Yippee!
Come October 1, 2026, the Braque du Bourbonnais officially becomes part of the Imported Breed Register within the Royal Kennel Club’s Gundog Group, bringing the Club’s total roster to 230 recognized breeds — alongside the simultaneous addition of the Épagneul Français and Silken Windhound, and following July’s recognition of the Yakutian Laika and Miniature American Shepherd.
Braque is French for “pointing dog,” but its deeper roots are hotly debated — most etymologists trace it to a Proto-Germanic word for hunting dog rather than any French verb.
Whatever its linguistic ancestry, the breed type is old: writers were describing dogs matching this description in the Bourbonnais region of central France as early as 1598, and the Royal Kennel Club traces its documented history to the sixteenth century.
Trademark “quirks” are a naturally short or absent tail and a coat with fine liver or fawn ticking over white — historically given poetic French nicknames like “lie de vin” (wine dregs) and “fleur de pêche” (peach blossom). Is that not wonderful?
Ironically, however, it was perhaps an overemphasis on those cosmetic traits over hunting ability and soundness that may have contributed to the breed’s collapse: no dogs were registered in France’s LOF studbook between 1963 and 1973. Breeder Michel Comte spent the 1970s tracking down unregistered “country braques” carrying remnants of the old type, worked to reconstruct the breed from that foundation stock, and helped revive the breed club in 1981 — after which the dogs proved themselves anew in field trials. We’re still looking into how Comte reconstructed the breed, so look for a post on this down the road.
The Royal Kennel Club describes the breed as a friendly, adaptable, versatile pointing dog. It remains genuinely rare: French registrations have historically averaged well under 100 dogs a year, and worldwide numbers are estimated in the low thousands, though such figures fluctuate. To our knowledge, the first Bourbonnais reached America only in 1988, and the breed still awaits its Royal Kennel Club interim standard before it can enter the show ring.
If we have any Braque du Bourbonnais owners out there, show us your dogs!
Photo of a Braque du Bourbonnais by Slowmotiongli/Dreamstime