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  7 years ago (2001) we started our search for a new family member and hunting buddy. We had an idea of what we wanted.
We loved our Brittany's and wanted to stay in a similar style, but wanted to try a new adventure. The Braque du Bourbonnais have not only met but exceeded our expatiation's. Their short coat are wonderful, it’s lower in maintenance then we had before with our Brittany’s. After hunting, grooming is quick and easy as nothing sticks to their coats. If you are the same age as Mike and I you will remember back in the 60’s a line of clothing called Ship and Shore they claimed their clothes were “wash and wear” that’s the easiest way to describe the “Braques” coats after a swim or bath. Both the Fawn and Liver ticking on white coats make them easy to see in varied hunting conditions. We encourage all perspective owners of our companions to make a list also. Know what you want and expect, not only of a hunting buddy but of your new family member. Depending on your type of hunting and the conditions, you need to also decide on the density of the coat you require. The Braque du Bourbonnais have different coats (just as all breeds do), you should ask your breeder about the Sire and Dams' coats to try to get a coat that will fit into your hunting style. There is nothing better then to be an educated, perspective owner. We advise you to talk to all of the Braque du Bourbonnais Breeders. Find the one that you can work and form a relationship with. Don't let statistics, or a big breeding program with many litters a year influence your decision. Your decision should be based on what kind of companion you are in search of, and what the litter's Sire and Dam have achieved in the areas that are important to you. If it's hunting, ask the breeder about the Sire and Dam's hunting ability. What type of birds they have hunted, in what type of conditions, ask to see pictures of both of them with birds. While hunting on a preserve is nice in the "off" season, it is not the same as a dog hunting WILD birds. We do get out to our local clubs to do Pheasant Hunting in the off season to keep our "Hunting Buddies" in shape, and do guide for people without dogs. But, we feel that the real test for the dogs is "wild" bird hunting. Search out and open the pedigree links of the Sire and Dam, take a good look at them, you will be able to tell how close the bloodlines are. If you don't understand them write down a few questions to ask the breeder they will explain their breeding system to you. Some of the bloodlines have very similar names, some names are used because of the breeder and kennels. If you do your home work you will see some of the same names on the registration papers. Beth Cepil had one the first breeding kennels in North America with "Phantom Kennels" then there is Shardan Kennels which is owned by Dan LaRose and of course Elk Run Kennels, owned by Lonn Kuck. The bloodlines of this breed is close and most of the "American" born progney's bloodlines comes from Elk Run Kennels. Out of the 3 kennels listed above, Elk Run Kennels is the only one that has had a continuous breeding program with their sites set on breeding sound, quality bird dogs. Out of the 23 dogs that are bred or will be bred from the NAVHDA Registered Kennels (to date 12/07) 18 of them, you can trace back to Elk Run Kennels. There are other kennels that are not registered with NAVHDA, the unofficial count is 31 dogs with 25 tracing back to Elk Run Kennels. As you can see Elk Run Kennels is the producer of the "North American Foundation Stock" in Braque du Bourbonnais. These are the only set of statistics you will find on our site, and I thought these were quite interesting so I thought I'd share them with you. The rest of us are by-products of the hard work and diligence of these breeders. |