Bichon Frise: Tidbits
Let them eat cake!
The Bichon Frise is classified as a companion dog and a
Non-Sporting breed. By the American Kennel Club. The
Non-Sporting Group is a diverse club consisting of
purebred dog breeds that don’t fit into other groupings.
This diverse group differs in physical appearance,
temperament and ancestry. Many of these Non-Sporting
Breeds have changed along with the times to adapt to
their surrounding societies. A good example of this is
during the French Revolution The Bichon Frise once lived
in the lap of luxury with Marie Antoinette but lost its
standing in the Royal Court only to be embraced by the
common man and survived by becoming a circus and street
performer.
How many is that in dog years?
Although there’s been much debate about age comparisons
between dogs and humans we’ve found the following
comparison between the Bichon Frise Breed and Humans as
follows:
1 year old dog = 16 year old man/woman
2 dog year old dog = 24 year man/woman
3 year old dog = 30year old man/woman
For each dog year thereafter add 5 human years to
each dog year to determine dog’s age.
What’s in a name?
Bichon Frise, which means “curly lap dog” in French
descended from the lap dog, Barbet or Water Spaniel
called “Barbichon” which was later, shortened to “Bichon”.
Eventually four distinct types of Bichons emerged:
Bichon Havanese (developed in Cuba).
Bichon Maltaise (from Malta, which later became
extinct but some people believed them to be forerunners
of the Maltese breed).
Bichon Bolognaise (lived in Bologna)
Bichon Teneriffe (developed from Canary Islands) also
known as Tenerife dog, Bichon a poil fries and Bichon
Frise.
The American Kennel Club first registered Bichon
Frise aka Bichon Tenerife aka Bichon a poil fries in
1972.
Yuppie Puppies
The Bichon Frise was one of the smaller breeds that
became known as one of the “Yuppie Puppies” in the
1980’s. This resulted in some Bichons being over-bred
with some breed lines becoming a little snippy.
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