We live on 10 acres just south of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.

We were introduced to Dogues in 2001 when we were given Scully on breeder’s terms to replace our German Shepherd, Laddie. We knew Scully's mother, Ripley, and were quite impressed by her. Therefore, we didn't hesitate to take Scully. A few months later, we lost our other German Shepherd (Josie) to a tumour and decided that we would buy another Dogue. Samantha came into our lives.

Towards the end of 2001, Samantha's breeder suggested that we should show her. We took her to a show and she won her Minor Puppy Class and we enjoyed the experience. We showed her twice more with her breeder and then decided we would try showing on our own.

Samantha continued to be shown into 2002 and was awarded her Australian Champion title. As we enjoyed showing and had made friends with some other dog exhibitors, we started showing Scully later in 2002. Scully achieved her Australian Champion title on New Years Eve 2002. We'll never forget this moment because Keith came out of the ring shaking and had to sit down, he was so overcome with "daddy's girl" getting her championship title. Keith has handled dogs to Best in Show and Runner-up Queensland Dog of the Year, but I've never seen him come out of the ring shaking like he did that night.

We both work to support our Dogues and most weekends finds us at a dog show somewhere in South-East Queensland, either showing our own Dogues or showing our friends' dogs.

Our first litter (Samantha was the mother) was born in January 2004. We are very pleased as Benjamin, Summer and Lacey all achieved their Australian Championship titles and are all Class in Group winners. Benjamin has done exceedingly well and is a multi Best in Group winner at All Breeds Championship level. He is the first Australian bred multi Best in Group winning Grand Champion.

Samantha's second litter has given us Reginald who is also a multi Class in Group winner and a multi Royal Runner-up Best of Breed winner.

Samantha's grandchildren are now featuring prominently in the showring with Tobias now a Grand Champion and the first Australian Bred DDB to win Best in Show. He is also a multi Best in Group, multi Runner-up in Group winner at Championship show level and multi Royal Best of Breed winner. Joelle is the first Australian bred female (and only the second female in Australia) to be awarded Best in Group at All Breeds Championship level. Sian is also an Open Show Best in Group winner.

We are now the only Dogue kennel in Australia to breed two Best in Show winners (Tobias and Lexie). We are also the only Dogue kennel in Australia to have bred 7 Best in Group winners, with 3 of them being multi Best in Group winners. We are also the only kennel to have 4 dogs all carrying our prefix take both Challenges and both Reserve Challenges at a Royal Show and we have done this twice.

The Utility Group show scene in South East Queensland is one of the most competitive in Australia. A number of interstate kennels have now sent Dogues up here to be shown and there are more being shown in Brisbane than anywhere else in Australia. As such, to even win Best of Breed is an achievement. To win anything in Group you have to beat dogs of the highest calibre. Hence we are extremely proud of the achievements of our kids.

Our involvement with the breed has included being involved in judges training and breed rescue. I am the owner of the internationally known Blockheads Dogue de Bordeaux Pedigree Database.

Our main interest is spending time with our dogs and showing.

We don't breed for the sake of breeding or filling orders for puppies. We only breed for ourselves when we want a puppy to show and that often means going 12 or 18 months between litters. We do not stand our boys at public stud. We do not breed for profit and do not use our dogs as a means of supplementing our income.

We hope that our limited breeding program and endeavours in the show ring will be seen as being for the promotion and betterment of the breed.