were given a two year old untrained dog with a "terrier", or working coat. This was over thirty years ago and these dogs were just coming into vogue in Detroit as protection dogs. Our dog, Demon, having been left in a backyard by an associate, was not very confident, very shy. But, when he was put into bite work he destroyed the suit (which was guaranteed to withstand bite work).

I saw Bouvs of different sizes and colors, mostly black or gray, but a couple of yellow ones. They were generally very good around strangers. Some were higher drive, some laid back- any dog needs exercise and training. For a protection dog, I'd probably get a Bouv. As just a family pet, if I wanted a dog that size, yea, a Bouv would be a good dog

The handler that I work for has one. He's quite the escape artist. Very DA as well. He's the only one I have experience with though. He has a lot of energy for his age (i think. he's almost 8) I wouldn't own one just based on him. Although he doesn't have anxiety it just seems like he does, like really jittery and stuff. I also can't stand dogs that pant constantly.