I happened upon the Bouvier in kind of a backwards fashion. Can you believe stupid pet tricks? Yup, I was watching Late Night with David Letterman one evening and saw a man bring what looked like a wooly mammoth onto the stage. Dark and huge, but so very peaceful in his demeanor. This giant dog then amazed me by balancing on two thin rods that were held in the air by his owner and Mr. Letterman. Then my quest began, I had to find out what this canine the size of a water buffalo was all about.

Shortly after that the Westminster Dog show was on TV and I saw for the first time the dog that would sell me on the incredible beauty and grace of these powerful animals. He was Ch. Galbraith's Ironeyes, when I saw him take the stage and stride across it as if in a hover I knew I had to learn more about his breed.

Then after sending out letters to several breeders I found in a Dog World magazine, I was able to go to a local dog show and visit with one who allowed me to pet her dogs and riddle her with question after question. She would also invite me and my family to her home the next weekend to visit with her family, an offer we gladly accepted.

The next weekend we drove the hour or so to her house and were met with a smile by her husband at the gate. He led us into the house and we sat waiting as he excused himself to go get some dogs for us to see. In a short time he returned and opened the door as not 1, not 2, but upwards of 6 dogs filed in. We sat in shock as the once spacious room filled up with fur. Each dog layed down in the room and acted as if this was another day at the office showing us only mild interest as one after the other decided it was time to catch up on their sleep. We knew that this breed with it's simple elegance and stoic nature was the one for us, and before leaving made arrangements to order a pup.

Several weeks later we brought home our first Bouvier, who we named Brody. Brody was a gentleman from word go and gave us all more love then seemed possible. It also seems now in retrospect that all the love he gave wore him out quicker then any of us could believe, and Brody passed away from heart trouble at the young age of 6. We were all devastated and still to this day miss his peaceful presence in the house, but knew that we needed another fuzz ball in our lives to teach the things that our friend Brody had taught us throughout his short life.