Breed of the Week: The Braque Français Part Two

GASCONY TYPE

PYRENEAN TYPE

FORM

Both types of Braque Français are built for work. The Gascony type is more muscular, has a larger head, longer, lower-set ears and a more pronounced dewlap. The Pyrenean type can resemble a German Shorthaired Pointer in some ways, but has a different head shape and is generally smaller than the average GSP. The main difference between the two types of braque français is size. A male Gascony can be as much as 22 cm taller than a Pyrenean female, at least on paper. In reality, the difference is not that great and the preferred sizes for both differ by about 10 cm.

Coat and Color
Both breeds are short-haired but their standards mention that the Gascony type should have a coat that is rather thick and well-furnished, while the coat of the Pyrenean type is described as finer and shorter than that of the Gascony type. The coat color for both is usually a brown and white roan or white with brown patches. The standard also permits what is effectively a tri-colored coat: chestnut brown marked with tan (above the eyes, at the lips, and on the legs). It also mentions an all-brown chestnut coat, but none of the breeders or owners I’ve spoken to has ever seen a coat without at least some white in it.

Traditionally, the brown and white roan coat was the most common, but over the last 20 years the trend has been toward a white coat with large brown plates, or spots.

FUNCTION

Like their appearances, The differences between the hunting styles of the two types are greater on paper than they are in the field. Both are strong, dynamic workers, solid pointers and natural retrievers. The main differences are speed and range.

Field search

The Pyrenean type is faster and generally runs fairly wide. But the Gascony is far from being a bootlicker. They generally run at a medium gallop out to about a hundred meters in open terrain. Jean-Paul Oustrain, a long-time breeder of Gascony type Braque Français, says:

In the past, the Gascony was more or less a trotter, and some still are. But most of them gallop now, especially in trials. Of course, they do not run like the Pyrenean type, and we don’t want them to. We want them to be able to keep up a good, strong pace all day long, and not tire out after just a half hour. Above all, we want a dog that shows a lot of passion in its search, whatever the pace. 

American breeder Wade Landreville describes the search of the Pyrenean type:

The ones I have encountered run big and fast. I would describe them as high performance hunting dogs that are capable of performing well in walking field trials and hunt tests. 

Pointing

Both types are very solid pointers that typically develop early. Michel Gélinas, a breeder in Québec and the first person to import Braques Français to North America, uses his dogs for banding woodcock in the spring. 

Both types can be strong, natural pointers. But my current dog, a young Gascony, is the most cautious, careful dog I have owned. It normally takes two or three seasons for me to develop a good woodcock banding dog. But she got the hang of it in her first season, and she was just a pup.

Retrieve

Both types are considered to be excellent retrievers. Jean-Paul Oustrain believes that this is one of the strengths of the Gascony type.

They are born retrievers. We rarely have any issues of hard mouth and they are excellent trackers of wounded game.

Tracking

Mine love to unravel a track left by running pheasants. My male will track and relocate on running birds, which makes pheasant hunting with him very exciting. I once witnessed him track a rabbit in a manner that would make hound owners drool—and I speak from experience as a Beagler! (Wade Landreville)

Water Work

French breeders generally tend to put less emphasis on water work than breeders in other countries. Nevertheless the Braque Français takes to water easily.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my second Braque Français, Addie, take to the water very enthusiastically with an aggressive entry. She is passing this on to her offspring as well. My friend has a pup from her that has as much confidence in the water as any German Shorthaired Pointer or German Wirehaired Pointer I have ever seen. (Wade Landreville)

MY VIEW

GASCONY TYPE

Throughout our travels, Lisa and I have come across a number of Braques Français, most often the Pyrenean type. We’ve seen them in Québec, Ontario, Minnesota and, of course, in France. But it wasn’t until we traveled to the breed’s historic heartland that we saw the Gascony type.

Near the town of Astaffort in southwestern France we met with Jean Paul Oustrain, who raises, trains and hunts with the larger of the two types of Braques Français. Just as the breed has always been passed from one generation to the next in the Gascony region, Jean-Paul got his first dog from his uncle. When I was young I hunted with my father and my uncle who had a Braque Français. When I was old enough to hunt on my own my uncle gave me a dog; naturally it was also a Braque Français. 

My first impression of the Gascony types was that they were indeed larger than the Pyrenean types we’d seen, but not as much as I had anticipated. They were also faster and more agile than I thought they would be. They showed a strong, medium gallop out to 75 meters or so. When they hit bird scent, they slammed on point. When two ran together, they backed each other naturally.

In terms of their appearance, they definitely had a more old-fashioned look to them, but it is clear that the Gascony type has been modernized in the last 20 to 30 years. The skin is tighter, the head less houndy and, while they are still powerfully built dogs, they no longer look like the old photos

I’ve seen that show them as similar to the Burgos Pointer or even the Bracco Italiano. They are handsome dogs, with just enough of the classic look to give them the distinguished bearing of a serious gundog that knows how to get down to business.

PYRENEAN TYPE

Then there are the Pyrenean types we’ve seen. Whether running in trials in northern France or working the lush fields of Québec or Minnesota, every one showed the zippy, slam-on-point kind of style that a lot of hunters look for. And that, I believe, is the secret to the success of the breed. Both types appeal mainly to hunters. There are virtually no show-breeders of either type, no puppy mills breeding them by the dozen, no political battles between opposing clubs or fights over which is the “true” standard. There are just hunters and field trialers who have found a breed of gundog that is born to run, hunt and fetch, and that comes in two flavors: small and fast, and big and sturdy.












Read more about the breed, and all the other pointing breeds from Continental Europe, in my book Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals

Breed of the Week: The Braque Français Part Two

GASCONY TYPE

PYRENEAN TYPE

FORM

Both types of Braque Français are built for work. The Gascony type is more muscular, has a larger head, longer, lower-set ears and a more pronounced dewlap. The Pyrenean type can resemble a German Shorthaired Pointer in some ways, but has a different head shape and is generally smaller than the average GSP. The main difference between the two types of braque français is size. A male Gascony can be as much as 22 cm taller than a Pyrenean female, at least on paper. In reality, the difference is not that great and the preferred sizes for both differ by about 10 cm.

Coat and Color
Both breeds are short-haired but their standards mention that the Gascony type should have a coat that is rather thick and well-furnished, while the coat of the Pyrenean type is described as finer and shorter than that of the Gascony type. The coat color for both is usually a brown and white roan or white with brown patches. The standard also permits what is effectively a tri-colored coat: chestnut brown marked with tan (above the eyes, at the lips, and on the legs). It also mentions an all-brown chestnut coat, but none of the breeders or owners I’ve spoken to has ever seen a coat without at least some white in it.

Traditionally, the brown and white roan coat was the most common, but over the last 20 years the trend has been toward a white coat with large brown plates, or spots.

FUNCTION

Like their appearances, The differences between the hunting styles of the two types are greater on paper than they are in the field. Both are strong, dynamic workers, solid pointers and natural retrievers. The main differences are speed and range.

Field search

The Pyrenean type is faster and generally runs fairly wide. But the Gascony is far from being a bootlicker. They generally run at a medium gallop out to about a hundred meters in open terrain. Jean-Paul Oustrain, a long-time breeder of Gascony type Braque Français, says:

In the past, the Gascony was more or less a trotter, and some still are. But most of them gallop now, especially in trials. Of course, they do not run like the Pyrenean type, and we don’t want them to. We want them to be able to keep up a good, strong pace all day long, and not tire out after just a half hour. Above all, we want a dog that shows a lot of passion in its search, whatever the pace. 

American breeder Wade Landreville describes the search of the Pyrenean type:

The ones I have encountered run big and fast. I would describe them as high performance hunting dogs that are capable of performing well in walking field trials and hunt tests. 

Pointing

Both types are very solid pointers that typically develop early. Michel Gélinas, a breeder in Québec and the first person to import Braques Français to North America, uses his dogs for banding woodcock in the spring. 

Both types can be strong, natural pointers. But my current dog, a young Gascony, is the most cautious, careful dog I have owned. It normally takes two or three seasons for me to develop a good woodcock banding dog. But she got the hang of it in her first season, and she was just a pup.

Retrieve

Both types are considered to be excellent retrievers. Jean-Paul Oustrain believes that this is one of the strengths of the Gascony type.

They are born retrievers. We rarely have any issues of hard mouth and they are excellent trackers of wounded game.

Tracking

Mine love to unravel a track left by running pheasants. My male will track and relocate on running birds, which makes pheasant hunting with him very exciting. I once witnessed him track a rabbit in a manner that would make hound owners drool—and I speak from experience as a Beagler! (Wade Landreville)

Water Work

French breeders generally tend to put less emphasis on water work than breeders in other countries. Nevertheless the Braque Français takes to water easily.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my second Braque Français, Addie, take to the water very enthusiastically with an aggressive entry. She is passing this on to her offspring as well. My friend has a pup from her that has as much confidence in the water as any German Shorthaired Pointer or German Wirehaired Pointer I have ever seen. (Wade Landreville)

MY VIEW

GASCONY TYPE

Throughout our travels, Lisa and I have come across a number of Braques Français, most often the Pyrenean type. We’ve seen them in Québec, Ontario, Minnesota and, of course, in France. But it wasn’t until we traveled to the breed’s historic heartland that we saw the Gascony type.

Near the town of Astaffort in southwestern France we met with Jean Paul Oustrain, who raises, trains and hunts with the larger of the two types of Braques Français. Just as the breed has always been passed from one generation to the next in the Gascony region, Jean-Paul got his first dog from his uncle. When I was young I hunted with my father and my uncle who had a Braque Français. When I was old enough to hunt on my own my uncle gave me a dog; naturally it was also a Braque Français. 

My first impression of the Gascony types was that they were indeed larger than the Pyrenean types we’d seen, but not as much as I had anticipated. They were also faster and more agile than I thought they would be. They showed a strong, medium gallop out to 75 meters or so. When they hit bird scent, they slammed on point. When two ran together, they backed each other naturally.

In terms of their appearance, they definitely had a more old-fashioned look to them, but it is clear that the Gascony type has been modernized in the last 20 to 30 years. The skin is tighter, the head less houndy and, while they are still powerfully built dogs, they no longer look like the old photos

I’ve seen that show them as similar to the Burgos Pointer or even the Bracco Italiano. They are handsome dogs, with just enough of the classic look to give them the distinguished bearing of a serious gundog that knows how to get down to business.

PYRENEAN TYPE

Then there are the Pyrenean types we’ve seen. Whether running in trials in northern France or working the lush fields of Québec or Minnesota, every one showed the zippy, slam-on-point kind of style that a lot of hunters look for. And that, I believe, is the secret to the success of the breed. Both types appeal mainly to hunters. There are virtually no show-breeders of either type, no puppy mills breeding them by the dozen, no political battles between opposing clubs or fights over which is the “true” standard. There are just hunters and field trialers who have found a breed of gundog that is born to run, hunt and fetch, and that comes in two flavors: small and fast, and big and sturdy.












Read more about the breed, and all the other pointing breeds from Continental Europe, in my book Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals

Breed of the Week: The Braque Francais Part One

Around the turn of the century as breed clubs were defining and refining the look and working style of their dogs, they had to make a decision: should they allow breeders to “modernize” their lines by selecting for smaller, lighter, faster dogs? Or should they strive to maintain the breed’s older, more classic form and hunting style? In 1919, the Club du Braque Français came up with a unique solution: they would do both.

Pyrenean type

HISTORY

There is a tendency among many breed historians to emphasis a Spanish origin for the pointing dog. Histories of the English pointer and German Shorthaired pointer in particular state that Spanish dogs were major contributors to their makeup. But what is overlooked is the fact that all pointing dogs ultimately trace back to a region that encompassed lands on both sides of the Pyrenees mountains, including parts of modern-day France.

During the earliest period of pointing dog development, from the 13th to the 16th century, French monarchs ruled the birthplace of the pointing dog, the Kingdom of Navarre. The region only returned to Spanish rule in the mid-1500s and, even then, the area on the north side of the Pyrenees remained under French control and eventually became part of France. So, one could easily argue that French dogs contributed just as much, if not more, than Spanish dogs to the pointing breeds we have today. 

Jean Castaing certainly believed this to be true, explaining that the dogs in the region were called French, Spanish or Navarrese Pointers, depending on who you were talking to. 

The names fit the dogs perfectly well in each country, but it is obvious that the breed came from Navarre and that it spread over the two sides of that country, which is the nucleus. The proof is that to this day [1960] in the foothills of both slopes of the Pyrenees, the purest type of Braque has been maintained, almost without selection, as a product of the local area. Further south the Burgos Pointer, which bears a strong resemblance, was established. And further north in our country, the various breeds that derived from it were formed.

Castaing was referring to the classic southern pointing dog’s large, short-haired brown and white coat; it’s long ears; and it’s loose fitting skin. As a gundog, it was highly regarded by French hunters and renowned for its ability to work all day, especially in hot, arid regions. It hunted with the classic style that had proven so valuable to hunters for centuries.

.. [The old braques] searched slowly, at a trot, even walking sometimes. But they often hunted all day long, for days on end, under a blazing sun, on rocky, thorny ground, hilly and cut into small parcels, separated by hedges; in winter they slogged through the sticky mud, on marshy ground, in woods choked with brambles. How could these dogs have been built other than like good foot soldiers? If they had been horses, they would have been much closer to Percherons than the winners at the Chantilly racetrack.

Gascony type

For many years these braques du pays (country braques), as they were most often called, were fairly common throughout much of France. When small populations of them became isolated and took on a different look or hunting style, they developed into regional varieties and eventually into separate breeds. But as wave after wave of English dogs arrived in the mid to late 1800s, the old style braques fell out of favor and retreated to their place of origin, the south of France, where traditional hunting styles were still maintained.

As interest grew in rustic, close-working, classic gundogs in the early 1900s, a sort of counter-movement developed in France. But by then two distinct types had emerged among the old braques. On the one hand were dogs bred by hunters eager to retain the classic, heavy gundog of their fathers and grandfathers. On the other were dogs bred by hunters who wanted a faster, wider- ranging version of the classic braque that would be better equipped to hunt increasingly scarce game and to compete with other pointing breeds in field trials. When a club was formed in 1919, it was obvious that a decision needed to be made. Which version should the club support? Should the breed, which had now been given the name Braque Français, retain the old- fashioned rustic look and hunting style? Or should it be “modernized” into a lighter, faster version?

Gascony type

The president and founder of the club, Dr. Castets, thought that things had already gone far enough
and that the Braque Français should remain closer
to the classic type in terms of size and working style. Others, led by Mr. Senac-Lagrande, who succeeded Dr. Castets as president, felt that efforts to breed more modern dogs should continue. The debate was not unique to the Braque Français. Conservative and progressive camps were found in just about every other club at the time. But the Club du Braque Français came up with a unique solution: they would follow both directions and establish
two standards. One for dogs with the more classic look and working style and one that would allow for smaller, finer boned dogs that were selected to be faster and wider ranging.

Like all the other French breeds, the Braque Français fell on hard times as the Second World War raged across much of its homeland. Its population declined and some lines were completely wiped out. It took un- til the mid-1960s for the breed to get back on its feet and until 1967 for the two standards to be recognized. In 1975 the two types of Braques Français, till then known as the Grand (large) and Petit (small), were officially named Gascony and Pyrenean.

Today the Pyrenean type is the most popular braque in France with close to 600 pups born there every year. It has also developed a small but devoted following in Canada and the US. The Gascony type on the other hand is till quite rare. Despite gaining more popular- ity in recent years, breeders still only produce a few dozen pups per year, almost all of them in France.

Both types have been modified since the club was established and both are now lighter and faster than in the past. The Pyrenean type in particular continues to be modernized. Some dogs are approaching the speed and range of some Pointers and even taking on a more pointerized look, especially the head which, on some dogs, clearly reveals a British connection.

Pyrenean type

WHAT'S IN A NAME:

Explaining the breed name should be straightforward. After all, Braque basically means “(shorthaired) pointing dog” and Français means “French”. However, things get complicated when we consider that there are two Braques Français, each with a name that describes its size and region of origin.

The more common of the two types is named for the Pyrenees Mountains. In its FCI standard, it is the Braque Français Type Pyrenées. Some sources also add the words petite taille meaning “small size”. The English translation is “French Pointing Dog Pyrenean Type”.

The larger type is named for 
the Gascony area in Southern France. The name in its standard is Braque Français Type Gascogne. Some sources also add the words grande
 taille meaning “large size”.
 The English translation is “French Pointing Dog Gascony Type”. 

Since the Pyrenean type outnumbers the Gascony type by 100 to 1, most breeders
 and hunters drop the “type” portion of the name and just say Braque Français, knowing that everyone will assume they are talking about the more common type.

On the left is a female Gasony type, on the right a male Pyrenean type. The two types differ mainly in size, head shape, range and pace.  The different coat patterns seen in the photo are found in both types.

NEXT WEEK: Part Two, Form and Function



Read more about the breed, and all the other pointing breeds from Continental Europe, in my book Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals

Breed of the Week: The Braque du Bourbonnais

Dog breeds come and go. Some take centuries to develop and others are created almost overnight. Some slowly fade away and others disappear in the blink of an eye. For a very few breeds, there can even be a sort of resurrection. The Braque du Bourbonnais is one such breed. There are references to it as far back as the 16th century, but it had disappeared by the 1960s. Today, thanks to the efforts of a group of breeders led by a man of vision, it has returned.

HISTORY

A lot of breeds are said to be as old as the hills, but not many have any real proof of their ancient heritage. For the Braque du Bourbonnais, however, there is a fairly compelling document that does seem to prove that dogs matching its description have been around since at least the late 1500s. It is an illustration by the renowned Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi that shows a dog with a striking resemblance to the modern Braque du Bourbonnais. It is titled Canis sagax ad coturnices capiendas pantherinus, which means “keen scented panther-like (i.e., spotted) dog for catching quail”. In one of his manuscripts Aldrovandi also mentions a Canis Burbonensis (dog from Bourbonnais) Naturally, breed enthusiasts point to these references as proof that the Braque du Bourbonnais is one of the oldest breeds of short-haired pointing dogs. But they do concede that, like all short-haired pointing dogs, it ultimately traces back to the original stock from southern France and northern Spain. Adolphe de La Rue, wrote in

Les Chiens d’Arrêt Français et Anglais (1881):

As for the origins of the Bourbonnais dog, which is a short-tailed breed, there is no need to look anywhere else than at the large brown Braque; the first, most ancient of our breeds. Once this is admitted, it is no longer doubtful that families where individuals are always born with a short tail have in their veins the pure and precious blood of the primitive breed from which they descend.

Until the mid-1800s, the tail-less pointing dogs of the Bourbonnais region of France were more or less unknown in the rest of the country. But as the dog scene developed, the Braque Courte Queue (short-tailed braque) soon became a standard fixture at dog shows and gained a good number of converts among French hunters. But the breed’s good fortunes did not last very long. By the early 1900s, it was obvious that breeders had become fixated on its unique coat color and its naturally short tail. Alarmed by an increasing number of deaf, infertile or even albino individuals appearing in the breed, the great dog expert Pierre Mégnin warned of breeding too tightly among a very limited number of families. Fortunately, sensible breeders heeded his advice and began crossing to other breeds, principally English Pointers.

An extraordinary document survives from that era and offers insight into what the situation was like: an article written by Mr. E. Dubut, a self-described vieux fervent de notre brave Bourbonnais (long-time enthusiast of our brave Bourbonnais). It was published in the Bourbonnais Club bulletin in 1933, and details Dubut’s efforts to reverse the errors of the past.

When I started breeding Braques du Bourbonnais 30 years ago, the dogma of absolute purity of the breed was the official, intangible doctrine of dog breeding, and the greatest achievement was to blend together all the champions of the breed, or at least their offspring. In a few years, I had assembled in my kennel the blood of all the kings and queens of the breed, but the more I concentrated my aristocratic stew, the more troubling faults I saw. Such a high level of inbreeding quickly becomes dangerous. Some of the few famous individuals of the breed, even though they are champions, have physical or mental faults that make it very dangerous for any linebreeding or inbreeding. That was the situation in my kennel around 1908. It was obvious to me that only crossbreeding could improve, revive, and save my Braque du Bourbonnais.

Unfortunately, despite the measures taken by Dubut and others, the breed continued to struggle throughout the early 1900s, and was almost wiped out during the First World War. But in 1925 the remaining supporters managed to create a club for the breed and establish a formal written standard.

For the next decade, things improved as breeders worked to overcome the difficulties of the past. Then the Second World War dealt an even more devastating blow and the postwar years did not prove much easier. Infighting among club members over the coat color and other minor details eventually caused so many problems that the club fell apart, breeding ground to a halt and registrations fell to a trickle. In 1967 Jean Castaing wrote that he had probably seen the last of the breed.

In the 1970s the man who would lead the effort to recreate the breed entered the scene. Today Michel Comte is known as the father of the modern Braque du Bourbonnais, but back then he was considered a dreamer, attempting the impossible.

I come from a family of hunters. My father and grandfather hunted mainly with running hounds, but we had a Braque d’Auvergne as well. When I was about 16 or 17 years old, I got the idea that it would be nice to have a Braque du Bourbonnais. I was fascinated by the unique lilas passé [faded lilac] color of its coat. I dreamed for many years about owning such a dog. But everyone told me not to bother; the breed was dead. Then one day I just said: To heck with them, I will recreate it! 

Among the first steps Michel took was to seek the advice of dog expert Jean Castaing who he visited at Castaing’s summer home near the town of Agen. Unfortunately, the great man did not offer much hope. 

Basically, [Castaing] told me,“You are a nice
 guy but you are a dreamer. Reviving the breed is impossible.” And, I must admit, he was right. Revival was out of the question. But we could try to recreate it, and that is what we did! 

Efforts to create the modern Braque du Bourbonnais began in earnest when Michel, assisted by his brother, Gabriel; Dr. Louis Monavon, a local veterinarian and other enthusiasts decided to see if they could find any remaining dogs of the Bourbonnais type. They combed through back issues of hunting magazines and newspapers looking for the names of former breeders to contact. To their dismay, they discovered that the breed had been more or less abandoned by its former supporters and all the breeders had moved on to the more popular German Shorthairs, English Pointers and Brittanies.

However, Dr. Monavon would sometimes see dogs in his veterinary practice that closely resembled Braques du Bourbonnais. They were mixed-breed dogs that their owners simply referred to as braques du pays (country braques). But the dogs had many of the characteristics of the original Braque du Bourbonnais, such as the naturally short tail, unique coat color and head shape. So Michel and his group decided to use some of these braques du pays in a program designed to distill and concentrate the genes of the original breed. One of the most important dogs used in the program was named Pyrrhus. Michaël Comte, Michel’s son, tells its story:

One day Dr. Bazin, the president of the south-east Canine Society, discovered a handsome “peach blossom” [fawn colored] dog in Lyon. It was an offspring of Joséphine and Napoléon,
 two dogs belonging to the famous French singer Pierre Perret, that were registered as German Shorthairs! You see, at the time, breeders did their own paperwork and the SCC [French Canine Society] just rubber-stamped the pedigrees. So that is probably how a Braque du Bourbonnais ended up with “German Shorthair” parents. In any case, Pyrrhus was entered into the stud book under the name Rasteau. He was the first in a long line of born-again Bourbonnais.


Toward the end of the 1970s, the breeding efforts of the small group began to bear fruit. For the first time in over a decade, Braques du Bourbonnais were being registered in the French stud book (LOF) and the numbers were increasing every year. By the 1980s organized events were taking place and more and more Braques du Bourbonnais were seen in the show ring and field trials.

Today, the breed continues to thrive. Although growth has slowed in France, the Braque du Bourbonnais has gained a firm foothold in the US where there are now just as many, and sometimes even more, Bourbonnais pups whelped each year. Michel Comte told me: 

The breed is still a work in progress. It is a recreated breed, a synthesis of the old stock we found and the new blood we added. Castaing was right: it was impossible to bring the old Braque du Bourbonnais back to life. But what we have today is in many ways better than the original. They are faster, stronger, better hunting dogs than they used to be. 

WHAT'S IN A NAME Brak Doo Boor-Bon-Nay The breed is named after the historic province of Bourbonnais in central France. The English translation in the breed standard is Bourbonnais Pointing Dog, but breeders everywhere usually use the French name.

MY VIEWI have had the opportunity to see a number of Braques du Bourbonnais in action in France, as well as in Québec and Ontario. They definitely have a unique look. They are relatively small, not much bigger than a Brittany, but some of them can be built like fireplugs. The Bourbonnais’ coat really is something special. The heavy ticking and nearly pastel coloring is a great combination. The stubby tail and rounded head complete the package. In the field, every Bourbonnais I’ve seen was an eager worker, light on its feet and solid on point. But beyond the look and field abilities of the breed, there is something very special about the Braque du Bourbonnais: the man who led the effort to recreate it.

Lisa and I met Michel Comte at his home on the Côte d’Azur and we were fascinated by the stories he had to tell. As he spoke about his beloved breed his eyes sparkled with a rare light that we had seen in very few others. And as he reminisced about the great dogs he’d bred in the past and spoke proudly about the young prospects he was raising today, I kept thinking back to what he said when I asked him how it all started:

I dreamed for many years about owning such a dog. But everyone told me not to bother; the breed was dead. Then one day I just said: To heck with them, I will recreate it!

Later that day as we photographed his dogs in the field, I realized that we were in the presence of a great man, a man who had fulfilled his dream by achieving the near-impossible. Michel Comte and a small group of dedicated hunters brought an ancient breed of pointing dog back to the fields and forests where it belongs. And a growing number of hunters will forever be grateful they did.

To learn more about the breed, visit Michael Comte's excellent website for the breed here

.

UPDATE: KOLBI is “Chasseur Kolbi d’Aspen Ridge, a wonderful Braque du Bourbonnais from a wonderful breeder. He lives with his new family in a loving home just outside of town. Lisa and I are Kolbi’s god parents (dog parents?) and will hunt with him in the fall. This story will be updated from time to time as we take new photos of the newest member of our extended canine family! Check out the growing photo essay of the little guy! https://cdog.exposure.co/kolbi

Read more about the breed, and all the other pointing breeds from Continental Europe, in my book

Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals

Breed of the Week: The Braque du Bourbonnais

Dog breeds come and go. Some take centuries to develop and others are created almost overnight. Some slowly fade away and others disappear in the blink of an eye. For a very few breeds, there can even be a sort of resurrection. The Braque du Bourbonnais is one such breed. There are references to it as far back as the 16th century, but it had disappeared by the 1960s. Today, thanks to the efforts of a group of breeders led by a man of vision, it has returned.

HISTORY

A lot of breeds are said to be as old as the hills, but not many have any real proof of their ancient heritage. For the Braque du Bourbonnais, however, there is a fairly compelling document that does seem to prove that dogs matching its description have been around since at least the late 1500s. It is an illustration by the renowned Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi that shows a dog with a striking resemblance to the modern Braque du Bourbonnais. It is titled Canis sagax ad coturnices capiendas pantherinus, which means “keen scented panther-like (i.e., spotted) dog for catching quail”. In one of his manuscripts Aldrovandi also mentions a Canis Burbonensis (dog from Bourbonnais) Naturally, breed enthusiasts point to these references as proof that the Braque du Bourbonnais is one of the oldest breeds of short-haired pointing dogs. But they do concede that, like all short-haired pointing dogs, it ultimately traces back to the original stock from southern France and northern Spain. Adolphe de La Rue, wrote in Les Chiens d’Arrêt Français et Anglais (1881):

As for the origins of the Bourbonnais dog, which is a short-tailed breed, there is no need to look anywhere else than at the large brown Braque; the first, most ancient of our breeds. Once this is admitted, it is no longer doubtful that families where individuals are always born with a short tail have in their veins the pure and precious blood of the primitive breed from which they descend.

Until the mid-1800s, the tail-less pointing dogs of the Bourbonnais region of France were more or less unknown in the rest of the country. But as the dog scene developed, the Braque Courte Queue (short-tailed braque) soon became a standard fixture at dog shows and gained a good number of converts among French hunters. But the breed’s good fortunes did not last very long. By the early 1900s, it was obvious that breeders had become fixated on its unique coat color and its naturally short tail. Alarmed by an increasing number of deaf, infertile or even albino individuals appearing in the breed, the great dog expert Pierre Mégnin warned of breeding too tightly among a very limited number of families. Fortunately, sensible breeders heeded his advice and began crossing to other breeds, principally English Pointers.

An extraordinary document survives from that era and offers insight into what the situation was like: an article written by Mr. E. Dubut, a self-described vieux fervent de notre brave Bourbonnais (long-time enthusiast of our brave Bourbonnais). It was published in the Bourbonnais Club bulletin in 1933, and details Dubut’s efforts to reverse the errors of the past.

When I started breeding Braques du Bourbonnais 30 years ago, the dogma of absolute purity of the breed was the official, intangible doctrine of dog breeding, and the greatest achievement was to blend together all the champions of the breed, or at least their offspring. In a few years, I had assembled in my kennel the blood of all the kings and queens of the breed, but the more I concentrated my aristocratic stew, the more troubling faults I saw. Such a high level of inbreeding quickly becomes dangerous. Some of the few famous individuals of the breed, even though they are champions, have physical or mental faults that make it very dangerous for any linebreeding or inbreeding. That was the situation in my kennel around 1908. It was obvious to me that only crossbreeding could improve, revive, and save my Braque du Bourbonnais.

Unfortunately, despite the measures taken by Dubut and others, the breed continued to struggle throughout the early 1900s, and was almost wiped out during the First World War. But in 1925 the remaining supporters managed to create a club for the breed and establish a formal written standard.

For the next decade, things improved as breeders worked to overcome the difficulties of the past. Then the Second World War dealt an even more devastating blow and the postwar years did not prove much easier. Infighting among club members over the coat color and other minor details eventually caused so many problems that the club fell apart, breeding ground to a halt and registrations fell to a trickle. In 1967 Jean Castaing wrote that he had probably seen the last of the breed.

In the 1970s the man who would lead the effort to recreate the breed entered the scene. Today Michel Comte is known as the father of the modern Braque du Bourbonnais, but back then he was considered a dreamer, attempting the impossible.

I come from a family of hunters. My father and grandfather hunted mainly with running hounds, but we had a Braque d’Auvergne as well. When I was about 16 or 17 years old, I got the idea that it would be nice to have a Braque du Bourbonnais. I was fascinated by the unique lilas passé [faded lilac] color of its coat. I dreamed for many years about owning such a dog. But everyone told me not to bother; the breed was dead. Then one day I just said: To heck with them, I will recreate it! 

Among the first steps Michel took was to seek the advice of dog expert Jean Castaing who he visited at Castaing’s summer home near the town of Agen. Unfortunately, the great man did not offer much hope. 

Basically, [Castaing] told me,“You are a nice
 guy but you are a dreamer. Reviving the breed is impossible.” And, I must admit, he was right. Revival was out of the question. But we could try to recreate it, and that is what we did! 

Efforts to create the modern Braque du Bourbonnais began in earnest when Michel, assisted by his brother, Gabriel; Dr. Louis Monavon, a local veterinarian and other enthusiasts decided to see if they could find any remaining dogs of the Bourbonnais type. They combed through back issues of hunting magazines and newspapers looking for the names of former breeders to contact. To their dismay, they discovered that the breed had been more or less abandoned by its former supporters and all the breeders had moved on to the more popular German Shorthairs, English Pointers and Brittanies.

However, Dr. Monavon would sometimes see dogs in his veterinary practice that closely resembled Braques du Bourbonnais. They were mixed-breed dogs that their owners simply referred to as braques du pays (country braques). But the dogs had many of the characteristics of the original Braque du Bourbonnais, such as the naturally short tail, unique coat color and head shape. So Michel and his group decided to use some of these braques du pays in a program designed to distill and concentrate the genes of the original breed. One of the most important dogs used in the program was named Pyrrhus. Michaël Comte, Michel’s son, tells its story:

One day Dr. Bazin, the president of the south-east Canine Society, discovered a handsome “peach blossom” [fawn colored] dog in Lyon. It was an offspring of Joséphine and Napoléon,
 two dogs belonging to the famous French singer Pierre Perret, that were registered as German Shorthairs! You see, at the time, breeders did their own paperwork and the SCC [French Canine Society] just rubber-stamped the pedigrees. So that is probably how a Braque du Bourbonnais ended up with “German Shorthair” parents. In any case, Pyrrhus was entered into the stud book under the name Rasteau. He was the first in a long line of born-again Bourbonnais.


Toward the end of the 1970s, the breeding efforts of the small group began to bear fruit. For the first time in over a decade, Braques du Bourbonnais were being registered in the French stud book (LOF) and the numbers were increasing every year. By the 1980s organized events were taking place and more and more Braques du Bourbonnais were seen in the show ring and field trials.

Today, the breed continues to thrive. Although growth has slowed in France, the Braque du Bourbonnais has gained a firm foothold in the US where there are now just as many, and sometimes even more, Bourbonnais pups whelped each year. Michel Comte told me: The breed is still a work in progress. It is a recreated breed, a synthesis of the old stock we found and the new blood we added. Castaing was right: it was impossible to bring the old Braque du Bourbonnais back to life. But what we have today is in many ways better than the original. They are faster, stronger, better hunting dogs than they used to be. 

WHAT'S IN A NAME

Brak Doo Boor-Bon-Nay

The breed is named after the historic province of Bourbonnais in central France. The English translation in the breed standard is Bourbonnais Pointing Dog, but breeders everywhere usually use the French name.

MY VIEW

I have had the opportunity to see a number of Braques du Bourbonnais in action in France, as well as in Québec and Ontario. They definitely have a unique look. They are relatively small, not much bigger than a Brittany, but some of them can be built like fireplugs. The Bourbonnais’ coat really is something special. The heavy ticking and nearly pastel coloring is a great combination. The stubby tail and rounded head complete the package. In the field, every Bourbonnais I’ve seen was an eager worker, light on its feet and solid on point. But beyond the look and field abilities of the breed, there is something very special about the Braque du Bourbonnais: the man who led the effort to recreate it.

Lisa and I met Michel Comte at his home on the Côte d’Azur and we were fascinated by the stories he had to tell. As he spoke about his beloved breed his eyes sparkled with a rare light that we had seen in very few others. And as he reminisced about the great dogs he’d bred in the past and spoke proudly about the young prospects he was raising today, I kept thinking back to what he said when I asked him how it all started:

I dreamed for many years about owning such a dog. But everyone told me not to bother; the breed was dead. Then one day I just said: To heck with them, I will recreate it!

Later that day as we photographed his dogs in the field, I realized that we were in the presence of a great man, a man who had fulfilled his dream by achieving the near-impossible. Michel Comte and a small group of dedicated hunters brought an ancient breed of pointing dog back to the fields and forests where it belongs. And a growing number of hunters will forever be grateful they did.

To learn more about the breed, visit Michael Comte's excellent website for the breed here.

Read more about the breed, and all the other pointing breeds from Continental Europe, in my book Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals