Interview Magazine "The frenchie fancy"

De La Parure, considered by many to be the "breeder behind the breeders", was founded over 40 years ago by Victor and Blki van Raamsdonk. Many ot the top winning French Bulldogs around the world today have come from De La Parure lines. Truly, their influence on the breed cannot be denied.

Now. Victor has focused his attention toward Judging, and is currently an FCI Judge for 76 breeds, having accumulated judging assignments from all over the world at some of the best French Bulldog shows. Including 5 World Dog Shows and the European Dog Show. Victor has also served as President of the French Bulldog Club ot Holland for several years and was member of their committee tor almost 20 years. His vast expenence is untouched in our breed.

The Frenchie Fancy spoke with Victor about the De La Parure legacy, his current involvement in breeding and his experience in judging. We hope you enjoy our glimpse into a man who has for so long dedicated his life to tne French Bulldog.

What difficulties did you face cultivating a foundation with so little breeders in the breed at the time you started?

In 1972 I was living in Holland and the quality of French Bulldogs was very poor. The best Frenchies of Europe were present in Germany.

What is the first dog you remember having that you felt truly represented the standard and why?

The first dog I remember was the beautiful Pied Frenchie: "FERNANDEL VON RATIBOR UND CORVEY", which I saw at the Champion Club Match of Holland in 1974; He was a short build Frenchie, with magnificent head-piece, a square front with much bone, nice neck and topline, excellent ribs and underline and nice angulation, and above all of this, he was of a beautiful colour. I had never seen a Frenchie before that fitted the standard so well.

When you started your breeding program, you had access to French Bulldogs from der Grimmelsburg and Ratibor Und Corvey lines. Do you consider that the French Bulldogs coming from these bloodlines that were used as a foundation to your breeding program would still be competitive in the ring today?

Yes, the quality was outstanding In those times In Europe and i believe our top dogs from those times could easily be in the competition nowadays.

What was the life span of a Frenchie from the 70s-80s? Do you believe that their health has gotten better or worse?

The life span of our dogs was an average of 11 years. I do not think this has changed much.

De La Parure has been home of some of the most beautiful and influential dogs in our breed, and of course, we all have our favorites. In your opinion, what would be your top 5 males and females that you have bred or owned?

 

My Top males are:

- Our first Import, the son of the famous Fernandel von Ratibor und Corvey:

CHAMPION VOILA COCO VON RATiBOR UND CORVEY

WORLD CHAMPION OMAR SHARIF DE LA PARURE

- WORLD CHAMPION COLONEL TRUSARDI DE LA PARURE

- WORLD CHAMPION ULAN DE LA PARURE

- WORLD CHAMPION BARON BALOU DE LA PARURE

- WORLD CHAMPION ZENITH DE LA PARURE.

For me. the top females are:

- CHAMPION UNE BOULETTE BLANCHE VON RATIBOR UND CORVEY

- WORLD CHAMPION UNE BOULETTE BLANCHE DE LA PARURE

- WORLD CHAMPION PASSION DE LA PARURE

- WORLD CHAMPION KAROLINE DE LA PARURE • CHAMPION GERMAINE DE LA PARURE.

If you could recreate a clone of just one of your Frenchies in the past, who would it be and why? 

For me this would be: WORLD CHAMPION COLONEL TRUSARDI DE LA PARURE.

In my opinion, he came the closest to the standard and he was a great stud dog in our breed.

Over your time in French Bulldogs, which of your dogs have been more influential, not just to your breeding program but to the breed as a whole?

I think that is WORLD CHAMPION COLONEL TRUSARDI DE LA PARURE in the past, and nowadays CHAMPION FRIEND DE LA PARURE in Great Britain.

What is a trait you would like to improve upon in your current breeding program?

The trait which I would like to improve is the length of tail, because I believe that will be an issue in the future here at my continent.

Even though we always hear there is no perfect dog, some French Bulldogs manage to get close to being the complete package. Which of your current French bulldogs do you feel best embodies the breed standard?

From the current males, there is at this moment a male who has been for some years TOP STUD DOG OF THE GROUP in Great Britain, the fawn CHAMPION FRIEND DE LA PARURE. From the current females, without any doubt, the brindle female WORLD CHAMPION CRUFTS-WINSTER 2012 JARRETELLE DE LA PARURE. 

Every breeder has their own process to select and place puppies according to their potential. What are you looking for when you evaluate a puppy for its show potential?

For a Frenchie, it is also very important to take into consideration their character and personality. When a Frenchie does not show him or herself properly, he is not a real French Bulldog. I do not like Frenchies with the ears at the side and standing in the ring looking sleepy.

What is one of the nicest Frenchies, other than your own, that you have had to pleasure to meet or judge?

One of the nicest Frenchies in my opinion is CHAMPION KINGFRIEND MR. WOW from Mr. Darren Friend and Natalie Friend, from Great Britain. I judged this male in Bangkok and later he was placed BEST IN SHOW under the All Rounder and Breed specialist Fred Peddie.

When judging the French Bulldog, what do you absolutely not tolerate?

I absolutely do NOT tolerate: Bad ear placement and bad fronts. For me, it is very important to show the intelligence and power of the breed.

What do you feel are strongest attributes in frenchies in different regions?

In North America: The angulation of the hindquarters and Showmanship.

In Europe: the Head-pieces and the ears.

What I have seen from the dogs in South America is the heavy bone, which I like. Asia is still coming at this moment and works very perfectly with the best lines of the whole world; they show me that they are very clever and they know exactly the details of the different bloodlines.

What show do you aspire to judge next?

I have been invited to judge several Shows in the future, I am very glad that I was invited to judge and give a seminar about French Bulldogs at the 75th Anniversary Show of The Kennel Club of Uruguay in November 2013. I have also been invited to judge French Bulldogs at Crufts2016.

Being that it is a dwarf breed and our gene pool is so small, what emphasis do you feel health testing plays in our breed?

I think that the organs for breathing are very important for our breed. We must fight against respiratory problems when this appears in our breed.

Where do you feel as breeders we should focus most of our energy in breeding today? Better heads? Improved shape? More bone?

For me, the most important is that the Frenchie should be in the first place: A HEALTHY, SOUND, AND GOOD BALANCED DOG.

What is a fault or area of opportunity that you feel is difficult to correct or get rid of when breeding?

In Europe, we see many French Bulldogs that lack good angulation of the hindquarters.

If you had a chance to suggest something to be changed or added to the French Bulldog FCI standard, what would it be?

NO, I completely agree with the current FCI standard.

A few years ago, you started to focus more on the judging aspect of the breed, and your son Dimitry, together with his wife Chantal have had more of a presence as De La Parure. How involved are you and Riki when choosing your breedings and future puppies for show? Or have you "passed the De La Parure Torch?

No. We are still advising the breedings and the selection of the puppies. But nowadays, there are 4 sets of opinions and we, as elderly breeders, also still learn from the young ones.

Playing Chess in the French Bulldog breed is not always easy. The most important thing is to be honest and critical to yourself and to your own frenchies. 

The role of De La Parure in our breed is extensive, and you have actually helped write many important parts of its history. What are some of your personal favorite accomplishments or honors that you have achieved in your breeding program?

For me, it was a great compliment that Riki and I, in 2005, were honoured by the Kennel Club of Holland with the GOLDEN MEDAL for our work for the French Bulldog in the World. Also, Riki and I got the HONOUR MEMBERSHIP of THE FRENCH BULLDG CLUB OF HOLLAND in 2007.

The greatest honour was when I had the honour to judge the CENTENARY CHAMPIONSHIP SHOW of The French Bulldog Club of Holland in 2007 with a record entry of 406 French Bulldogs from 25 countries.

De La Parure has bred numerous worldwide winners at the best shows around the world. Having achieved this level of quality in your breeding program, what still continues to be your motivation for your kennel's future?

The motivation is that our Dogs will have influence in the World. We have influenced the breed in Europe, Russia, Great Britain, Japan and a little, in my opinion, in the USA. Now we are working on this in South America and Asia. They call De La Parure "THE BREEDER BEHIND THE BREEDERS", and we are very proud of this.

What do you wish you had been told when you were starting out in the breed?

That it is a very hard and difficult path, and that you can meet many disappointments as well. Thank you Victor, for the opportunity to talk a bit about your experience with our breed for all these years.

I want to tell you also that, without my wife Riki, it would have never been possible to create De La Parure. She has always been the intelligence and hard worker behind the SHOW SCENE.

Furthermore, I am very proud that my son Dimitry is following the footsteps of his father, and is now also an FCI Judge for French Bulldogs and Pugs, and soon for Boston Terriers as well.