The history of the Braque d’Auvergne (pronounced Brock
Dohvern) is muddied and his exact origins are unknown. Many historians believe
the Braque d’Auvergne is an old breed, dating back to the 1700s. There are
several smooth coated French pointers, all thought to have descended from the
Braque Francais, the original French Braque breed. Braque comes from the French
word braquer which means to point or aim. Auvernge comes from the region in France
where the breed is most prevalent. The Braque Francais was extremely popular
during the 1600s and was used as the base breed for several newer breeds. The
Braque Francais was bred to several breeds of unknown pedigree throughout various
regions of France
to develop breeds that could be used for a specific purpose. The Braque
d’Auvergne is associated with the Cantal and Auvergne
regions of France.
Many believe the Braque d’Auvergne is older than all the other pointing breeds
aside from the Braque Francais. There is another theory as to how the Braque d’Auvergne came
to be from Jean Servier, the former president of the French Pointer Club, and
Colonel David Hancock, a famous historian of dog breeds. Servier wrote The
World Encyclopedia of Dogs in 1971 and Hancock wrote The Heritage of the
Dog in 1990. Both Servier and Hancock believed the oldest pointing breed in
the world was the Braque Francais. Servier claims the Braque d’Auvergne comes
from a cross of the Braque Francais, Gascony Pointer and Pyrenean Braque.
According to Servier, the Braque d’Auvergne is possibly the oldest of the
Braque breeds. Hancock also studied the Braque d’Auvergne and claimed the breed
developed when the Knights of Malta imported dogs into the Auvernge region in
the 1500s. The knights developed a pointing breed that is very similar to the Braque
d’Auvergne. The first known dogs to be imported into the United
States belonged to Nelson Hooe, Jr. of Dedham,
Massachusetts and Dr. Jack Fannary of Reno,
Nevada, although the exact dates of import
are not known. The United Kennel Club accepted the Braque d’Auvergne in 2006.