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A short History of the Olde English Bulldogge, from the bullfighting bulldog of old, to the present day Olde Bulldogge. The Bulldogge of today has retained many of those precious qualities of old; health, agility, proud and fearless with a loyalty and charm that is unmatched.
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Those same qualities we fell in love with and are what makes an Olde the ultimate family member. |
There are references in history to the bulldog as far back as Roman Time (395AD to 404AD). The Roman Claudian who describes a dog as "The British Hound that brings the bull's big forehead to the ground"
(from "The New Complete Bulldog" by Colonel Bailey C Hanes)
But the first time the name Bulldog is used was in 1209 in "The Survey of Stamford".
"William Earl Warren, Lord of this town in the reign of King John (1209), standing upon the walls of his castle at Stamford, saw two bulls fighting for a cow in the castle meadow, till all the butchers dogs pursued one of the town bulls, which maddened by the noise and multitude, ran through the town. This so pleased the Earl that he gave the castle meadow (where the bull's combat began), for a common to the butchers of the town, after the first grass was mowed, on condition that they should find a mad bull, on a day six weeks before Christmas for the continuance of that sport forever."
Thus began "Bull Baiting" and such sports in England. Anyone who has read about the sport of Bull Baiting is conscious of its extreme cruelty. But from this we can gather that the original Bulldog had to be a very ferocious animal. Beauty and Symmetry of form were in no way desirable, the appearance of the dog counting for nothing. The extraordinary courage possessed by these dogs is hardly believable. Bred from a long line of fighting ancestors, they grew to be so savage, so courageous as to be almost insensitive to pain, while retaining enough intelligence and discipline as to be controllable. This was the Bulldog of British sporting days.
Then came the year 1835, when dog fighting as a sport became illegal in England. To all intense and purposes, therefore, the Bulldog had outlived its usefulness; his days were numbered. However, there were dog lovers who felt a deep disappointment at the passing of so fine a breed. They set themselves the task of preserving it. Though ferocity was no longer necessary to be desirable, they wished to retain all the dogs other splendid qualities. With this idea in mind, they proceeded to eliminate the undesirable characteristics and to preserve and accentuate the finer qualities.
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From the Past |
Present Day Olde English Bulldogges |
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The history of the Bulldog tell us much about the desired physical traits of the Bulldog of old. These are the same traits still found today in the Olde English Bulldogge.
Wide thick muscled shoulders with powerful hind quarters for the strength to hold a full grown bull.
Deep wide chest and shortened snout with a tilt back, for breathing capacity
Short, thick legs with a wide stance and large paws; allowing the best traction possible
Wide rounded head with widely spaced eyes for range of vision
Short thick coat with extra skin, giving the appearance of wrinkles; also allowing protection from muscle damage
Off set, "undershot", jaw; in the past allowing for a tighter bite with more strength; now often used to smile with charm
Total loyalty; Also used in the past by Lords and Ladies to protect their money pouch, by tying their valuables to the bulldog of old's collar. The breeds total loyalty to the owner allowed only the owner to obtain the valuables from the dog.
We believe the Olde English Bulldogge given their agility, size and intelligence is the best culmination of those physical traits with the added wonderful temperaments they have now been bred for.
| Most sites credit Mr. Leavitt with creating the first Olde English Bulldogge in 1971- we are not going to debate that here. Just consider this, no breed was created by one breeder alone. It took a few good breeders with the same goal over a number of years, with the goal of a healthier, more active bulldog - reminiscent of that Bull fighting dog of old in physical condition, but retaining those wonderful personality traits of the modern day bully breeds. This goal did not happen over night, and was not Mr. Leavitt's alone.
We recommend reading "The Story of the Real Bulldog...The Re-creation of a Breed" by Robert Jenkins & Ken Mollett, which states in the prologue...
"The decision to remake the breed, for remaking is what has been accomplished, was taken on by various breeders independently of and unknown to each other."
Those few breeders recognized "At some point,...the health, condition and limitations of the modern animal (English Bulldog) became too mush to ignore. Rather than make excuses, they tore up the rule book and set out with sincere and decent intentions to do something positive for their breed."
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They simply impressed us from the start. |
Olde Bulldogge Temperament |
Dogface Kennels was founded 30 years ago. We have had a number of different bully breeds from the American Bulldog (Johnson lines) to American Stafford shire Terrier.
And then the moment of love came, and it was love at first sight with an Olde English Bulldogge (original Hermes lines). That was 18 years ago now and we have never looked back. We had found the dog for us, the Olde English Bulldogge.
A breed with that "tough guy look", great expressive face, gentle and protective with children, agile and capable of keeping up with them, combined with health and a temperament that was protective and loving, this is what we strive to continue in our Dogface's.
Our Dogface's continually amaze and amuse us. Many of our most precious memories include any number of our Dogface's with the kids and now grand kids. We have included our Dogface's in any number of family activities, from camping, swimming, and nature walks, to lazy days on the couch watching a movie or sleeping in the sunshine. |
Olde English Bulldogges do best with good exercise but do not require long runs.
Positive reinforcement works well as they love to please you, patients at times when he/she decides to be a "stubborn bulldog", a soft place to sleep as they do have a bit of a "creature of comfort" in them, and love with a touch of being spoiled is Bulldogge heaven.
An OEB's protective, watchful nature is tempered with an intelligence and a basically friendly attitude. Their charm and hearts are worn on their "sleeves", often expressing their displeasure with you by hurt full looks and a pretense of ignoring you.
They love to be with you, where ever you decide to go. They do well with both individuals and families with children.
We do our best to match our puppies individual personalities and temperaments to each family/individual and welcome information on just what you are looking for in a new family member
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