Spring Is Here!

As I look outside my kitchen window at the new "Canine Condo" we have built for our loyal and trusted canine friends I smile at the play that comes with the warmth of spring. We have two pups
left from Zara's last litter. One of which is the pick of the litter and we have been holding back to
see if we want to add her to our breeding program.

There is something different about her. She has this air about her that says, "I know I'm cute!" She
is our resident guard dog. She often barks before Crock does when someone comes to greet them
hello, or if the neighbour is doing a DIY project in their back yard. She is extremely intelligent and
so I know she will be a handful. But how can I help myeslf, just look ather!

I have been trying to decide on a name for her. I am not really a fan of prissy girl names for this breed, not that I have a problem with other people calling their dog's these names, its just not me. I guess Zara is kind of a prissy name but it has meat to it too. Some of the names I was thinking of are: Harper, Striker and Shredder. 

One of our first puppies to go, the largest of the litter... "Alpha" recently came for a visit and as Ike and I were looking out our window at them playing we saw him humping the other puppies. We were both laughing in dis-belief. They are 17 weeks old and already humping? I guess when they understand how things work, they begin to sort out the pekking order. 

Looking forward to more sunny days at play...

Saying Goodbye

We recently added Croc and Chloe to our breeding program. They came from a breeder in the praries and at the time of purchase we were thrilled they were a great deal, or so we thought.

            Upon bringing the two of them home with us we had our first ever dog fight between Zara and Chloe. Thank goodness there were no serious wounds or scars. We made the decision to seperate them until we could find a suitable behaviouralist here in Calgary. After searching we found a great one who had experience working with wild dogs such as the jackal and wolves.

       We saw great improvement in attitude over the following two weeks. Ike and the behvaiorlist even managed to take Zara and Chloe out for a walk together (muzzle on Chloe). One day as I was bringing in Chloe from outside, my daughter opened the room to where we kept Zara and another fight started. It was so close to my 3 year old it gave me quite the scare. I managed to get them off each other and made the decision to re-home Chloe. It was to close for comfort for me. What would have happened if Neriah had fallen in-between them.

     After one month of advertizing and not finding a suitable home we found a couple close by that had no other dogs and would smother her in attention, which is what we believe she needs. Chloe is very happy and we are able to visit any time we would like. We are excited to have our house back and peace in our home. Crock and Zara have calmed down quite a bit since Chloe has gone, and although we were all sad to see her go, we know it was the best decision we could have made.

Goodbye Chloe. We wish you all the best!

   Have you ever seen a dog fight? Has your dog ever been in a fight with another dog? What did you do?

Adding to Our Breeding Program

Zara is once again, in heat. Our last breeding was unsuccessful and a result Ike and I have decided to buy our own sire. Missing a breeding can be extremely dissapointing, however, it gives Zara a break to be simply a dog.

     After doing our research and deciding that we didn't want to wait for a puppy, we will most likely be importing a dogue from Europe, bringing fresh blood into the Dogue de Bordeaux world in Canada, an extremely small community of breeders.

Zara has filled out quite nicely in the last year and we are extremely excited about our next future litter. With our Euro import we will be showing the puppies in the ring, starting nationally and hopefully internationally as well. Stay tuned as we iron out the details with the breeder.

Making "It" Happen

So its been a bit of a hectic week for me. Some family drama going on...... you know how it goes. And Zara came into heat. We had planned to breed with Kingston again. The puppies were perfect, however, it was taking time for them to get back to me and I didn't want to miss this heat. I came across an ad on Kijiji about an "oops" litter of pups who had a Dogue de Bordeaux father. I quickly clicked on the link and found Ottie. A young, beautiful Bordeaux from Quebec.

     After many inquiries and lots of paperwork. Zara, Neriah and I headed over to Rockyford, Alberta to meet Zara's future boyfriend. He was so excited to see her. I left Zara at Ottie's house for 3 days and when I went to pick her up, she didn't greet me and was not happy when I tried to take her home. Every time we meet another Bordeaux, she just seems to light up and is so content.

        Ottie has incredible strength and stamina for a boy half Zara's age. She is a bit of a cougar this time around. I am so excited for this litter and cannot wait to see what a Zara and Ottie litter will turn out like. I will try to post a picture soon of Ottie in all his glory. Hopefully by late August to early September, Zara will have had a litter of excellent Bordeaux's.

The Perfect Companion

My favourite thing about our family Bordeaux is her sweet nature and loving disposition. She is the nicest behaved dog in my neighborhood. I constantly have people stopping me at the park to comment on her amazing obedience, friendly demeanour and gentle nature around children. The bordeaux has become top dog in my books. Most of my family thought I was crazy buying such a large breed dog. However, after having Zara for a few years now, my family wants their own Bordeaux.

   The amazing thing about the Bordeaux is their loyalty and protective nature coupled with their warm demeanour and love for people. If dogs could post relationship ad's, the Bordeaux's ad would look something like this:

"Love's to go for walk's in the park, or curl up to a nice warm fire with a cup of hot chocolate. A family "dog" with a good work ethic and a great sense of humor. I love to hang out and watch movies or sit outside on a warm summer night, gazing at the star's."

Here is a picture of Zara with my daughter Neriah at the Enchanted Forrest just outside Revelstoke, British Columbia.

So if you had to pick a favourite trait about your Bordeaux, what would it be and why?

Its all in the face....

Have you ever tried to explain a Bordeaux to someone who has never heard of it before. Its can be quite halarious. Nine out of ten times people think I am talking about a Sharpei. "There is a HUGE difference!" I always end up saying. "Sounds the same to me." They always reply. What is it about the face that we as DDB lovers like. You either LOVE it, or you HATE it.

        I still remember the first time I saw and fell in love with the DDB breed. My husband, Ike, and I had been trying to figure out what type of dog we were going to get. I had grown up with labradors, my mom and I had bred them, and Ike had bred german shepherds. However, neither of us liked the other breed. It was during a trip to the coast that we met and fell in love with the DDB.

       Ike and I went to Victoria, BC for a vacation and were staying at quaint little hotel near the parliament buildings. We were just leaving to go for a walk around the city and this MASSIVE DDB came strolling in like it was no big deal with her owner. Ike and I turned to each other and smiled. We instantly fell in love with the huge head and wrinkly face..... what a face. We approached the owner and our oooooooo's and aaaahhhhhhh's made the dog a bit shy. This 120 lbs + dog dodged behind her owner and peeked out to keep an eye on us. Ike and I looked at each other and broke into laughter. We couldn't believe that such a shy dog could be such a mama's boy. From that moment on we began our journey and research into the DDB and the more we learned, the more we developed a passion for this breed.

   At time's I still look at my dog Zara and smile..... what a difference between labradors and Bordeauxs. The temperament, the energy level and size have taken a bit of getting use to, but I have come to the point where I cant remember life before her. She is part of our family and we adore the energy and excitement she brings into our home.

    Since buying our Zara we have entered into a new journey.... the journey of breeding. Zara had her first litter in early January of this year and there has never been a dull moment. She had a litter of two. I have to admit I was extremely dissapointed, however, it has given me the time I  need to learn even more about the breed and to test the market for the DDB in Calgary, Alberta and in Canada.

      We are yet to sell the last puppy from the litter, however, we have had people call to send deposit's for the upcoming litter in the summer. We are extremely proud of the two puppies Zara had. They have excellent pedigree and are prime examples of great DDB's.

Puppy, having a little nap.

Zara, stopping to breath after a little run in the back yard.

Zara and her little boy, hanging out with the family at home.

                                    Father, Kingston, at his home in Nanaimo.