It was love at first Dogue for Kris Munday when she met Monet, a Dogue de Bordeaux rescued from an abusive situation. “When we first adopted her, she was petrified of men,” Munday remembers. “It took her over two years to start cuddling with my husband if I wasn’t in the room.”
With Munday, and her husband’s understanding and affection, the once-frightened Monet blossomed into the sweet girl Munday remembers fondly.
“One day, it was like a light switch flipped,” she says. “We had company over and she was immediately up in the company’s lap, giving a strange man kisses. I sat there in amazement, crying tears of happiness because my girl had dropped her emotional bags and was free to be a dog, knowing she would never be hurt again.”
Since Monet, Munday describes herself as “completely hooked,” showing and eventually breeding the even-tempered Molosser dogs.
As a breeder, Munday feels that her role is multifaceted, that a breeder’s job doesn’t end when the puppies go to new homes.
“The breeder is to protect the breed,” she explains, “and it’s our job as responsible breeders to do whatever we can to not only protect our breed, but to serve our breed through rescue and breed education.”
One of the most important steps to protecting Dogues — and dogs of all breeds — is educating the public about spay/neuter, Munday says, a topic that should be explained by the breeder and covered in the owner-breeder contract. “If a family is buying a pet, it needs to be spayed/neutered at the appropriate age. If someone is buying a show dog, if it doesn’t pass its health testing, it too should be altered.”
Munday, committed to preserving and rescuing the breed she adores, is now the West Coast Coordinator for the Dogue de Bordeaux Society of America Rescue. DDBSA Rescue works with rescue organizations across the country to rehabilitate, foster, and find the best homes possible for Dogues in need. Since getting into rescue, Munday has fostered more than 120 Dogues before adopting them out to new homes.
Munday is not alone — in fact, she says, many breeders are becoming more and more involved in rescuing their breed. “The majority of my breeder friends in other breeds [rescue],” she says, “and several of our DDB breeder friends assist rescue by transporting, evaluations, home checks, and even fostering.”
The Dogue de Bordeaux Society of America Rescue currently has 23 dogs in their foster program. Munday explains that some of them are not yet available for adoption because they are being rehabilitated, including rescues Sheldon and Amy, Dogues who were neglected and are now recovering from extreme starvation and heartworm.
Available Dogues include Tater, Daisy, and Mims, among others fostered nationwide and in Canada who are looking for their forever homes. Anyone interested in a DDBSA Rescue Dogue should complete the online adoption application — it could be the first step in finding the lovable Dogue that, as Kris Munday will tell you, could change your life forever.
