BOUVIER DES FLANDRES Breed Standards
As its name suggests, the Bouvier des Flandres originated in the farmlands of Flanders in southern Belgium and is derivative of the Berger sheepdog, barbet and Dutch griffon. By 1912, when the first standard for the breed was developed, the Bouvier des Flandres had been faithfully serving the farmers of Belgium for hundreds of years as herders, draft animals and watchdogs. At that time it was common for both ears and tail to be cropped, as these features made the dog a more obvious target for predators around the farm, but the new breed standard sought to determine whether these practices went well with the proper look of the dog. In the midst of this interest in the Bouvier, World War I broke out and the dog’s native home became a battlefield where most of the breed was wiped out. Some Bouviers worked as military dogs, others escaped to neighboring countries, but the majority of the breed died out.
The Bouviers that were taken to the Netherlands and France became part of a selective breeding program. In 1922, the Club National Belge du Bouvier des Flandres was formed in Gent. In the 1920s, the Belgian was introduced to North America, where it was recognized by the Amerian Kennel Club in 1931. A few years later, the Bouvier had another brush up with human war: legend has it that Adolf Hitler had heard of the Bouvier des Flandres and was considering it as the official guard dog of the Third Reich. When a Bouvier was brought to him, it promptly bit his hand. Hitler then ordered that all Bouviers in Europe be killed, leading to the second near-extinction of the breed in Europe. Thankfully, this wish was not granted, and the Bouvier des Flandres has survived to this day. Modern technology has largely supplanted the Bouvier as a farmhand, but the dog is still put to use as a protector and family pet.
