The
Braque du Bourbonnais is a breed of gundog, of rustic appearance, sometimes
born with a short tail, with a coat ticked with liver or fawn.
History
Origins
After
World War II, the number of births decreased and the club became less active
until it ceased to function. From 1963 to 1973, there were no dogs registered
in the LOF (French studbook). The reason for this is probably a selection on
secondary characteristics (color of the coat, short tail) instead of the
hunting capabilities and general construction of the dog; this led to have a
Bourbonnais less suitable for hunting than other breeds.
Recreation
In
1970, Michel Comte decided to look for the last dog that had some Bourbonnais
blood. He found only mixed breed dogs, which had some characteristics of the
Braque du Bourbonnais (size, shape of the head, short tail). After some more or
less inbred litters, he registered his first Bourbonnais on the LOF (under
Titre Initial procedure) in 1973, 1974, and 1975; from then, several breeders
joined him, who, from those dogs, created their own lines, and the number of
births increased.,
In
1981, the Club du Braque du Bourbonnais was recreated. Michel Comte was its
president until 2001. From this moment, the successes of the Bourbonnais in
field trials made the breed thrive.
In
1988, the first Bourbonnais was introduced in the USA. Since then the breed has
been growing in that country, which became the second producer of Bourbonnais
pointers after France.
Description
Appearance
Head
Rounded
in every direction, with lateral sides rounded, with parietal bones and
zygomatic arches well developed. The axes of the skull and muzzle are parallel,
or slightly divergent towards the front.
Coat
Two
coat colors exist in the Bourbonnais, each of them having specific name because
the color is specific to the breed:
-Liver,
also called « wine dregs » or « faded lilac ».
-Fawn,
also called « peach blossom ».
Big
spots are tolerated on the body if they are not bigger than the palm of a hand.
On the head, the two eyes must not be inside the same spot.
Differences sire/Female
The
females are generally thinner, more elegant and longer than the sires (see
pictures above).
Short tail
In
the past called "short-tail pointer", the braque du Bourbonnais is
sometimes born with a short tail (brachyury) or no tail at all (anury). The
gene responsible for this characteristic has been identified as being the same
as the Brittany Spaniel one, of autosomal dominant type.
Head position
High
or prolonging the shoulder.
Temperament
They
have a good temper and can be a good agreement dog. But it is mostly a hunter.
It is a continental dog, and must be judged as such.
Allure and style
They
show a lot of activity, even if he does not go very far. Their natural pace is
gallop, but under cover he can use trot. They can change direction quickly,
like polo.
They
must point with authority, in a classical position.
No comments:
Post a Comment