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ORIGIN:
Belgium-France.
UTILIZATION:
Originally the Bouvier des Flandres was used as a herding
dog, as a draught dog and as churning dog. The modernisation
of farm equipment has affected these first tasks and nowadays
the Bouvier des Flandres is above all used as a guard dog
for the estate and the farm, as a defence and police dog.
Its physical and behavioural aptitudes, its great qualities
of scent, initiative and intelligence warrant its use as a
tracking dog, a messenger dog and a gamekeeper’s dog.
BRIEF HISTORICAL
SUMMARY :
As its name indicates, the Bouvier des Flandres (Flanders
Cattle Dog) is native to Flanders, to both Belgian and French
regions of that name, since they are not divided by any natural
frontiers. The cowmen and drovers of stock in Flanders needing
good dogs to drive their herds, only selected from the local
dogs available those specimens which possessed the required
physical and behavioural qualities. The present day Bouvier
des Flandres has inherited these qualities.
GENERAL APPEARANCE:
Sub-brachymorphic. Short and compact body, strong and well-muscled
limbs. The Bouvier des Flandres gives the impression of power,
but without clumsiness.
The Bouvier des Flandres is to be judged in its natural stance,
without physical contact with the handler.
IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS:
Length of body from point of shoulder to point of buttock
should be approximately equal to height at withers.
Proportions of length of skull to length of muzzle are 3 to
2.
BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT
:
The Bouvier des Flandres has the calm, thoughtful character
of a sensible, but fearless dog. Its lively look indicates
intelligence, energy and audacity. It is essential that the
Bouvier des Flandres should retain its aptitude for work.
Any change which could harm this must be penalised.
HEAD : The
head has a massive appearance, still more accentuated by the
beard and moustache. It is in proportion to the body and stature.
Its clean cut lines are obvious to the touch.
CRANIAL REGION:
Well-developed and flat, slightly less broad than long. Toplines
of skull and muzzle are parallel. Frontal groove hardly denoted.
Stop: Only slightly pronounced; more apparent than real, due
to upstanding eyebrows.
FACIAL REGION :
Nose: Nose continues the muzzle in a line which is slightly
convex towards its end. It must be well-developed, rounded
at the sides and always black in colour. Wide-open nostrils.
Muzzle: Broad, powerful, well-boned, straight in its upper
line, narrowing towards the nose, but never becoming pointed.
Its length should be shorter than the skull by 2 : 3. Circumference
measured just below the eyes should be approximately equal
to length of head.
Lips: Well-fitting and strongly pigmented.
Jaws/Teeth: Jaws must be powerful and of equal length. Teeth
are strong, healthy, white and evenly set. Scissor or pincer
bite. Dentition must be complete.
Cheeks: Flat and clean, zygomatic arches are not very protruding.
Eyes: Frank and energetic expression, neither protruding nor
sunken. They should be slightly oval in shape, set horizontally.
Colour should be as dark as possible in relation to coat.
Light and wild-looking eyes should be strongly penalised.
Lids black, without the slightest indication of unpigmented
areas. Haw should never be visible.
Ears: Cropped in triangle, carried upright, set high, very
mobile; a crop proportioned to the head size is recommended.
Un-cropped ears:
Position: Set high, above eye level, flaps falling vertically.
The fold must not stand higher than the top of the skull.
Shape and carriage: Half-long, forming an equilateral triangle,
slightly rounded at tip, lying flat against cheeks, except
the slight lift-up at top of ear set; neither folded nor curled;
in proportion with head size; covered with very short hair.
NECK:
Should spring clearly from the shoulders and is carried sufficiently
upright. Strong, well muscled, widening gradually towards
the shoulders. Length slightly shorter than length of head.
Nape powerful and slightly arched. No dewlap.
BODY: Powerful,
close-coupled and short.
Topline: Upper line of back and loins horizontal, tight and
firm.
Withers: Slightly raised.
Back: Short, broad, muscled and well-supported, with no sign
of weakness, yet remaining flexible.
Loins: Short, broad, well muscled; must be flexible, with
no sign of weakness.
Croup: Must follow as closely as possible the horizontal line
of the back and blend imperceptibly into the curve of the
buttocks. Broad but not excessively so in males, more developed
in bitches. A croup which falls away or a goose rump is a
serious fault.
Chest: Broad and well let down as far as level of elbows,
but not cylindrical. The first ribs are slightly arched, the
others rounded and well-sloped to the rear, giving the desired
length of chest. Flat ribs to be severely penalised. The distance
from the point of the breast-bone (manubrium) to the last
rib must be considerable, about 7/10 of the height at the
withers.
Underline: The underside of the chest rises very slightly
towards the belly, which is only slightly tucked up. Flanks
must be short, especially in males.
TAIL:
Set relatively high, the tail must continue the line of the
backbone.
Some dogs are born tailless and must not be penalised for
this.
The tail should be docked in the first week of birth leaving
2 or 3 vertebrae.
In countries where docking is banned, the whole tail is admitted.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS:
Overview: Front legs have strong bone and are well-muscled.
Perfectly straight and parallel seen from the front.
Shoulders: Relatively long, muscled, without being heavy,
moderately oblique. Shoulder blade and humerus are approximately
of the same length.
Upper arm: Moderately oblique.
Elbows: Close to body and parallel. Elbows turning in or out,
in a natural stance or on the move, are considered a fault.
Forearm: Whether seen in profile or from the front, they must
be perfectly straight, parallel to each other and perpendicular
to the ground. They must be well-muscled and with good bone.
Wrist (carpus): Exactly in line with forearm. Only the pisiform
bone juts out at the back of the wrist. Strong bone.
Front pasterns (metacarpus): Strong bone, quite short, sloping
forward very slightly.
Forefeet: Short, round, compact, neither toeing in nor toeing
out. Toes should be tight and arched, with strong and dark
nails. Thick and hard pads.
HINDQUARTERS:
Overview: Strong, with pronounced muscle, upright and perfectly
parallel seen from the rear. Must move in the same planes
as the front legs.
Upper thighs: Broad, well-muscled, parallel in direction to
the median plane of the body. Femur must be neither too straight
nor too sloping. Buttocks well let down, trousered and firm.
Stifle (Knee): Set approximately on an imaginary straight
line from the highest point of the hip (iliac crest) perpendicular
tot the ground.
Lower thighs: Moderately long, well-muscled, neither too straight
nor too sloping.
Hocks: Rather close to the ground, broad, tight. Seen from
behind they should be straight and perfectly parallel when
standing. On the move they should turn neither in nor out.
Back pasterns (metatarsus): Strong and lean, rather cylindrical,
perpendicular to the ground when the dog is in a natural standing
position. No dewclaws.
Hind feet: Round, solid, toes well closed and arched, with
strong black nails. Thick hard pads.
GAIT/MOVEMENT:
The whole of the Bouvier des Flandres must be harmoniously
proportioned to ensure free, true and proud movement. Walking
and trotting are the normal gaits, although one does also
encounter amblers. At a normal trot the Bouvier des Flandres
covers its traces i.e. covers the front pad marks with the
rear.
SKIN:
Tight fitting; no excessive slackness; the edges of the eyelids
and lips are always very dark.
COAT:
HAIR: The coat is very abundant, the outer coat forming with
the dense undercoat a protective layer perfectly adapted to
the sudden climatic changes in this breed’s native land.
The hair must be coarse to the touch, dry and matt, neither
too long nor too short (about 6 cm.), slightly tousled but
never woolly or curly. Shorter on the head and very short
on the outside of the ears. The inner part of the ear flap
is protected by medium long hair. The upper lip carries a
moustache and the chin a full beard, giving the forbidding
expression so typical of this breed. The eyebrows consist
of raised hairs, accentuating the shape of the superciliary
ridges without ever veiling the eyes. The coat is particularly
harsh and rasping on the upper part of the back. It shortens
very slightly on the limbs but remains harsh. A flat coat
should be avoided because it denotes a lack of undercoat.
The undercoat is a padding made up of fine dense hair which
grows beneath the outer coat and together with the topcoat
it forms a waterproof covering.
COLOUR: The Bouvier des Flandres’ coat is usually grey,
brindle or overlaid with black. A completely uniform black
is also accepted, without being favoured. Light-coloured,
so-called washed-out coats are not acceptable. A white star
on the chest is tolerated.
SIZE AND WEIGHT:
Height at withers: 62-68 cm for males,
59-65 cm for females,
with a tolerance of plus or minus 1 cm.
For both sexes the ideal size is the middle range, i.e. 65
cm for males, 62 cm for females.
Weight: approximately 35 - 40 kg for males
27 – 35 kg for females.
FAULTS:
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered
a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be
regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
SERIOUS FAULTS:
- Timid dog.
- Molossoid appearance, too heavy a dog.
- Body obviously too long (slight tolerance for females) or
too light.
- Too massive a head, marked stop, pronounced frontal groove,
very prominent zygomatic
arches.
- Domed skull, narrow skull, very prominent occipital crest,
important lack of parallelism between
the toplines of skull and muzzle.
- Muzzle too long, pinched nose.
- Loose, thick or overlapping lips.
- Wry jaw; malocclusion of teeth.
- Small, unhealthy or poorly set teeth.
- Light eyes, bulging eyes, untypical expression.
- Uncropped ears which are curled or folded.
- Cylindrical neck, dewlap.
- Back very sagging, very arched.
- Very faulty stance, obviously camped stance, sickle hocks.
- Silky coat, lack of undercoat, puffed up coat, shiny, over-groomed.
- Lack of head furnishings.
- Simultaneous faults in pigmentation (nose, lips, eyelids).
DISQUALIFYING FAULTS:
- Overly shy or dangerously aggressive dog.
- Obvious lack of type.
- Discoloured nose or of another colour than black.
- Pointed muzzle.
- Pronounced over- or undershot bite.
- Any missing tooth other than one P1.
- Wall eyes or wild expression.
- Entropion, ectropion, unpigmented eyelids.
- Coat chocolate brown, white, pepper and salt, washed-out
colour and any other pale fawn going
from light to red, even with black overlay.
- Height at withers outside the range of the standard.
N.B.: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles
fully descended into the scrotum.
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