THE DOGUE DE BORDEAUX IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT FRENCH BREEDS, THOUGH IT ONLY BECAME KNOWN BY THIS NAME IN THE SECOND PART OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. GASTON PHEBUS, THE COUNT OF FOIX, WHOSE BOOK ABOUT GUN DOGS IS FAMOUS, WROTE IN THE 14TH CENTURY ABOUT THE 'ALANS VAUTRES' WHICH WERE THE ANCESTORS OF THE DOGUES DE BORDEAUX.
SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTINGLY, FEW HISTORICAL DETAILS ABOUT THE DOGUE DE BORDEAUX EXIST BEFORE 1863. IN EARLIER DAYS, THIS DOG WAS CALLED A DOGUE OR A MATIN. THIS LATTER NAME COMES FROM THE SAME ROOT AS THE WORD 'MASTIFF' WHICH IS WHY THE DOGUE DE BORDEAUX IS SOMETIMES CALLED A FRENCH MASTIFF. THE FIRST REFERENCE BY NAME APPEARED IN A FRENCH SHOW CATALOGUE IN THAT YEAR, WHEN ONE SPECIMEN OF THE BREED WAS EXHIBITED. THE PURPOSE OF THIS SHOW WAS MORE TO EXHIBIT DIFFERENT BREEDS THAN TO JUDGE DOGS AGAINST THEIR STANDARD. BY THE END OF THE CENTURY, THE NAME DOGUE DE BORDEAUX WAS BETTER ESTABLISHED.
IN THE OLD DAYS, DOGUES DE DORDEAUX WERE KEPT FOR ALL SORTS OF JOBS: HUNTING, FIGHTING, GUARDING, PULLING LOADS. BUTCHERS USED THEM TO PREVENT STEERS GETTING AWAY AND TO KEEP THEM IN THEIR PLACE AND ALSO FOR PULLING LOADS OF MEAT FROM THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE TO THEIR SHOPS. DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR, SOME DOGUES DE BORDEAUX HELPED TO DRAG INJURED PEOPLE TO SAFETY. ANOTHER TASK GIVEN TO THEM WAS HUNTING ANIMALS SUCH AS BOARS.
UNFORTUNATELY, DOGUES WERE ALSO INVOLVED IN DEPLORABLE DOG-BAITING SPECTACLES WHERE THEY WERE MADE TO FIGHT WITH OTHER DOGS, OR EVEN BEARS OR BULLS, SIMPLY FOR MANS ENTERTAINMENT. IT IS SAD TO SAY THAT NOT ONLY DOGUES DE BORDEAUX WRE THUS TREATED - MANY MOLOSSERS WENT THROUGH THIS CRUEL ORDEAL.
IN BRITAIN, THE DOGUE WAS OFFICIALLY RECOGNISED BY THE KENNEL CLUB IN NOVEMBER 1997, BUT THE BREED WAS KNOWN AND APPRECIATED BY FANCIERS IN ENGLAND AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH. AS FAR BACK AS 1893 THE KENNEL CLUB GAZETTE MENTIONS JUDGES REPORTS ABOUT EXHIBITIONS WHERE DOGUES DE BORDEAUX WERE SHOWN IN BRITAIN. THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG, WRITTEN BY ROBERT LEIGHTON AND PUBLISHED IN 1910, DESCRIBES THE DOG AND MENTIONS THAT 'THE DOGUE DE BORDEAUX HAS OFTEN BEEN SEEN ON THIS SIDE OF THE CHANNEL, BUT IN 1895 EFFORTS WERE MADE BY TWO OR THREE WELL-KNOWN BULLDOG MEN TO ESTABLISH THE BREED IN ENGLAND.' A CERTAIN SAM WOODIWISS EVEN PRESIDED OVER THE DOGUE DE BORDEAUX CLUB FOUNDED IN 1897. THE KENNEL CLUB GAZETTE OF NOVEMBER 1897 RELATES THE REPORT OF MR KREHL WHO JUDGED THE CLUB SHOW. IN DECEMBER OF THE SAME YEAR, THE KENNEL CLUB GAZETTE WROTE OF 14 DOGES DE BORDEAUX ENTERED AT A SHOW, AND IN THE NOVEMBER 1898 ISSUE IT IS POSSIBLE TO READ ABOUT THE JUDGING OF DOGUES DE BORDEAUX AT THE KENNEL CLUB CRYSTAL PALACE SHOW.
MEANWHILE, WHAT WAS HAPPINING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CHANNEL? IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE UNCOVERED BY RAYMOND TRIQUET PROVES THAT ENGLISH BRED BULLMASTIFFS WERE SOLD IN FRANCE IN THE BORDEAUX AREA IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT DOGUES DE BORDEAUX AND BULLMASTIFFS FROM BOTHE FRANCE AND BRITAIN WERE CROSSED FROM TIME TO TIME? DO NOT FORGET THAT AT THAT TIME A DOG'S UTILITY WAS ITS MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE AND BREEDERS USED TO CROSS DIFFERENT BREEDS WITHOUT REFERRING TO ANY KENNEL CLUB OR BREED CLUB FOR ADVICE, IN ORDER TO OBTAIN CERTAIN QUALITIES OR IMPROVEMENTS.
AROUND THAT TIME, THERE WERE THREE TYPES OF DOGUES, THE 'PARISIEN, (FROM THE PARIS AREA),THE 'TOULOUSAIN' (FROM THE TOLOUSE AREA), AND THE 'BORDELAIS' (FROM THE BORDEAUX AREA). THERE WAS ALSO THE DOGUIN WHICH WAS A KIND OF MINATURE DOGUE (SAID TO BE A CROSS BETWEEN A BULLDOG AND A DOGUE DE BORDEAUX).
ACCORDING TO TRIQUET, THE PARISIEN WAS BORN IN THE PARIS AREA, HAD LITTLE UNDERSHOT AND POOR STOP AND WAS OFTEN OF MIXED APPEARANCE. THE TOLOUSAIN HAD A LARGE STRONG HEAD WITH LESS STOP, AND A SLIGHTLY DOWN-FACING LONGER MUZZLE. CAPORAL, ONE OF THE EARLIEST AND MOST FAMOUS DOGUES, WAS OF TOLOUSAIN TYPE. THE BORDELAIS WAS VERY MUCH LIKE THE DOG DESCRIBED IN TODAY'S STANDARD.