BOUVIERS DES FLANDRES
(By Courtesy of Club National du Bouvier des Flandres, Belgium)Dr. Reul of the Veterinary School of Brussels was the man who first called attention of the breeders to the many good qualities of the Bouvier. At that time, the Bouvier was a dog of great size (about 26 inches high at the shoulder), with a heavy cylindrical body, rough grey, dark hair and a rough appearance. It was found in South West Flanders and on the French Northern plain. As a rule, it was owned by people who occupied themselves with cattle, for the chief aptitude of this dog seems to be cattle driving.
Most of the early Bouvier breeders were farmers, butchers or cattle merchants. They were not particularly interested in breeding pure pedigree dogs. All they wanted was to have useful help in their work, so one will not be surprised that the first Bouviers were not absolutely uniform as to size, weight and color. Nevertheless, they all had enough characteristics in common to be recognized as a Bouvier. They had different names and were known as Vuilbaard (dirty beard), koehond (cow dog), toucheur de boeur (cattle driver) or pic.
The Societe Royale St. Hubert took cognizance of the breed when it appeared on the show benches at the International Dog show of May 1910 in Brussels. The two Bouviers shown there were Nelly and Rex, belonging to a Mr. Paret of Ghent, but a standard of the Bouvier type was not adopted until 1912. That was accomplished by a Frenchman, Mr. Fontaine, vice-president of the Club St Hubert du Nord. At that time a society of Bouvier breeders was founded in Roulers (West-Flandres). This new society invited at that time many of the most famous Belgian experts to a meeting in August 1912. Among those who attended were: Mr. Houtart, Mr. Levita, Baron van Zuylen van Nyevelt, Mr. Van Herreweghe, Veterinary Scharlaken and others who promulgated a standard of perfection which was the first official standard to be recognized by the Societe Royale St. Hubert.
From that time, the Bouviers des Flandres grew to be more and more appreciated and several dogs, such as: Ch. Bella, Ch. Picard, Ch. Zola (owner Mr. De Ryckere, Roulers), Pickzwart (owner Mr. Van Herreweghe), Amic (owner Mr. Lapierre, Ypres) were enlisted in the Stud Books of the Societe Royale St Hubert ( L. O. S. H. )
The breed was making rapid progress, when the war broke out. Those parts of the country where the Bouvier was most largely bred, and where it was becoming more and more popular, were as you know, entirely destroyed. The population left the country and most of the dogs were lost. Many were abandoned and died, others were acquired by the Germans. Nevertheless, a few men succeeded in keeping their dogs all through the war, so Sultan (owners Messrs Van der Vennet and Gryson), Picko (owner Mr. De Poorter) Bella and Kiss de Ramillies (owner Mr. Mottoule ) escaped. The dog whose progeny afterwards did so much to revive the Bouvier in Belgium, lived in the Belgian army and was the property of Veterinary-captain Barbry. That dog was Ch. Nic, and was shown in 1920 at the Olympic show in Antwerp. In this relation, the judge, M. Charles Huge said of him: "Nic is the ideal type of the Bouvier. He has a short body, with well developed ribs, short flanks, strong legs, good feet, long and oblique shoulders. His head is of a good shape with somber eyes and an ideal courageous expression. His hair is dry and dark. The tail should not have been cut so short. I hope that dog will have numerous progeny."
Mr. Huge's wishes were realized, and when Nick died in 1926 he left a great many descendants whose names one will still find in almost every pedigree. Among those worthy of mention are: Prince d'Or, Ch. Draga, Coralie, Goliath de la Lys, Lyda, Nora, Ch. Dragon de la Lys, etc. It was from these dogs gathered together one day at Ghent, that a group of experts including Messrs Charles Huge, V. Tenret, V. Taeymans, Count de Hemptinne, Captian Binon, Mr. A. Gevaert, after examining and measuring carefully every dog, established a more comprehensive standard of the Bouvier. It is that very standard you will find at the end of these lines.
Since then the Bouviers have attained more and more success abroad, especially in Holland and in Belgium. The average number of them at the shows is 30, which is relatively large, but so popular have Bouviers become that often this number is exceeded.
The breeders do not forget that the Bouvier is first of all a working dog, and although they try to standardize its type, they do not want it to lose the early qualities which first called attention to its desirability. For that reason, in Belgium a Bouvier cannot win the title of Champion unless he has also won a prize in a working competition as a police dog, as a defense dog or as an army dog.
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Although many quotations have been taken over the years from this brief history, this is a direct transcription from the copy in the archives of Edmee Bowles. Because it is among her correspondence with Verbanck, and because of the paper and type, I believe that this was most likely translated and typed by Verbanck himself, and drawn from Belgian Club literature.