# dogue de bordeaux puppy training



## tryme (Feb 14, 2012)

Hi guys im new to the forum and new to dogue de bordeaux's 

ive falled in love with the breed as i have seen many around and have had the privilege to meet a few. i love the fact they are gentle giants. ive always wanted a big dog as i grew up with an alsation, a beagle and 2 staffies. (one of the staffies was technically mine but i had to leave it at my parents house when i first moved out as i moved into a small flat with baby and girlfriend). ive also really wanted a dog that is great with children. in light of this i have arrived at the dogue de bordeaux's door! 

i am 22 years old. ive had alot of experience with dogs. i love them i feel empty ever since i had to leave my staffy at my parents house. he is now 6 years old and i feel it would be unfair to uproot him and move him again. he is settled where he is and happy. my parents would also be devistated if i took their beloved companion away. 

this isnt something im going to rush into or something i want to rush into at that fact. im due to be moving in june and im hoping that if we get a big enough place with a garden i will really consider getting a dogue de bordeaux. 

i would really appreciate it if you guys could provide me with some reading material on training puppy dogue de bordeaux's. as i have a young child (he is 2 in march) i want to be absolutely certain im doing the right thing and want to give both dog and child a chance to grow up together living a happy existance. 

i do believe this is possible, people tell me with such a big strong dog its a disaster waiting to happen. i do not follow this view as ive lived with dogs all my life and regardless of breed and size its ultimately down to the owner to set boundries and train. this is also why i want a puppy so i can start fresh and be certain that if any issues do arrise its down to my own doing and not because the dog was mistreated or anything in the past. 

thank you for listening.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2012)

can`t see a problem myself as long as you take the puppy to socialization and training classes. might be best if you talk to breeders who can offer you first hand experience of owning the breed good place to start i feel would be having a chat with

ROZELDOGUE. BULLDOG BREEDER. DOG DE BORDEAUX BREEDER, SHIH TZU BREEDER. or Home

best of luck


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## charlearose (Sep 18, 2011)

feel free to give me a shout i have four douge de bordeauxs and two bullmastifs and they are traffic stoppers :blush: 

Two are sisters from the same litter age 6 months and the other two are rehomed dogs age 1years old and 2 & half
the bullmastiffs are 18months and 8 years olds i have pics of them on my profile if you have a look 


What can i say im a big sucker for ddbs but just remember that cute little puppy will be a huge monster very quickly - our one year old is just under 9stone and 29inches to his back he is huge - a great big soppy teddy bear and kids we meet when out absolutly love them 

there are two people on here at the moment who have been having problems training there ddbs puppys , but to be fair my husband has done all the training with our puppies and he is really good at doing this so i cant take the credit 

main thing i would advise is to take them out with you as soon as you can i took my puppies to the local pubs car bootsale, markets and would just sit with them in the city center with a coffee and got them use to everthing at a early age you dont want a 8 stone dogs refusing to behave -
i would carry them at first then i nicked my sister pushchair and put them in that for a week or so when they got to heavy to carry around 
they are now almost seven months and they are very well behaved puppies 
they sit at the curb to cross the rd and sit and lay down for treats and there food and walk to heal ( we dont let them off the lead though) and are really chilled out dogs with no vices ( well none that we know of) and they are a pleasure to be around 
We take all four of them out on the weekends and do a pub crawl normally one big dog and one puppy each with no problems adn the dogs are well known in the local pubs and bars where we live 

but if you dont wantto do the puppy thing,then you can get some fabulous rehomed dogs on the ddb welfare site if you apply and are lucky to get accepted also with the older ones you might find that they are already trained 
we have one was perfectly trained when we got him and the other one was like a 8 stone year old puppy who had never been on a lead and was terrified of everthing imagine a big dog trying to hide behind the sofa 
but dh spent two -3 weeks solid with him training him walking him with the other dogs and within a few days he was 100 percent better and today i took him out on my own for the first time and he was amazing well behaved considering that 2 months ago he was scared of bike cars pigeons and just about everthing and wouldnt walk on a lead he is improved beyonde recongition 
but he is so lazy we got to one rd and because we were waiting ages to cross he decided to lay down rather than sit :hand:

and dont forget that insurance is one of the most expensive for ddbs there is we pay 35 each dog for a lifetime insurance for them 
all of ours all live outside in two massive kennals and the garden is basically theres area they are smelly they fart they drool and slobber everywhere if you have a nice house you wont after the ddb has been in but you wont regret it


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## tryme (Feb 14, 2012)

thanks for the reply. very informative.

honestly i want one of these big bears. i used to want tough dogs who played rough etc thats why i was into staffies, i loved the hyper rough and tumble

but now ive got a kid i just want a nice big gentle giant. soft as anything. im not interested in tough/mean dogs any more!

i want more information on the insurance if possible as ive never been down that route. if i have insurance will that cover if he is ill or injured etc?


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## tryme (Feb 14, 2012)

Just wanted to know if anyone can help re insurance etc like I mentioned in my previous post


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## Big Guy (Oct 9, 2011)

Hi and welcome to the forum

We have a 7 month Great Dane pup, so another gentle giant!

We shopped around on the insurance front and felt that vets medi cover provided us with about the right amount of coverage for a reasonable cost.

£10,000 cover per year (not per condition), for lifetime cover for £35 per month - though their policies have gone up to £38 per month at the moment.

Other companies offer lifetime cover at £5k - £7k per condition, but the premiums we were quoted for were quite a bit more expensive.

Large dogs = large vet bills 

Worth reading all the small print, as you would with all insurances. If you take out a policy, do it through "top cashback" and get £25.25 back.

VetsMediCover - Specialists in Pet Insurance Lifetime Cover

I would speak to your vets to see who they recommend / work with and I am sure there are others on the forum who will give you their experiences too.

Good luck with whatever you chose

Rainey


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## Snoringbear (Sep 26, 2008)

Decent insurance for a DDB will be around £700 - £800 a year with Petplan. That's for lifetime cover with a very high annual limit plus 3rd party liability etc.


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## troublestrouble (Oct 19, 2011)

DDBs are beautiful but i would def def def be careful who you get one from. Trouble's boyfriend last year was a DDB (probably crossed with a boxer perhaps, he's a rescue so no ones completely sure) ad he's only 2-3 years old now but was already struggling with hip dysplacia and now has a skin condition (but that could be down to the rubbish he is fed).

im not sure its so much to do with the weight or that muscle mass but dont get caught between one playing with another dog, that's to you as well as your child. Trouble and above DDB were charging around last year and caught my leg and i was bruised all the way up from foot to upper thigh (very appealing in height of summer and short skirt season) and it put my ankle out of place for a bit. my advice is to teach him to play as far away from you possible as i was injured for weeks and iv had 3 GSDs run into me plenty of times and it did nothing in comparison 

-im def not trying to put you off just a few experiences, i still love the breed!


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## tryme (Feb 14, 2012)

yes sure i want one with papers if possible. this isnt something im going to do over night any way as mentioned. 

lots of research etc necessary.


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## Snoringbear (Sep 26, 2008)

I would only get one which is KC registered. If there not, then it's pretty much a certainty that the parents will not be health tested either. That doesn't mean that all the KC reg ones are though. Ideally you want parents hipscored below 22 and elbow scored below 1. There are other tests but these generally don't seem to be done here. You would be very lucky to find eye and heart tested dogs. Temperament is a big factor too, they can be very timid, quite a problem in the breed.


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## tryme (Feb 14, 2012)

thank you for the reply. early socialisation should help with the timidness. i really love this breed and i'm sure that the good out ways the bad!

thank you for the information on hip and elbow scoring! i'm amusing the breeders of the dogs will have the relevant paperwork to prove these tests have been done?


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## Snoringbear (Sep 26, 2008)

tryme said:


> thank you for the reply. early socialisation should help with the timidness. i really love this breed and i'm sure that the good out ways the bad!
> 
> thank you for the information on hip and elbow scoring! i'm amusing the breeders of the dogs will have the relevant paperwork to prove these tests have been done?


Socialisation is important and a good thing as long as it's positive, but you don't want to set out on the back foot with a dog of poor temperament. My eldest has a very poor temperament and I've done a lot of work to improve it. She's got GCDS Gold and lots of placings at shows, but she still has a lot of timidity in her.

As far as health tests are concerned, you can view them on the KC website if you know the dogs names.

Also, DDB vary a lot in appearance, so it's worth finding dogs you like the look of.


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## tryme (Feb 14, 2012)

Great thanks for the reply.


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