Dogue de Bordeaux

Calm at home, but can be stubborn and wary of strangers.
A Dogue de Bordeaux
Photo: DJT at Dutch Wikipedia
Adult male
50–68 kg
110–150 lb
Adult female
45–54 kg
100–120 lb
Lifespan
11.1 yrs
Class · Watchdog
also Companion

What it's like

At home it is calm and even-tempered, and it forms a strong bond with its family. Its standard describes a vigilant, courageous guard that is slow to provoke and not aggressive by nature. It can be wary of strangers and stubborn.

Day to day
Activity
Happy with modest walks
Intelligence
Easy-going, simple routines
Handler demand
Needs an experienced owner
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Quiet
Prey drive
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
Is a Dogue de Bordeaux right for you?
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Living with one

Plan for drool, and for cleaning a Dogue's facial wrinkles at least weekly, sometimes daily, so they stay clean and dry. Heat is a real risk, so on hot days keep its exercise to the cool of the morning or evening.

Size and growth

A Dogue de Bordeaux is a giant dog, heavier than a Rottweiler and lighter than a Great Dane. Males end up clearly heavier than females.

Its head is very large for its body, with a short, upturned muzzle, an undershot jaw and loose skin that falls into wrinkles. The short, fine coat is soft to the touch and comes only in shades of fawn, from pale isabelle to deep mahogany. There is often a black or brown mask, and small white markings on the chest and feet are allowed.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Dogue de Bordeaux puppy is already as heavy as a grown Labrador. They grow fastest between 4 and 5 months old. They keep growing past their first birthday, longer than a Beagle does. Most males grow into the size large-breed puppy foods are made for.
Fully grown
13 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight7
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
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Age
Male
Female
2 months
8.7–11.9 kg 19.2–26.2 lb
7.9–9.5 kg 17.4–20.9 lb
3 months
14.0–19.0 kg 30.9–41.9 lb
12.7–15.2 kg 28.0–33.5 lb
4 months
20.7–28.2 kg 45.6–62.2 lb
18.8–22.6 kg 41.4–49.8 lb
5 months
28.1–38.3 kg 61.9–84.4 lb
25.6–30.6 kg 56.4–67.5 lb
6 months
34.8–47.5 kg 76.7–104.7 lb
31.7–38.0 kg 69.9–83.8 lb
7 months
40.1–54.7 kg 88.4–120.6 lb
36.5–43.7 kg 80.5–96.3 lb
8 months
43.8–59.7 kg 96.6–131.6 lb
39.9–47.8 kg 88.0–105.4 lb
9 months
46.2–63.0 kg 101.9–138.9 lb
42.0–50.4 kg 92.6–111.1 lb
10 months
47.7–65.0 kg 105.2–143.3 lb
43.4–52.0 kg 95.7–114.6 lb
11 months
48.6–66.2 kg 107.1–145.9 lb
44.2–53.0 kg 97.4–116.8 lb
12 months
49.2–67.0 kg 108.5–147.7 lb
44.7–53.6 kg 98.5–118.2 lb
15 months
49.7–67.8 kg 109.6–149.5 lb
45.2–54.2 kg 99.6–119.5 lb
18 months
49.9–67.9 kg 110.0–149.7 lb
45.4–54.3 kg 100.1–119.7 lb

Health and lifespan

Vets record these more often in Dogues than in crossbreeds. An inward-rolling eyelid (moderate) and an outward-drooping eyelid (minor) are far more likely. Blood-vessel cancer, which is life-limiting, is much more likely, as are underactive thyroid (moderate) and demodectic mange in dogs under two (minor). These are figures for the breed as a whole, not a prediction for your dog.
Listed by likelihood level, highest first, then by how serious it is, then by name. These are 5 of 10 measured; lab-confirmed figures only fill places the vet-record studies leave empty.
  • Inward-rolling eyelid
    Far more likely
    Impact: moderate
  • Outward-drooping eyelid
    Far more likely
    Impact: minor
  • Blood-vessel cancer
    Much more likely
    Impact: life-limiting
  • Underactive thyroid
    Much more likely
    Impact: moderate
  • Demodectic mange starting young, dogs under 2
    Much more likely
    Impact: minor

Flat face and breathing

The Dogue de Bordeaux is one of the flat-faced breeds. In UK vet records, flat-faced dogs were more likely to have breathing and airway problems than dogs with a medium-length muzzle, and lived shorter lives on average. Noisy breathing at rest is worth raising with a vet.

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Dogue de Bordeaux lived to about 11 years, longer than the typical giant breed.

Where it comes from

The Dogue de Bordeaux is an old mastiff of Aquitaine, where in the mid-19th century such dogues guarded homes and herds, served butchers, hunted boar and fought. It probably descends from the Alans' dogs that Gaston Phébus described in the 14th century, and today's breed comes from its Bordeaux type. Breeders rebuilt it from the 1960s after the Second World War had left it near extinction5.

The Dogue de Bordeaux was among the dogs exhibited at the first dog show held in Paris, in the eighteen-sixties, and the veterinarian Pierre Mégnin wrote an early description of the breed towards the end of the nineteenth century. Its post-war recovery owed much to the French enthusiast Raymond Triquet. From the late twentieth century it spread well beyond France, helped by its role opposite Tom Hanks in the Hollywood film Turner & Hooch. The breed was developed to guard and to grip and hold large animals, and it is a powerful, thickset mastiff, broad and fairly close to the ground.

Breed standard

The Dogue de Bordeaux is judged against standard no. 116, in group 2, Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid and Swiss Mountain Dogs5.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Dogue de Bordeaux figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a giant breed is most likely at the late end.

Compare with related

Rottweiler
Pinschers & molossoids · Giant
Cane Corso
Pinschers & molossoids · Giant
Neapolitan Mastiff
Pinschers & molossoids · Giant
Caucasian Shepherd Dog
Pinschers & molossoids · Giant
Or compare the Dogue de Bordeaux with any breed you choose
Track your own Dogue de Bordeaux
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Sources

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