FREE RANGE CHICKENS ~ YES
FREE RANGE DOGUE DE BORDEAUX ~ DEFINITELY NOT!!
When researching our breed, before deciding where to get their puppy from, puppy buyers decide which Bordeaux's they like the look of, looking at many web sites along the way, they will then contact breeders saying, “I want a puppy that will look like such and such a Dogue, when it grows up.” For example I am contacted on a regular basis by people wanting my type of large boned Dogues, with true Bordeaux build, low to the ground with no sign of legginess!
As a breeder, whose passion is to breed dogs that compete consistently well in the show ring, and are sound in body and mind, I do my absolute best to rear pups to the age of 8 weeks, that are thriving, healthy and ready for their new homes. The process starts months before that, with the care of the mother before she is pregnant, her diet while she is carrying the pups, followed by the 24hr attention she and the pups get in our home when the litter has arrived.
From then on, the responsibility of the final product ~ a healthy, well balanced adult Bordeaux, with the physical qualities that its parentage promised ~ is solely down to its new owner, and the Diet, Exercise and Socialisation the puppy receives in the first 12 months. In this time the Bordeaux puppy does a massive amount of growing, increasing in size and weight from 8 - 10 kgs to 50 - 60 kgs. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to get the Diet and Exercise right at this stage in the pups development.
He/she needs long periods of rest, to allow the Joints, Muscles and Ligaments time to develop and strengthen, a cage is essential to help achieve this, a Quality diet is hugely important at this time, there are brands of food that have developed specific ranges of feed for Giant breeds, we add fresh meat to the feed as we have found it gives the youngsters extra body, feed to appetite, but do not allow the pup to get fat, excessive weight will stress young joints.
The energy the pup gets from his feed should be available for him to grow correctly, not used up in excessive exercise. All activity should be controlled by the owner, a pup that has free access to the garden will self exercise, a ~ FREE RANGE PUPPY ~ will have little energy left to grow correctly.
If the puppy has joined a family that has already got another dog, he/she should not be allowed unsupervised play with the older dog, limit play time to two 10 minute sessions a day, taking care that the pup does not test the patience of the older dog, to cause him/her to be aggressive towards your new puppy. A puppy that is shown aggression at an early age, could become aggressive as he gets older!
Exercise needs to be limited until the age of 6 months, any exercise given should be controlled lead walking for short periods, from 6 months on it can be increased by small degrees as the puppy gets older. Free running needs to be kept to an Absolute minimum, as the twisting and turning involved, in say, ‘ball chasing’, puts huge stress on Joints and Ligaments, when they are not developed enough to take it then damage can be caused! A young puppy should never have so much exercise to exhaust him, displayed by excessive panting, a puppy whose exercise consists of mainly Free Running, to the point of exhaustion, will grow into an adult who is leggy and lacking in bone, even if his breeding promised otherwise!
TO SUMMARIZE
Owners need to give thought and take responsibility, for the Diet and Exercise that their puppy receives from the age of 8 weeks to 12 months.
They will then have a young adult Dogue De Bordeaux to be proud of, a product of his/her breeding that has fulfilled the early promise!
