20/07/2025
We just can't understand why with so many Glaucoma cases in the Bouvier breed why people still insist on breeding H litter decedents to H litter decedents (Iron eyes x Xanadu) We are not talking about a once or twice insertion but 10 or more times in the line is just asking for issues. There will always be occasional illnesses in any breed but the percentage of problems in those dogs with that pedigree is so severe it is mind boggling that anyone would take that chance.
Its hard to justify the problem when buyers from other breeders call us to ask, "What can i do?" Our answer is tell your breeder to which they say, "We have and they said, these things happen". While that may be true it does not typically happen to puppies born out of a sire and dam that only have that line in them once or twice but more than that and it is just a possibility and the more that line is in the parents the more the possibility. Getting the parents health checked does not minimize the possibility the parents may simply be carriers.
The other items that are on that pedigree are also Cataracts and Heart disease. It is not just murmurs but full-blown heart failure. Cataracts are a bit rarer but in that line. Another heart breaker is aggressive prostate cancer and some cancers. Iron died of aggressive prostate cancer. While he did not typically pass on health issues his mating with Xanadu really opened pandoras box.
The body structures on these puppies from these lines are short in stature and structurally sound for the most part. The heads have gotten smaller over the years (which brings to mind the question in 1989 that we got from a breeder in Canada to us after receiving a puppy from them, "HOW did the head in your dog turn out?" We noticed smaller heads from Iron and those dogs that were line bred on him and Xanadu. which explains fully why many dogs with this in them have this smaller head and diminished length of neck on a large body. We wont post a photo but read our website on this. Its a real issue that many are not taking note of. There are some in the United States and now Europe seems to have these diminished heads as well. Yes, they have the same pedigrees just different combos.
The bodies have gotten way short as well. look at the old champions and the foundation dogs. Stocky yes flat out way to short. . . NO. be aware if you see Iron x Xanadu more than 2 or 3 times beware. Dig deep and take a look.
Before everyone falls prey to the Iron x Xanadu lines please try to outcross, find dogs worthy structurally, good temperaments, and health test to bring the breed back to a set of lines. The more we ignore and insert this into our dogs left without the H litter the more we diminish our ability to minimize the health issues in the breed.
Showing dogs allows other breeders to see the stock you are raising and exibiting. Many times a really excellent stud dog is shown. When a person finishes their first set of championship points the person who owns the dog asks themselves, "Is this dog "Specials" material?", meaning can they go on to...