Q: Cathy > what is the correct full name of the breed? Bouviers des Flandres or Bouvier des Flandres? I have seen it spelled both ways (and mangled in many others.) If I had only one Bouv, would I have a Bouviers des Flandres, a Bouvier des Flandres or a Bouvier de Flandres?
A: Jim > conferred with my dad, the retired French prof, and I also decided to read some of the sites from Belgium in French to see how they refer to it.. What I was able to discern is this.. if they are referring to the breed in general, it is always Le Bouvier des Flandres which would be singular masculine. However, if they are talking about the dogs (note the s on dogs), then they are referred to as Les Bouviers or Les Bouviers des Flandres which would be 3rd person plural, or if it just one, le Bouvier. So, if you were referring to your two dogs, that would be "mes Bouviers"... now.. one more thing, Bouvier appears to be masculine all the time, so, for my bouv Mimsy, if someone asked me what kind of dog she was, the correct response would be "Ma chienne est un Bouvier des Flandres". I did also see one reference to a Bouvier de Flandre and that would be grammatically correct since Flandre is singular, but that one is very rare...
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