One might be tempted to think, “Make up your mind,” when confronted with a breed standard that calls for a dog to be “serene,” yet “rugged,” but the Bouvier des Flandres‘ official AKC description does just that. The “natural rugged appearance” described in the standard is simply the outer trappings of a dog that must have a well behaved disposition, and yes, serene. The Bouvier is a highly intelligent breed with a strong instinct to herd, but it’s also a big one (and sometimes, a stubborn one). It’s critical to have a stable dog “comfortable in its own skin,” when s/he’s faced with discriminating between situations that call for protective action, and those that don’t. Like all dogs, early socialization is hugely important, and so is giving the dog a job to do, whether it’s pulling bags of fertilizer on a cart in the garden, herding, nose work or something else. As they said forty years ago in the commercial dreamt up by Young & Rubicam Advertising Agency, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” and that applies to our smart breeds, as well.
I have had 11 of these. My first Bouvier was a Police K9. I have done conformation, herding, obedience, rally, agility, therapy, and one worked as my service dog. The two I have now are both Champions. One has his CD and both RN’s. My girl is out on the trail working on her Grand Ch. Just ordinary Bouviers. Both CGC’s. Years ago I had a mother son pair. We were having dinner when someone shook the side fence. Both Bouviers ran out the dog door to confront the fence shaker. A couple of seconds later, Mr Shaker rang the bell and was mighty surprised when the Bouvs answered, making lots of noise. My husband opened the door while I held collars. The stranger asked for Charlie (happened to be my son’s name) who didn’t know the guy. Dogs were having a fit. We never had a burglar at that house or this one.
Kepler, a show Champion, was trained through Utility Obedience when I suffered a stroke and lost my eyesight and began to have seizures. I depended on him to keep me from falling off the curb into the street, and he’s fetch stuff for me. Every night at 10 pm he would start poking me while I was in my chair and herd me to bed. One night he began poking me early, and I told him to buzz off! He persisted, so I got up and he pushed me down the hall and lay down on the bed to continue watching TV. As soon as I lay down, I had a grand mal seizure. Kepler would also come and stand so I could use him to help myself to get up if I fainted or fell. As I got better, he developed a very rare bony tumor on his skull and had to be put down.
What an amazing – and frightening – account, Carol, and what a good boy Kepler was. We’re so sorry for your loss, he sounded like a truly special dog.