Edmee Bowles and the Bouviers du Clos des Cerberes

 Jim Engel

Belco  & and son Marius du Clos des Cerberes

In many ways, the story of the Bouvier des Flandres in America  began in May of 1942 with the arrival of Edmee Bowles from Belgium.  Miss Bowles had bred the Bouvier for some ten years at her family estate near the Belgian city of  Schilde  when she was driven from her home by Hitlar's Nazi juggernaut.  She is without question the spiritual founder of the breed in America, indeed was recognized as among the founders by Chastel, Verbanck and the general European Bouvier community.

Miss Bowles was born in  Antwerp, Belgium on June 22nd of 1899, and except for fairly lengthy periods in England  during the First World War and while attending school spent the first forty years of her life in Belgium. Although her mother was from an old and influential Belgian family, her father was British. Her parents were seperated, apparently during the war, and the twenties and thirties were spent mostly living on a family estate near Schilde, which is a few kilometers east of Antwerp. 

She mentions having a Bouvier as a child in the early years of this century, and that later, being unable to find another, she had a couple of rough coated Sheepdogs which would be called Laekens today.  When she began serious breeding efforts she established her "du Clos des Cerberes" line in 1932. This name is taken from Cerberus, the three headed dog who in Greek mythology guards the gates of hell.  In French "Clos" means a sanctuary or shelter, so the Bowles line is thus of "the sanctuary of Cerberus."  It is a proud name, and for over fifty years she has produced a line of Bouviers worthy to carry it, made it her life's work.

She was just coming into her own when the German invasion devastated her world, and the world of the Bouvier, for the second time in a generation. As a consequence of her participation in the resistance she was forced to flee to  America , abandoning most of her Bouviers.  But her early efforts were not entirely in vain, for in spite of the terrible ravages of war some of her Bouviers appear in the Belgian registry in the latter forties.

The story of the Bowles participation in the resistance and her precarious exit from  Europe  is of epic proportions.  She, her mother and seven year old Belco spent many months working their way across  France , one step behind an open sea port and half a step ahead of the Germans.  Finally, almost two years later, they were successful in boarding a liner for  America  in  Portugal .  She never learned the fate of many of the remainder of her Bouviers.

Suffering and loss are of course the fabric from which war is cut; many emerged with scars on body and soul and many did not emerge at all.  But being forced to abandon all but one dog in the face of the advancing German juggernaut was beyond doubt intensely painful even by this hard standard.  An iron will was necessary, and would be tried again.

Upon arriving in America  in 1942 she spent the remaining war years participating in the Dogs for Defense program, striking back in some small way at her German tormenters, for at least one of her Bouviers was lost in action on the shores of  Europe .

On  September 13, 1943  the first American born "du Clos des Cerberes" litter was produced by Belco out of George Young's female Lisa, yielding Marius who would become the first "du Clos des Cerberes" American champion.  As mentioned above, Lisa was a daughter of Ch. Bojar van Westergoo.  Jan du Clos des Cerberes, brother to Marius, served with Dogs for Defense and was returned to her after the war.  In this period Miss Bowles was living in Chestnut Hills in Pennsylvania .

As we have seen, among the earliest advocates of the Bouvier in  America  was Julius Bliss, who worked with Miss Bowles during the war.  The genealogy of the dog Dombey, bred by Bliss and whelped  February 16, 1945 , illustrates the early blood lines:

Lariane, born in 1937, was a daughter of Maria de Biercee who was a litter mate of Albionne de Biercee, Chastel's foundation bitch and the dam of the first de la Thudinie Bouvier.  She was imported by Julius Bliss and bred to George Young's Bojar van Westergoo to produce Inga.

Inga was one of the first Bliss litter, of four, whelped  April 21, 1940 . Unfortunately Bliss died in the latter forties, and Dombey went to Miss Bowles.  The passing of Julius Bliss was a great loss for the Bouvier in  America , for he had been one of the breeds most selfless advocates.  For Bowles in particular it was a heavy blow, for Bliss had provided her support and encouragement.  It was to be several years, until '49 or '50, before she began to really get her breeding program established.

In October of 1946 Bowles acquired a rustic old farm near Collegeville,  Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia .  The house is several hundred years old, and it's character is a perfect match for that of Bowles herself. Belco, the last direct link with her European program, died, apparently as preparations to move were underway, and the place has been known as Belco farm to this day.  For me the place is the very essence of the Bouvier, inhabited by the ghosts of Marius, Jasper and Altair.  There are pencil sketches of Dombey and Marius at Belco farm, by Miss Bowles, that for me have always represented the spirit of this era.

All in all, the later forties and early fifties were incredibly hard; puppies, whole litters, where put down because there was no one to buy this almost unknown breed.  From 1943 through 1948 only eighteen Bouviers were registered in the  United States , an average of only three a year! Miss Bowles built the grooming and board business (and bred Poodles, also very successful in the show ring) in order to support the then fragile Bouvier breeding program.

Although the arrival of Edmee Bowles during the Second World War was a precursor of things to come, she was destined to labor in substantial isolation for a number of years.  After a small flurry of activity during and immediately after the war, the late forties were a sparse time indeed, for in the four years from 1945 through 1948 only a total of seven Bouvier pups were registered.

Most of the early stock, such as Belco and Bonaparte van Darling- Astrid, was Dutch, although in the late forties Miss Bowles apparently did obtain one or two French bitches.  Bonaparte, born on the 23rd of April in 1950, was imported by Evert van de Pol, and was later sold to Fred Walsh of the Deewal kennel.

Over the years Bowles imported a number of significant bitches, the first being four year old Wandru des Coudreaux who came to the United States in February of 1953. Wandru was an exceptional animal from a predominant French kennel, a major step forward for the Bouvier in  America .  One of her chief attractions was that she was a proven brood bitch.  Indeed, her daughters in  Europe included Almyre des Coudreaux, who was a well know French Champion who Miss Bowles used as a model for her famous profile head sketch.  This likeness is the emblem of the American club and is no doubt the most widely used depiction in the history of the breed. Wandru's sister Wanda also has a significant place in French pedigrees of the era.

The sale of Wandru had been arranged by Felix Verbanck after extensive correspondence, much of which has come into my hands and provided a great deal of insight into the history of this era on both sides of the Atlantic.  Wandru had been bred before leaving  Europe, but apparently failed to conceive or lost her litter during the 19 day Atlantic passage. Perhaps the most notable of her offspring was Si Jolie du Clos des Cerberes, whelped in 1954, who would become the dam of Rostan.

Rostan was a big dog with excellent type.  His pedigree is in many ways a summary of American Bouvier history to that point in time:

Jan du Clos des Cerberes had served in the Dogs for Defense program and been returned after the war.  He was a litter mate to Marius.  Lisa was handled by Miss Bowles to become the first bitch to hold the Championship in  America .

About 1962 Remado's Katleen was brought in from  Belgium  with the assistance of Verbanck, whose nephew Maurice Dauwe was the breeder.  This young bitch, five months old when imported, was from a litter destined to be pivotal for the Bouvier in  Europe  as well as a corner stone of the Bowles line.  Her sister Kitty was to yield Marc de la Thudinie, a key element in Justin Chastel's de la Thudinie program.  A male, Remado's Kandy , was a significant stud dog for Edmond Moreaux of the kennel de l'Ile Monsin, and his get are particularly prominent in modern Dutch pedigrees.

Katleen was bred to Rostan to produce Telstar du Clos des Cerberes and Chef de Truffe to produce Schandor.  Out of a grandson of litter mate Kitty (a son of Marc himself) Katleen produced Brabo, who was to become the sire of several notable Bouviers, most particularly including Jasper du Clos des Cerberes.

Bowles was in her seventies, rendered less active by health and circumstance, written off by many, when Jasper emerged from the classes to win the 1971 American  Bouvier des Flandres  national specialty at the Westchester Kennel Club.  His pedigree is a summary of the Bowles program in the 60's:

Chef de Truffe was purchased by Miss Bowles from Robert and Joan Butts in  Springfield ,  Illinois  and became one of her important stud dogs.  Mr. and Mrs. Butts had in the middle and late 50's taken a great interest in the Bouvier, traveling in  Europe and importing Coquin de la Thudinie and Draga de la Thudinie who produced Chef.  Sadly, Mr. Butts died suddenly in the early sixties, cutting short what could have been an important Bouvier story in its own right.

When I first went to Belco Farm Altair was still a magnificent bitch even though more than ten years old - short coupled with an exquisite top line and incredible movement.  Her dam Aurega had been received in lieu of a stud fee, and was subsequently sold to the Blanford kennel in  Michigan, where she produced a couple of notable dogs.

Jasper marked a resurgence for Bowles, for in the same period she imported Tania du Posty Arlequin, in whelp to Sim de Bronchain, and later exchanged a pup out of Jasper with Chastel for Xurie de la Thudinie.  It is interesting and instructive that Miss Bowles has yet to import a stud dog, believing the bitches to be the foundation of a long term breeding program and using to good advantage the dogs imported by others.

Through Bouviers such as Jasper, Altair and Aurega the Bowles line became justly famous in the sixties and seventies, particularly for exceptional top lines, short coupling and excellent movement.  These attributes, and their predominance in the progeny, have had a strong and beneficial effect on the over all quality of American Bouviers.

The Bowles story is so incredible that there is a tendency to doubt, to wonder about embellishment.  As an example years ago Miss Bowles mentioned Bouviers being bred in Detroit in the twenties, which seemed a bit far fetched.  But when I finally obtained the Belgian records through Annie Verheyen there they were, several litters born on Mack Avenue in Detroit two blocks from the bus route I took to college. And registered in the Belgian stud book.  Everything mentioned in the early Bowles conversations ultimately proved to be literally true as my research commenced.

Some will portray Bowles as a "show breeder," and claim her serious concern for character as mythical, as invented after the fact. In her conversations Bowles described in considerable detail training "with the club in the village" and was certainly a remarkable activity for an upper class Belgian woman in the thirties. There were detailed descriptions of the training of Belco and his mother, and talk about holding the record for a wall climb at something like sixteen feet, which may have been a local or club record. When she came to America in the early forties there was of course no formal training, and by the time Schutzhund finally emerged in the in the mid seventies she was in that age group too. Furthermore, there was nothing to be gained by inventing working credentials in that era, nobody was buying Bouviers as actual working dogs so there would have been no motivation to fabricate or embellish

Although the early du Clos des Cerberes lines no longer predominate in American Bouviers as they did through the fifties, the line that began again with Belco after the tragic consequences of the German invasion is still a vital bulwark of the American Bouvier today.  In addition, Bowles paved the way for the imports of others in the later fifties and early sixties, particularly those of Fred and Dorthy Walsh at Deewal and Bob Abady at des Preux Vuilbaards.  Thus while Chastel and the others in  Belgium were creating the modern Bouvier, Bowles in  America  was preparing the way for the fruit of this labor, playing a major role in establishing the comparable American heritage. And even the very earliest dogs live, for the blood of Belco and Marius and Rostan flows in the dogs so many of us share our lives with today.

Each of us who loves a Bouvier shares in the Bowles legacy, it is perhaps appropriate that we sometimes take a few moments to reflect on what the half century of tenacious dedication of Edmee Bowles means to us in our own lives and in our own Bouviers.

Rostan du Clos des Cerberes

 Copyright Jim Engel 1985, updated 2007