Dogue de Bordeaux

[fiji]

Anyone own one? There is a very good chance I will be getting one at the end of august(litter will be born late june/early july) and I wanted to get some extra opinions and experiences from people who have one. Or if anyone knows of any really good reads about the breed thatd be great too! Thanks.

[sarallyn]

just wanted to say congrats -- they're wonderful dogs.

[kian]

Congrats as well, I am excited to hear more.

[KeyStoneK9]

Anyone own one? There is a very good chance I will be getting one at the end of august(litter will be born late june/early july) and I wanted to get some extra opinions and experiences from people who have one. Or if anyone knows of any really good reads about the breed thatd be great too! Thanks.

What breeder are you getting yours from?
Are you getting a male or female?
What kind of things do you want to know?

[fiji]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you Key, Ive done a lot of googling but there isnt much info out there.

How much do they typically eat a day?
How much exercise do they need a day? A good 20-30 minute walk through the park if it isnt too hot out good? I know youre supposed to make sure to not over exercise 'em as pups to prevent damage to their joints and tendons. If you could be a little more specific thatd be great.
How long will they need to be crate trained to be house broken on average?
Will he do well with another male dog who is small, only 20lbs, as long as I train him to know his place is below fiji's in the pack and raise him with fiji?

Just any personal stories you could share or a summary of your experiences with the breed would be nice. I just like to read about them while I wait. Oh any good books about the breed that you would recommend? All I can think of for now. Thanks!

[Curlydawn]

We have an 8 month old male and he is amazing!! You would never know that we have a puppy in the house and its been like that since the day we brought him home. He does get his bursts of energy and he does bump into things but not like other puppies I have had.
If anything were to happen to our male or our other dog, I would definately get another Dogue de Bordeaux.

[Sandy, Cheyenne's mom2]

I don't know the breed at all, so can't answer any of your ??'s. I just wanted to suggest if you are getting him/her from a breeder you trust, why not put your ??'s to the breeder? I'm sure any reputable breeder would be more than willing to answer anything you want to know, if just to ensure his pup is going to a good home. Best of everything to you!
Sandy & Cheyenne

[fiji]

yea, i have asked the breeder, but i like to just get as many people's opions as possible. I just like reading about the breed too haha.

[Phyrie]

I have more than a little concern here. You are asking basic questions about a breed of dog that is reputably difficult to handle. You are asking how much to feed him, and basic care questions that you should be able to answer well in advance of buying a dog of this breed. Or any breed, for that matter. If you don't how to exercise a dog, or feed it, you might want to do a bit more research before jumping into dog ownership.

You should know the answers to all these questions before you buy a dog. Especially an "experienced-handler required" dog.

Phyrie

[fiji]

I have more than a little concern here. You are asking basic questions about a breed of dog that is reputably difficult to handle. You are asking how much to feed him, and basic care questions that you should be able to answer well in advance of buying a dog of this breed. Or any breed, for that matter. If you don't how to exercise a dog, or feed it, you might want to do a bit more research before jumping into dog ownership.

You should know the answers to all these questions before you buy a dog. Especially an "experienced-handler required" dog.

Phyrie

I know you mean well but you should really read what you type before you hit submit as you sound rather condescending and even insulting. I'm asking these questions because there are good ones to know for sure and I've not had a 100lb+ breed and there is not much information available on a rare breed like the Dogue de Bordeaux. I have read many conflicting answers from numerous people supposedly informed on the breed and so I thought I would get another set of answers from. And sorry for not instantly knowing all there is to know about the breed, but I'm shocked to see you seem to be upset that I am asking questions. This dog will not even be ready to go home until end of august early september if I do decide to purchase a puppy as he is not even born yet. If you dont have anything constructive to add then please do not come into my thread acting all snobbish.

Here's what I know about the breed since you seem so concerned;

Its a big dog, they eat a lot, ive read anywhere from 4-6 cups a day depending on the food.
As it is one of the gentle giants i have read from many places and talked to some people and they say it is a rather lazy dog as a lot of large mastiff breeds are(supposedly) hence why I am asking another breeder who seems like they love their dogs to get their opinion so a 30 minute walk a day by all accounts so far would seem resonable. although until they are 12 months old physical activity over 10 minutes is discouraged as is excessive running, jogging or jumping to prevent hyp and joiny problems
I dont know about how long it takes them to be crate trained but ive read they know to go outside rather quickly.
Ive also read that as long as he is raised with the other dog and I'm sure to train him to know his place in the pack he will be fine but they say the same for all dogs even ones who are generally aggresive towards other dogs so I wanted to get an additional opinion.

Sorry for asking questions, /sarcasm

ps. sorry if i seem grumpy, gf had to get up at 530 to go to work at the hospital and I was unable to get back to sleep. I probably should my own advice and preread this but i'm in a fowl mood.


edit: oh and we have some very excellent training facilities in ann arbor where he will be attending numerous classes such as puppy kindergarten, jumpstart obedience training and then regular obedience training.

[snoopygirl]

Congrats on you possibly getting a Dogue de Bordeaux in the near future! They are very majestic animals. I don't have first hand experience but after researching a little it seems they are fairly intelligent and mean to please, so they should be okay to train and housebreak especially using crate training which seems to be a very popular method. Big dogs seem to take to it easier than small dogs the majority of the time, probably because of their bladder size? Once it has left puppyhood it should be walked a couple of times a day, for a total of about an hour. They are apparently good with other animals if they are introduced to them as puppies.

[Curlydawn]

Fiji,
We had all the same questions you did before we purchased our Dogue de Bordeaux, and there just is not as much info out there as there is for a lot of other breeds. We have had other breeds, just not a giant breed and we wanted to be sure we were making the right decision in adding one to the family. We went to a breeder and spent some time with the Dogues before we actually made up our minds.
I will tell you that yes, it is beneficial to take the Dogue to at least 2 puppy classes but the Dogue is NOT an "experienced-handler required" dog. If you are consistant in your training/handling then you won't have any problems.
We are very proud DDB owners and we had no previous knowledge of the breed other then what we could find online and from the breeder. We have had absolutely no issues, they are very intelligent dogs, so please do not let previous posts discourage you in any way.
If you would like any more info don't hesitate to ask.

[Thesaint77]

Hello, By now you might have your dogue. You will also know that half the info is bogus on the net regarding how easy these dogs are to handle for the average family. Mostly breeders talking about all the great things but little info regarding the true dominant nature of the dogue. I am an experienced dogue owner, in fact I have 2 Dogues currently here in the house. The male Nino de la Calle is 2 years old and the Female Marisol is 8 months old. Both extremly well trained and socialized. Excellent dogs, in fact the best dogs I have ever owned, however the challenging nature which is usally a bluff is scary for the average family and will occur the minute a dog doesnt like what it hears, for example a firm no. Mouthing is normal for them, which is also scary to most people. But once you learn that its not really a bite, if it did bite for real it would break bones in 2 seconds. This is simply their form of communication, very scary forthe average family. The dogue is very high maintence. Allergies if you live in Florida vet bills for skin issues in the 200.00 range often, food bills for good food easily run over 200.00 per month. More than twice the amount for a german shephard dog.

While going through heeling training prior to, the dogues pull and the average woman or child cannot walk the dogue as it will pull almost as if there is nothing there, extremly powerful dogues. Most will chase all small animals and will not tolerate any other dominant doges whether male of female(even if raised together once the dominant hormones kick in around 2). The dogue does not do well alone all day, they are very co dependent on the master, will be extremly stressed if left alone for any period of time. If the main master is not home and someone else opens the door, the dogue will bolt out in search for his main master. All in all not a good first dogue to get, it's a true working dogue that needs experience close by. Lots of horror stories of people having to put them down thinking they are agressive, when it's simple misunderstanding of the mouthing or the way the dogues communicate.