COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS REGARDING THE DOGUE DE BORDEAUX.

# 1 ) DO THEY SLOBBER AS MUCH AS THEY WERE PORTRAYED TO ON THE MOVIE "TURNER & HOOCH"?
A: No. The dog on Turner & Hooch was fed a mixture of beaten egg whites to produce the massive amount of slime you saw running out of his mouth in the movie! The breed will drool a bit after eating or drinking or if it's hot and muggy outside, but they don't just walk around & drool like the movie led people to believe. Although, usually due to having more lip, males tend to drool a bit more than females, but it shouldn't be excessive under normal conditions.

If drooling is a concern to you, or a turn off, this IS NOT the breed for you. Dried drool on the walls and trim, and occasionally on your clothes, is a hazard of owning the breed.

# 2) HOW WELL DO THEY GET ALONG WITH OTHER ANIMALS?
A: Quite well if you get your DDB as a pup & raise it with your other animals.

# 3) WHY ARE DDB'S NOT RECOGNIZED BY THE AKC?
A: The Dogue de Bordeaux will be fully AKC recognized in July 2008. In July 2006, the breed stepped up from Foundation Stock Service (FSS) in AKC to Miscellaneous. The MISC category will currently allow the breed to compete at AKC shows where MISC events are being held. Competing in AKC MISC shows does not allow for AKC Championship points to be earned. This will not be possible until the breed is fully recognized in July 2008. However, the goal in exhibiting our dogues in AKC MISC shows is to get AKC judges used to seeing our breed and judging them according to the standard. This will help these judges have some experience in what the breed is and what their typical conformation is before AKC grants full recognition.

# 4) HOW ARE THEY WITH CHILDREN?
Usually quite good, and very patient. They tend to be very devoted & gentle. They make excellent companions and are very tolerant of the occasional antics of children. However, common sense should dictate that with any breed of dog, no matter how big or small, children should be supervised, as not to injure the dogue & make it fear the child. DDB's are very protective of their family members & would lay down their own life to save their owners life or the life of the owners child.

# 5 ) HOW LONG DO THEY LIVE?
This varies. However, the oldest living DDB on record was 13 yrs old. An average lifespan should be considered to be 7 to 10 years. With proper diet & exercise, the well bred, well maintained DDB can live a long, healthy life. So far, no concrete statistics exist, and longevity varies by bloodline and by practices of breeding. It's thought that heavily inbred dogues of all breeds tend to have more problems and are said to expire earlier. This is a Mastiff breed, and sadly, your large Mastiff breeds are not long lived like many of your small or toy breeds of dog.

# 6 ) DO THEY HAVE A LOT OF PHYSICAL PROBLEMS?
Normally the most common affliction would have been said to be hip dysplasia, as it is believed that 80% of the breed has hip dysplasia and will not pass OFA guidelines for certification, which consists of anywhere from borderline to severe cases.
However, heart defects have come into the running of severe and prevalent. Many DDB's have in recent years, been discovered to have heart defects. Heart defects are progressing at an alarming rate in this breed, therefore, all breeding dogues should be seen by a vet, have their heart evaluated by a Doppler (a special stethoscope that magnifies every little sound of the heart) and then, if needed, a follow up ultrasound should be done if anything is in question. Upon these heart tests being done and the dog being deemed clear, the owner should submit their proper form to OFA for certification.

Before buying a pup, be sure you ask if the hips and hearts on the parents have been evaluated/tested and if the parents were found to be within the breeds normal range for hips and are deemed clear of any defect of the heart. However, breed normal for hips does not mean free of dysplasia, as the breed norm is to date, considered to be moderately dysplastic. This is a strong, muscular breed, and therefore this breed rarely displays any problems with pain in the hips or lameness unless they are severely dysplastic.
Allot of the health tendencies of your dog depends on the bloodline & of the breeding practices of forefathers many generations previous who helped create what your dogue is today. Excessive line breeding & inbreeding can produce weaker and more physically fragile dogs. It will take many, many years of careful breeding before there is a significant improvement in the breeds norm for hip conformation.
Be sure to thoroughly question a breeder on their breeding practices - and be sure that your pup comes from hip X-rayed parents, and from parents who have been evaluated and tested clear of all heart defects.
Also, it is not wise to choose a dog who comes from significantly inbred lineage, such as mother bred to son, father bred to daughter, or brother bred to sister, even if they are 1/2 siblings.
Additionally, be certain you deal only with reputable breeders! Do not purchase a dogue from someone who does not stand favorably with the breed clubs or other associations, or anyone who has been sued due to issues concerning their dogues/breeding practices/ethics, and owes restitution. This should clue you in to the bad ethics of the person.

# 7 ) WHAT ARE THE AVERAGE PRICES FOR A DDB?

For QUALITY dogues, expect to pay from $1,200 on up to $1,500 for a good quality pet, and from $1,500 on up to $3,500 for anything of breed or show quality in the USA and Canada. Generally, an average price for a pup with full registration will run between $1,500 and $2,500. "PICK" pups and pups with Champion parents may be higher end in cost.
You certainly could find less expensive pups somewhere on the internet, but as they say, you get what you pay for, and often your really "cheap" DDB's come from backyard breeders who've done no health testing and know nothing about the genetic tendencies of the lines behind the two dogues they bred. These breeders often give no guarantees, or ones that are worthless or hard to get compensation from. Make your dollars count. Get a quality DDB's from a reputable breeder.

The area in which you buy makes a big difference too. Certain areas of the USA, such as the coastal states sometimes have higher price for their dogs, most likely due to the extreme rarity of the breed in their area of the country. Importing a dog from another country may end up costing more as well when you figure in the many other charges in doing so, such as local taxes, port taxes, airline fees and now in most all European countries, broker fees apply that can cost $4,000 alone, not counting the price of your puppy, and the airfare!

# 8 ) HOW DOES THE DDB COMPARE TO THE BULLMASTIFF?
The DDB is comparable in size & type but is a much more ancient breed. The DDB's head is much larger & shaped a bit differently, and both breeds have different shades of coat colors.