The credit for the existence of Tartuffe does not belong with us but with our very dear sister-in-law Sue Reynolds, who died in a tragic accident in October 1999. However, that credit also has to be shared with the existence of the wonderful breed around which this kennel was established ~ The Bullmastiff.

This breed is very special with characteristics so worthy of our love and devotion. They are loyal, loving, intelligent, family orientated, gentle, kind, affectionate, brave, protective and fun loving ~ how many people can you describe in such terms?!

We have in more recent times shared our love with another fabulous breed from the Molosser world ~ The Dogue de Bordeaux.

When Sue died, we decided that her work should not have been in vain and assumed responsibility for as many of the dogs as was possible at that time ~ a major learning curve by anyone’s standards! We have made our mistakes along the way, but have always had a kennel full of dogs we love and enjoy ~ even if they have not been the biggest winners! In fact, over the years, the significance of that feature in our life with the dogs has diminished.

Achievement in the show setting is not the only yardstick by which success should be measured in the world of dogs. We have tried hard to be mindful of maintaining the essential physical and mental qualities of the breeds we know and love. We strive to offer them a lifestyle commensurate with their needs, but most of all we love them unconditionally!

We thought it might be appropriate for us to share our ‘lifestyle’ and ‘belief system’ around our family of Tartuffe Bullmastiffs and Dogue de Bordeaux. We believe passionately in trying to maintain good structure and condition in our stock, i.e. that our dogs could efficiently and effectively manage a days work if called upon to so do. We run our dogs out over some fairly rough terrain, thus maintaining a level of fitness, commensurate with the task for which they were bred.

Our management of the dogs at Tartuffe is very demanding, but undoubtedly reaps the rewards we seek ~ fit, happy and healthy dogs. We feed only a natural diet and the benefits are obvious, not only in our show age dogs, but particularly in both our young and our senior citizens.

We have also come to understand that most dogs and people want to co-exist peacefully and enjoy each other’s love and devotion. This is not always possible however, if the basic tenet of leadership is not sorted out at an early stage. In our experience most relationships between dogs and people are broken for two principal reasons ~ the dissolution of a relationship between the owners, or lack of leadership between the owner and dog for which the dog pays the ultimate price ~ rejection! Unfortunately we are unable to to influence the former but try to minimize the possibility of the latter at Tartuffe! All our puppy people are given the basic principles of good leadership techniques based principally on the Amichien Methodology, and this can also be followed up by our very own ‘Dog Listener’ who will work on an individual basis with our clients ~

Read more about this in our Surestart the Tartuffe Way on our ‘breeding page!’