The Gigantic French Dog Breed, The Dogue de Bordeaux

Hailed as one of the biggest and probably one of the oldest dog breeds, the Dogue de Bordeaux is definitely a stunner. Also called as French Mastiff, this breed is completely amazing in its gigantic figure and muscle-prone body. With a dog this big, you can definitely expect strength, power and commanding presence.

As early as 14th century, this breed has been flourishing in the region of Bordeaux, France as a prized hunter, herder and guard of families and properties. Its powerful and hard body and unsurpassed intellect has been used to carry heavy loads, pull product-filled carts and fight enemies with the French army. Additionally, another job that adds to this breed’s resume is bull baiting wherein bulls, jaguars and grizzlies are pitted against it and the winner can only be declared if either one is too exhausted to fight or is dead.

This breed is a famous companion for the wealthy and was used to guard their properties such as vineyard and large houses. The commoners also owned French Mastiffs but were not highly regarded due to the obvious fact that they were of the poor masses. When French Revolution struck the region, the wealthy families and their Dogues perished but the poor people and their Douges survived.

The survivor Dogues were trained and reared to be the best breed and their descendants possessed champion spirits and very agreeable dispositions. In World War I, the Dogue’s extreme devotedness and loyalty to its master angered Adolf Hitler. Because of this and some unclear reason, he commanded the killing of the French Mastiff.

The French Mastiff is said to have descended from either the Tibetan Mastiff or the Greek-Roman Molosser which accompanied the Roman soldiers in their invasion of ancient Europe. Some speculate that this breed existed in two types before. The Dogue and the Doguins, but the latter became extinct leaving the Dogue to continue the original line.

There are also many dog breeds today that originated from the Dogue de Bordeaux and these breeds were particularly bred for bull baiting purposes. The Bullmastiff and the Bulldog are only two of the modern breeds that have been proven to be descendants of the Dogue. Indeed, tracing back the history of these pseudo-Dogues, you will realize that breeders were trying to create a smaller version of the giant French Mastiff but at the same time still very powerful in crushing the bulls and bears.

The Dogue de Bordeaux of the present have been carefully bred to possess a calmer and non-aggressive temperament, very far from their bull baiting days temperament. Today, this breed is still a loyal companion, a vigilant guard dog and an ever reliable family pet. You would never expect it for its size but this French breed has the tendency to be very attached with the family that owns it and it is very affectionate towards them, too.

Often, this breed is being compared to the English Mastiff but the English Mastiff measures its appearance in terms of height and length while the Dogue is measured by its width and muscle built. The standard weight for the Dogue de Bordeaux is a minimum of 110 lbs for the male and 99 lbs for the female. The coat is short, fine and soft and comes in shades of light red to deep ultra red with patterns of black, brown or red.

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