We do know that the Dogue was used as a guardian, a hunter and
a fighter. They were trained to bait bulls, bears and jaguars:
hunt boars, herd cattle and protect the homes, butcher shops
and vineyards of their Masters. The Dogue de Bordeaux were prized
as protectors and were found in the homes of the noble and wealthy
in France.
The Dogue de Bordeaux was entered under it's present name
in the first dog show held in France in 1863. The breed
narrowly missed extinction during the two world wars but
enjoyed resurgence in the 1960's. Sometime in the early
1980's the first Dogue de Bordeaux was imported to the United
States. The breed is now used today almost exclusively as
a family companion and house guardian.
The Dogue de Bordeaux was first introduced into Australia
in the early 1990's. Since then their popularity has slowly
grown in numbers, in 1995 Australian National Kennel Council
received registrations for 9 Dogue de Bordeaux, in 1997,
45 in 1998 , 120 and in 1999 they registered 144. The total
number now is somewhere in the vicinity of 300 in Australia.
They are scattered through out this huge country of ours
and you rarely see them, making it hard to gain recognition
for them , both in the Show Ring or by the public.
