Having worked for centuries as cattle herders, the breed remains primarily as working dog, serving excellently in seeing-eye, police and military roles. As its name indicates, the Bouvier des Flandres (Flanders Cattle Dog) is native to Flanders, to both Belgian and French regions of that name, since they are not divided by any natural frontiers. The cowmen and drovers of stock in Flanders needing good dogs to drive their herds, only selected from the local dogs available those specimens which possessed the required physical and behavioral qualities. The present day Bouvier des Flandres has inherited these qualities.
With its short and compact body, strong and well-muscled limbs, the Bouvier des Flandres gives the impression of power, but without clumsiness. The head has a massive appearance, still more accentuated by the beard and moustache. It is in proportion to the body and stature. Its clean cut lines are obvious to the touch. The head is well-developed and flat, slightly less broad than long. Toplines of skull and muzzle are parallel. Frontal groove hardly denoted.
Stop: Only slightly pronounced; more apparent than real, due to upstanding eyebrows. The ears can be cropped or uncropped. Ears are cropped in triangle, carried upright, set high, very mobile. Un-cropped ears are set high, above eye level, flaps falling vertically. The fold must not stand higher than the top of the skull. The tail is set relatively high, the tail must continue the line of the backbone. Some dogs are born tailless and are not be penalised for this. The tail should be docked in the first week of birth leaving 2 or 3 vertebrae.
In countries where docking is banned, the whole tail is admitted.
Photo courtesy of Bouvier de la Brique
Coat
The coat is very abundant, the outercoat forming with the dense undercoat a protective layer perfectly adapted to the sudden climatic changes in this breed’s native land. The hair must be coarse to the touch, dry and matt, neither too long nor too short (about 2.5 inches), slightly tousled but never woolly or curly. Shorter on the head and very short on the outside of the ears. The inner part of the ear flap is protected by medium long hair. The upper lip carries a moustache and the chin a full beard, giving the forbidding expression so typical of this breed. The eyebrows consist of raised hairs, accentuating the shape of the superciliary ridges without ever veiling the eyes. The coat is particularly harsh and rasping on the upper part of the back. It shortens very slightly on the limbs but remains harsh. A flat coat should be avoided because it denotes a lack of undercoat. The undercoat is a padding made up of fine dense hair which grows beneath the outer coat and together with the topcoat it forms a waterproof covering.
Color
The Bouvier des Flandres' coat is usually gray, brindle or overlaid with black. A completely uniform black is also accepted, without being favored. Light-colored, so-called washed-out coats are not acceptable. A white star on the chest is tolerated.
Size23.5-27.5 inches at shoulder
Because this breed has strong guarding instincts and is naturally territorial, he needs early obediencetraining and socialization. If the Bouvier is going to be around children, they should be part of his world from puppyhood. The Bouvier likes to dominate but will respond well to a strong leader.
Adapted from:
1. FCI-Standard No 191
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Bouvier des Flandres Clubs
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