Video - Northland's Eowin takes best female puppy at 2009 French National Specialty Show

We were so pleased for our friend Gilles Communal with his win with his new puppy.  We were quite confident with the quality of the Northland's Finn daughter that we brought to Gilles, but it was such a delight to see the quality to be confirmed with a win in such a prestigious show.  We wish the best of luck to Gilles and Eowin in the show ring in France.  Eowin and Gilles are on the far right in the video. 

Video - 2009 French Club Champion Class - Males

My skills with the video camera need a little work.  This video was taken in Rambervillers France on September 13th. 

Finn's hip and elbow results meet French Club requirements

We received Finns Hip and Elbow test results from France today.  He scored A/A on hips and 0/1 on elbows.  As we do with all of our dogues, Finn had a PennHip evaluation when was five or six months old.  He got an excellent score, listed as better than 100 percent of Dogue de Bordeaux in the database (his A/A score seems to confirm the PennHip test).  But we had to have his Hips evaluated again to be able to compete in the French Club Championship.  The French Club (SADB) requires that hips and elbows be evaluated and rated in Europe and that they meet their standards to qualify for the French Club Champion competition.  The dogue must also achieve three Excellent ratings at French Specialty shows under three different judges and they must pass the temperment test.  With Finn's win at the French National Show last year in the Junior Class, he will need to be rated Excellent at both shows in France this weekend in order to compete in the Club Championship Class.  Watch for news of his success this weekend in Metz and Rembervillars France. 

2009 DDBSA National Show report

The rainy weekend did little to dampen the mood at the Dogue de Bordeaux Society of America’s 12th annual National Specialty Show, held in mid-April at the beautiful Purina Farms show grounds in Gray Summit, Mo. Since its inception in 1997, the Club has moved the annual show’s site from coast to coast, and many locations in between. The show has always been a weekend event, with Saturday being a “fun day” with lots of socializing and non-sanctioned competitions, including puppy sweepstakes and more lighthearted events such as the “the longest drool” and the costume contest. On Sunday, the conformation competition takes place.

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Modern Molosser article on crafting the DDB AKC standard

Mark McElderry of Northland Bordeaux in Earlville, Ill., acquired his first Dogue de Bordeaux 19 years ago. Because the breed was so rare in this country, he and wife Cindy waited a year and a half for a puppy bitch from Pete Curley, importer of the “Turner and Hooch” dogs that put the breed on the map stateside. At the time, there were two Dogue de Bordeaux registries and their related clubs, neither of which survive today. And at the first National Specialty the McElderrys attended, the entry was all of 15 dogs. You’ve come a long way, dogue. Today, the Dogue de Bordeaux is fully AKC recognized, and the red dogs with the strikingly smushed faces are serious contenders in the Group ring.

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