Home / Questions / Braque du Bourbonnais
Yes, the Braque du Bourbonnais is genuinely rare, and it almost disappeared following the Second World War. Enthusiasts rebuilt the breed using only a small number of surviving dogs from its home region. It is still counted among the least common French pointers, valued especially by hunters who work on foot and who want an athletic, even tempered and hardworking companion.
Athletic, even tempered and hardworking in the record's words, good with children, usually good with other dogs and friendly with strangers, it rates apartments as not ideal because the ranging engine needs country. Expect a dog that quarters your walks like hunting ground and regards its family as the centre of the home province.
The individual dog still matters more than any general answer: lines, socialisation and the home it lands in bend every breed average, which is why breeder choice carries so much weight.
The temperament record reads: Athletic, even tempered, alert and hardworking. Budget the Braque du Bourbonnais's 5/5 energy like a bill: it is paid daily in activity or collected with interest in behaviour.
By the numbers: a medium dog standing 19 to 23 inches, weighing 35 to 55 lb, living 12 to 15 years, with insurance typically $35 to $63 a month. The detail on this page hangs off those figures.
The Braque du Bourbonnais's growth stages run 8 weeks at about 5 to 8 lb, 9 months at about 26 to 41 lb, 18 months at about 35 to 55 lb, ending at the adult range of 35 to 55 lb and 19 to 23 inches tall. Standard colors: white or brown, with fine brown, white, fawn, or sometimes black ticking. Home ground: France. The record groups the Braque du Bourbonnais with the Sporting breeds.
The stranger test summarises the social side: rated Friendly with strangers, the Braque du Bourbonnais meets the world as this page describes. Owners who accept the terms upfront call the Braque du Bourbonnais easy; owners who discover them call the same numbers a burden. The Braque du Bourbonnais profile is the companion read: same record, full depth, including the life stages and screening notes.
Questions multiply once the dog arrives, and most of them are answered somewhere in this breed's section: the profile, its other question pages and the tools linked below.
Run the honest checklist: 60 to 120 minutes of exercise daily, grooming effort 4/5, keeping costs led by food at about $30 a month, and a 12 to 15 year commitment. The breed quiz compares your answers against every breed on the site, the Braque du Bourbonnais included. Meeting adult dogs of the breed remains the best final check on any written answer, this one included.
Working bred dogs relax better with employment, even invented employment: carrying, searching, training games. A Braque du Bourbonnais with trainability 4/5 takes to household jobs quickly, and occupied dogs are rarely destructive ones. The breed quiz on this site runs the same record against your household answers, which is a useful second opinion.
The standard colours are listed on the profile; the coat itself is described as Short and fine. Colour should be the last criterion in choosing a Braque du Bourbonnais puppy, behind health tests, temperament and the breeder's records.
A Braque du Bourbonnais question answered from the breed's own record: temperament, workload, costs and daily life.
The honest Braque du Bourbonnais budget: food, insurance, year one and the lifetime total, worked out from the breed's own record.
Expect a proper medium to large dog.
Last updated: November 6, 2026