flying twigs

In the film Turner and Hooch, detective Turner (Tom Hanks) wants to leave his small town to work in the big city. But his friend is murdered and Turner reluctantly inherits his dog and solves the murder. His pal’s dog is named Hooch (Beasley in real life), which give the film its name.

Turner and Hooch

So what breed is Hooch (Beasley)? He’s a Dogue de Bordeaux. And boy, do they slobber.

With that introduction to one of the characteristics of the breed, you might think they haven’t been around for long. After all, how many people like a dog that slobbers. So it might surprise you know that they have been around since the 1300s.

The Origin Of The Breed

Dog historians believe they were bred from even earlier breeds that were used as war dogs. And it’s easy to see how that might be the case. Look at that massive head and those bone crushing jaws.

Bordeaux is in France. But the breed predates France because in the 1300s there was no France. The country had not yet united. And as war dogs it is entirely possible that Dogue de Bordeaux doge were on the field of the famous battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Surprise (not) that they were originally bred in the region around the city of Bordeaux. But that’s not the dog’s only name. In fact, this dog takes the prize for the number of different names by which it is known.

There’s the Bordeaux Mastiff, the French Mastiff, and simply the Bordeaux.

I think ‘the Bordeaux’ sounds quite fancy. What’s your dog? Oh, it’s ‘the Bordeaux’.

Be that as it may, there were sub-breeds such as the Parisian, the Toulouse that depended on the region in which it was bred.

About The Loose Skin

You can see from the thickness of its leg bones that it is a powerful dog. It is a type of mastiff, with a big head for its size and an undershot jaw, like a bulldog. The loose skin and deep furrows on its brow gives it a mournful look. And then there are those dark amber coloured and oh so expressive eyes. No one knows why it has loose skin. It is not an advantage. In fact, it drags the base of its eyelids down and exposes them to infection. That’s something to think about if you are considering getting a Dogue de Bordeaux puppy.

How To Keep The Dogue de Bordeaux Happy

They need exercise and plenty of it. When they are not exercising they will sit and move slowly and quietly, as though the world is just too much. That belies what can happen if they confront the right target, such as a small dog. They may be placid but if another dog starts to mess with it, the Dogue will be the last one standing. If you get a Dogue de Bordeaux puppy, you may not realise exactly what it is going to grow up to become.

How I Came To Photograph A Dogue de Bordeaux

What happened was I was walking in Edinburgh on a lovely grassed area named the Links. The Links is said to be the first place that golf was played. That may be the first time golf was played anywhere in the world or it may be just in Scotland – authorities differ on the subject. The Links is on a gentle slope. And that is where I came across the dog and its owner. We chatted for a while, I had my camera with me, and I asked whether I could photograph his dog.

The owner was happy and I lay down on the grass looking up the slope to get a dog’s eye view. I was met with the most slobbering, drooling sight I have ever seen that close up. There was so much slobber that I had to take a lot of photos before I managed to get a couple that had minimal slobber.

A Get Well Card

Looking at the photo on the computer, Tamara and I had it in mind to make a Get Well Soon card featuring this dog.

So here is the end result, with the dog sitting with the most mournful expression a dog can muster. Of course, the Dogue de Bordeaux is built for a mournful expression with all that loose skin.

The reason it has all that slobber is that saliva builds up in the loose skin folds around its mouth. From there it either drips, or gets flung about when the dog shakes its head.

More Dog Cards

We also have A Romantic card ‘Dog Lover‘ featuring a dog in profile with an eager look in its face, its tongue hanging out, and a little red heart on his body and a speech bubble and text ‘From The Very First Moment I Saw You’. And another A romantic greeting card ‘Dog Love‘ featuring a dog with tiny hearts swirling around its head and looking amorously at another dog. What more is there to say – love is love!

And finally, we have a post How Old Is Your Dog, about dog years and how they tie up with dog breeds of different sizes.