Beau Sejour Matisse

Beau

“Beau” – Beau Sejour Matisse May 18,1991 – June 19, 2004

My First Bouvier des Flandres; What A Great Introduction To The Breed.

Beau’s pedigree on his Mom’s side is primarily Deewal and on his Dad’s Side it’s primarily Du Clos Des Cerberes. His Dad and Mom both had great temperaments. His Dad was a blue ribbon therapy dog; he also had a heart condition at ten years old. His Mom was a great Mom and Beau was the last of her litter to be adopted at three months old. (Beau died of a heart attack at 13+ years old; Dad’s genes.)

Beau loved to sleep in the closet on my shoes, just as his Mom did with her owner. When Beau was seven months old, I obtained another Bouvier from good CT and CA stock, a female I named Bijou.  Bijou was relentless with Beau, but he let her have the upper hand and took all of her abuse in stride. However, a low, deep growl put Bijou in her place when Beau had enough.

Beau was intelligent, obedient, friendly, athletic (great at Frisbee), and a good watchdog, but once he assessed any potential danger, if not threatening, he would walk away and relax. Bijou, on the other hand, would bark until the potential danger was no longer.

Beau’s intelligence was obvious in that he had a great attention span. His favorite TV programs were “Wishbone” and any National Geographic animal documentary. He would prop himself up on the love seat and watch intensely. Whenever there was a chase scene of lions after a kill, or bears after salmon, wildebeests migrating, etc. he would stand up on the love seat with his front paws on the arm rest and follow the scene with intense interest and a bark or two. He would sometimes get off the love seat, past the TV and out the door of the room to see where the lions etc had gone! (Returning with a questioned tilted head.) All I had to say was “Wishbone” is on, or “Want to watch TV?” and he would charge onto the love seat and wait for the program to start.

Beau’s herding instincts were on display whenever we were at the doggie park. Bijou was a socialite and off wandering with other dogs and playing. Beau would socialize when we first arrived at the park, then he would sit himself down and watch the “herd”. Time to leave and I would call Beau and he would be at my side in a jiffy. I would call Bijou, who was like Alvin the Chipmunk; three calls each one louder than the last, before she would even look in my direction. I would say, “Okay, Beau, we are leaving and Bijou can stay here.” Beau would look at me, motion his head in Bijou’s direction and I would say, “If you want to,” Beau would then take off and herd Bijou back to me so I could leash her and we all went home together. Must have been their little game.

This article is just a taste of Beau. He was an amazing dog and an amazing Bouvier. I have had three other Bouviers and Beau still has the biggest part of my heart. He was almost human and really my best friend. I swear he understood everything I told him. I loved him and every one of my Bouviers, and I miss them all, each personality.

Mary DeKlyn

Latest News

Canine Health Information Center

Canine Health Information Center
www.caninehealthinfo.org
Provides a source of health information for owners, breeders, and scientists that will assist in breeding healthy dogs. Bouviers were enrolled in CHIC in 2007
CHIC works with parent clubs to identify health screening protocols appropriate for individual breeds.
CHIC operates an informed consent database. All information regarding test results remains confidential unless the owner specifically authorizes release of the information into the public domain

Club National Specialty Schedule

American Bouvier des Flandres Club National Specialty. Check for updates on the Specialty Schedule for health testing details at: www.Bouvier.org

Banking to Benefit the Bouvier

The CHIC DNA Repository collects and stores samples of canine DNA, together with corresponding genealogical and phenotypic information, to facilitate future research and testing for reducing the incidence of inherited disease in dogs.