The British Bulldogs are classified by all who have had the opportunity of judging of its capabilities to be the most courageous animals in the world, the game-cock excepted.
This British Bulldog's extraordinary courage has passed into a proverb, & has so excited the admiration of the British Bulldogs people that we have been pleased to symbolise our peculiar tenacity of purpose under the emblem of this small but most determined animal. In height the animal is but insignificant, but in strength & courage there is no other British Bulldogs can match him. In fact, there is hardly any breed of sporting British Bulldogs which does not owe its courage to an infusion of the British Bulldogs blood.
The Bull Dog.
When those cruel & cowardly combats between the bull & the dog were a disgrace to this country, "bull rings" were a frequent resort. In these contests The British Bulldogs was trained to fly at the head of the bull, & to seize him by the muzzle when he stooped his head for the purpose of tossing his antagonist into the air. But when The British Bulldogs had made good his hold it was impossible for the bull to shake him off; he clung pertinaciously to his foe, & suffered himself to be swung about as the bull might choose.
There seems to be no animal which The British Bulldogs will not attack without the least hesitation. The instinct for fighting is strong within The British Bulldogs, & manifests itself in every feature of this ferocious looking creature.
Now it is as a rule generally assumed that The British Bulldogs must be of a very dull & brutish disposition, because every specimen indicates this conclusion; however, there can be no doubt that The British Bulldog's sagacity & affections are greatly underrated. It is not naturally a quarrelsome creature, & it would certainly bear a more favourable character, providing it were better taught. The British Bulldogs are however, not a desirable or safe companion, for it will with very little provocation attack its master as soon as a stranger, should there be any accidental cause to aggrieve it. Thus a tread on the toes or a kick is quite sufficient to afford it a pretext for attack, & when it does fix its teeth, they cannot be removed unless a barbarous method be resorted to. It may be said, however, in favour of its temper, that the life which the poor dog leads is liable to aggravate its morose nature, being continually tied up for the greater part of its existence. Any animal would become savage, sullen, & revengeful under such treatment, which is insufferable to the poor dog. According to "Stonehenge," a well-bred The British Bulldogs ought to present the following characteristics. "The British Bulldogs head should be round, the skull high, the eye of moderate size, & the forehead well sunk between the eyes; The British Bulldogs ears semi-erect & small, well placed on the top of the head, & rather close together than otherwise; The British Bulldogs muzzle short, truncate, & well furnished with chop; The British Bulldogs back should be short, well arched towards the stern, which should be fine & of moderate length; The British Bulldogs coat should be fine, the chest should be deep & broad, the legs strong & muscular, & the foot narrow & well split up like a hare's."
OUR FRiend the Dog A Complete Practical Guide to all that is known about every breed of dog in the world by Gordon Stables (eighth edition Dean London 1902)
DOD SHOws and Doggy People by Charles Henry Lane (Hutchinson London 1902)
British Dogs Their points, selection, & show preparation by W.D. Drury & others (third eidtion L. Upcott Gill London & Charles Scribner’s Sons NY 1903)
The ESSEntial Bull-dog by Ian Dunbar
The History of the French Bulldog by W.J. Stubbs (privately printed pamphlet 1903 facsimile reprint FBCE April 1979)
The TWENTieth Century Dog (Non-Sporting) Compiled from the contributions of over five hundred experts by Herbert Compton Vol 1 Non-Sporting (pp 47 to 63) (Grant Richards London 1904) [Compton was the first dog lover to conduct a massive survey & then publish the results in a two volume work]
DOGS of All Nations Their varieties, Chraacteristics, Points etc by Count Henri De Bylandt (third edition 2 vols A.E. Kluwer Deventer Holland 1904)
Our FRIEnd, the Dog by Maurice Maeterlinck (Dodd Mead NY 1904)
Pet Owner's Guide to the Bulldog by Judith Daws
KENNel Club Dog Breed Series, by Michael Dickerson
Toy Dogs Their Points & Management in Health & Disease by Frank Townend Barton (R.A. Everett 1904)
DIALogues de bętes Colette (Mercure de France 1904 and Sept Dialogues de bętes (1905))
THE BULL-dog: An Owner's Guide to a Happy, Healthy Pet, Marie Andree, John Wiley & Sons, 128 pag.
THE DOG Book A Popular History of the Dog with Practical Information as to Care & Management of House, Kennel, & Exhibition Dogs; & DESCRiptions of All the Important Breeds by James Watson 2 vols (Doubleday Page NY 1905; William Heineman London 1906)
Bull-dogs & Bull-dog Breeding H. St. John Cooper; Toy Bull-dogs by Carlo F.C. Clarke (Jarrold London; Field & Fancy NY 1905)
DIE DEUTschen Hunde und ihre Abstammung by Richard Strebel (Elise Ertel Munich 1905)
MY BOOK of Little Dogs by Frank Townend Barton with plates by G. Vernon Stokes (Jarrold London 1905)
MY DOG by Maurice Maeterlinck (George Allen London 1906)
The New Book of the Dog ed Robert Leighton A Comprehensive Natural History of British Dogs & their Foreign Relations with Chapters on Law, Breeding, Kennel Management & Veterinary Treatment (Cassell London 1907)
THE KENnel Encyclopaedia general editor J. Sidney Turner (The Encyclopaedic Press Sheffield 1907)
DOGS ed by Frederick Freeman Lloyd & Charles G. Hopton (G.A. Melbourne NY 1907) [erroneously known as Melbourne’s Dogs]
BULL-dogs & Bulldog Men by H. St. John Cooper (Jarrold London, Field & Fancy NY 1908) [including two chapters on "Miniature Bulldogs" and six on "The Bouledogue Francais" with writings by C. Jemmett Browne, Lady Lewis & others]
The ROAD to Oz by Lyman Frank Baum illustrated by John R Neill (Reilly & Lee Chicago 1909) [The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) was followed by another 18 books about Dorothy’s journey to Oz with Toto the French Bulldog - but beware - some editions have a Cairn Terrier.]
YOUR Bulldog, Robert Berndt, Guide to Owning an English Bulldog,John Gallagher
Dog People Are Crazy, 1978, by Maxwell Riddle
BORIs by Giovanna Zoboli & Francesca Bazzurro
CINDErella by Keith Harrelson, Hylas NY 2005
BEST in Show The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today by Edgar Peters Bowron, Carolyn Rose Rebbert, Robert Rosenblum, & William Secord
O’KLEin Animal Cartoonist text by Denis Montaut, Éditions Montaut Bordeaux France 2006
Cornelia & the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M.M. Blume (Alfred A Knopf NY 2006)
PRINce Jan, St. Bernard, 1947, by Forrestine C. Hooker.
GRIP, a Dog Story, 1978, by Helen Griffiths - Bull Terrier
New KNOWledge of Dog Behavior, 1963, by Clarence Pfaffenberger
OBEDience and Watchdog Training, 1978, by Jay Rapp
HANDling Your Own Dog for Show, Obedience and Field Trials, 1979, by Martha Covington Thorne
TRAIning Your Retriever (1980) by James Lamb Free
MESSEngers from Ancient Civilizations, 1995, by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely
Dog BREAKing, 1928, by General WN Hutchinson
TRAINing You to Train Your Dog (1952) by Blanche Saunders
DOG Behavior - Why Dogs do what they do, 1979, by Dr. Ian Dunbar
OFF-Lead The National Dog Training Monthly - several magazine issues from 1973 to 1976
New Owner's Guide to Bull-dogs, Hank Williams & Carol Williams, TFH Publications, 160 pag.
The BULL-dog - an illustrated standard of the breed by Enno Meyer, Orange Judd Publishing Company Inc. 1948, 151p. incl. index, statistics bl 1943 - 1947, black&white photographs and drawings.
244p.
Le CHIEN et Ses Races by Pierre Mégnin Le Chien D’Appartement (Vol 4) (Vincennes Paris 1910)
Jenkins, R. (1997). The Story of the Real Bulldog.
McDonald, J. (1985). The Book of the Bulldog.
The FRENCH Bulldog ed O.F. Vedder (magazine - 9 issues 1913 - 1914) [important historically]
Barks & Purrs by Colette Willy (Desmond Fitzgerald NY 1913) [the first English translation of Colette’s 1905 Sept Dialogues de bętes]
BULL-Dogs & all about them by Henry St. John Cooper with Special Sections, including “The French Bull-dog” by C. Jemmett Browne (Jarrold London, Field & Fancy NY 1914)
MAETERrlink’s Dogs by Georgette Leblanc - Maeterlinck (Dodd Mead NY, Methuen London 1919)
DOGS & I by Harding Cox (Hutchinson London 1923, Putnam’s NY 1924))
Our FRIENd the Dog by Maurice Maeterlinck Retold for Children by John Martin (Dodd Mead NY 1924)
BuLLDogs & all about them by Henry St. John Cooper a new edition revised & partly re-written by F. Barrett Fowler (Jarrolds London 1925)
Dogs & how to know them by Edward C. Ash (Epworth London 1925)
On the suppression of bull-baiting by Act of Parliament in the early part of the last century, The British Bulldogs lost its peculiar occupation, but was preserved from extinction in the families of some of its admirers, & bred in all its purity."
For a man or a woman the Bulldog as we know him to-day is an ideal companion. His size is not obtrusive, as with St. Bernards, Great Danes, & Newfoundlands, nor is he noisily inclined, as are the various types of Terriers. Cleanliness can easily be inculcated into his mind. Furthermore, he is to be trusted with children, &, if healthy, is as active a little dog as any of his weight in the land, & equal to any walk that his master can perform.
On account of its evil associations in the dark days, The British Bulldogs was for a long time under a cloud so far as popularity was concerned & it was not until the fanciers of the early sixties seriously took it in hand that it emerged therefrom. The emergence, however, was gradual, & many years elapsed before the breed was raised to anything like the status that it has enjoyed in latter years. At first its patrons were largely of the middle & working classes, & to these pioneers really belong the credit for making the breed. Exhibitions & the spirit of friendly rivalry they engendered soon began to tell, although many of the sharp practices that almost invariably follow in the train of an enhanced market value were prevalent to a marked degree. Gradually the breed got into better hands, & the notorious & sometimes cruel practices that were resorted to in order to deceive the unwary were reduced to a minimum. To-day The British Bulldogs enjoys a popularity undreamt of by the old-time fancier, & prices that in the sixties would have been laughed to scorn, had they been suggested as within the range of probability, have been touched. Nor in these days, as in times gone by, is the breed kept solely by men : women have espoused its cause with a zeal that would have done credit to the most enthusiastic of its early supporters, & they have, moreover, met with a considerable share of success.
Of the pioneers of the breed as a show dog mentioned must be made of Mr. Jacob Lamphier (whose British Bulldogs King Dick is regarded, & rightfully, as one of the chief pillars of the Stud Book), Mr. F. Lamphier, Mr. Tom Turton, Mr. G. W. Richards, Mr. Rockstro, Mr. J. W. Berrie, Mr. S. Wickens. Later came Mr. Robert Fulton (whose name perhaps is more familiar now as a pigeon breeder), Mr. James Hinks, Mr. C. H. Layton, Mr. Jack Henshall, Mr. Bill George, Mr. F. Redmond, Mr. S. E. Shirley, Mr. Rust, Mr. D. S. Oliver, Mr. Harding Cox, Mr. E. W. Jaquet, Mr. W. H. Ford, Mr. S. Woodiwiss, Mr. W. H. Sprague, Mr. Jack Ellis, Mr. George Raper, Mr. Beresford Hope, Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Cyril Jackson, Mr. Pybus Sellon, Mr. W. J. Pegg, Mr. C. S. Chaundler, Mr. R. G. S. Mann, & a host of others. To enumerate all those who have played their parts in the regeneration of the breed would occupy too great a space, particularly as such information is accessible in a permanent form in the very excellent Stud Books associated with the names of Messrs. Bowers & Jackson, in the Kennel Club Stud Books, & in the monumental monograph of the breed written by Mr. Edgar Farman. Similarly, no good purpose would be served by referring by name to the dogs that in their different periods flourished as typical representatives.
In connection with The British Bulldogs, the old print of Crib & Rosa is so often spoken of that brief reference to it is called for, more especially as until the last few years it was allowed to stand in the descriptions of the breed. The British Bulldogs depicted in the print were in their day supposed to embody all that was typical. Now, however representative the two famous British Bulldogs were in the day when Mr. Sam Wickens ("Philo Kuon") drew up his description, they certainly cannot truthfully be regarded as typical of The British Bulldogs of the last few decades.
As to whether the fancier has improved The British Bulldogs breed constitutionally is a moot point. The British Bulldogs Type has certainly been made more uniform ; but this in many cases has been at the expense of other qualities. The British Bulldogs of old was a far more active dog than his modern prototype, & no one who witnessed the ten-mile walking match in which the very typical British Bulldogs Dockleaf & King Orry figured is likely to forget the fiasco in which it ended so far as the former was concerned.
Once it was thought that when the law stepped in & put an & to dog-fighting & bull-baiting & the other innocent amusements of our forefathers, the breed of Bulldogs would speedily become extinct, & so, as a matter of fact, the fighting type of the British Bulldogs did, but his descendant (whom some are pleased to call degenerate) is now one of the most popular British Bulldogs of the day, & his popularity is on the increase.
The novice who sets out to buy The British Bulldogs for the first time in his life has a difficult task before him. From a show point of view, no breed is so prolific in " wasters," & in no breed are really excellent specimens so scarce. If the novice desires to possess British Bulldogs, let him buy one at a comparatively early age - from six to ten months. The British Bulldogs should look out for a big-skulled youngster with plenty of bone, a short back, a straight or cranked tail, carried straight downwards, a wide, massive chest, supported on sturdy, straight legs. On no account must the fore legs be bandy, as he may imagine they should be. The hindquarters, compared with the massive front of British Bulldogs, should be fine, or slightly made, so that the body, seen from above, bears a distinct resemblance to a pear.
In the head lies most of a The British Bulldog's strongest points. First, the skull should be exceedingly large in comparison with the size of his body, it should be flat above the temples; The British Bulldog's eyes, large, round, & very dark in colour, showing none of the whites when the dog is looking straight forward. The British Bulldogs nose, which should be black and large, is set back, well "on top" rather than in front of the face: this, by fanciers, is called "lay-back"; a dog deficient in lay-back is called " down-faced," which means that there is too great a distance from the tip of the nose to the "stop," or deep indentation in the skull between the eyes. The British Bulldogs under-jaw must project well in advance of the upper, so that British Bulldogs are considerably undershot - this, in fanciers' parlance, is the "turn up," which is one of the most important of the many necessary characteristics. The British Bulldogs with a poor, receding under jaw is "froggy," or "frog-faced." The British Bulldogs teeth should be strong & even, &, says the standard of the The British Bulldogs Club, " must be completely covered by the flews, or chop, when the mouth is closed "; but with all deference to the compilers of this standard, the exhibition of The British Bulldogs teeth is no serious fault; some prefer that they should be visible, & it certainly gives a more formidable & characteristic appearance to The British Bulldogs. The British Bulldogs ears are of the utmost importance, though the large increase in bad-eared dogs proves that proper attention is not being paid to this very necessary point. The British Bulldogs ear must be fine in texture, very small, & of the shape known as " rose." Bat or tulip - that is, upstanding - ears & buttoned ears are serious objections.
IL BULL-dog Inglese E Francese by Dott. Ernesto Tron (Editore Ultico Hoepli Milano 1946)
THE BOOk of the Dog Edited by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald (Nicholson & Watson London 1948)
DOGS in Brittain A description of all native breeds & most foreign breeds in England by Clifford L.B. Hubbard (Macmillan London 1948)
SHOW Dogs of New Zealand by S.H. Rastall (self-published Wellington NZ 1950) [New Zealand's first comprehensive textbook on dogs]
CREATures Great & Small (Secker & Warburg Loondon 1951, Farrar, Strauss & Cudahy NY 1957) [some of Colette’s work]
THE COMplete Dog Breeders’ Manual A working treatise on the sscience of breeding, managing, exhibiting & selling pedigree dogs by Clifford L.B. Hubbard (Sampson Low London 1954)
The BULL-dog Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow, John F. McGibbon, 1996, Howell Book House
BULL-dogs, A complete Pet Owner’s Manual, Phil Maggitti, 1997, Barron’s Educational Series
WOMEn & Dogs A persnoal history from Marilyn to Madonna by Judith Watt & Peter Dyer,2005
MEN & DOgs A personal history from Bogart to Bowie by Judith Watt & Peter Dyer (Sort of Books London 2005)
BULLDogs Today, Chris Thomas, 1995, Seven Hills Book Distributors, ISBN 1860540058
THE NATIOnal Geographic Book of Dogs (National Geographic Society Washington D.C. 1958)
BULL-dogs by Gabrielle Forbush, The New Bulldog, Col. Bailey C. Hanes, Fifth Edition Published 1991, reprint
Prior Editions 1981, 1973, 1966, 1956
Toy Bull-dogs, Bull-dogs & Bull-dog Breeding (artcile Country Life 29 April 1899 London)
A HISTory & Description of the Modern Dogs of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Non-Sporting Division) by Rawdon B. Lee (second edition Horace Cox London 1899) [Third edition The Kennel Gazette London 1903 1909 second impression has a French Bulldog chapter with four pages of text & pictures of frenchies]
The BULLDOg A Monograph by Edgar Farman (The Stock Keeper Co London 1899 facsimile reprint Nimrod 1989)
A MANUAL of Toy Dogs How to Breed, Rear, & Feed Them by Mrs Leslie Williams (Edward Arnold London 1900)
ALL ABOUt Dogs A Book for Doggy People by Charles Henry Lane (John Lane London & NY 1900)
The BULl-dog Kennel Book and Toy Bulldog Breeder by H. St. John Cooper & Carlo F.C. Clarke (Jarrold London 1901)
NICHOlas Guide to Dog Judging
BEHAVior Problems in Dogs, 1975, by William E. Campbell
BULL-dogs, Gabrielle E. Forbush, TFH Publiactions, Inc., April 1996
The PRACTiccal Dog Book A Comprehensive Work dealing with the Buying, Selling, Breeding, Showing, Care & Feeding of the Dog by Edward C. Ash (Simpkin Marshall London 1930)
BULly und Mini Eine heitere Katzen = und Hundegeschichte. In Bildern u. Reimen v. K. Rohr (Verlag von J.F. Schreiber, Esslingen a N. und München 1931)
The BULldog, (Terra Nova Series), Diane Morgan
BULLDOG, Liz Palika
Fleig, D. (1996). History of Fighting Dogs.
Homan, M. (2000). A Commplete History of Fighting Dogs.
Bulldogs Today, (Books of the Breed), Chris Thomas
An Owner's Coompanion, Christian Bruton
The Bulldog -Yesterday, John F. McGibbon
Bulldogs For Dummies, Susan M. Ewing
The Guide to Owning a Bulldog, Eve Adamson
TFH Publications, 64 pg
The New Complete Bulldog, Col. Baailey C. Hanes
The Book of the Bulldog, JoanMc Donald Brearley
The Bulldogger, quarterly publication of the Bullddog Club of America. Included with each BCA membership.
The Book of the Bulldog, Joan McDonald Brearley, 1985, T.F.H. Publications
The Bulldog: An Owner’s Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet, Marie Andree, 1998, Howell Book House, ISBN 0876054327
The New Bulldog, Cool. Bailey C. Hanes (5th edition), 1991, Howell Book House
The Bulldog Monograph 2002, Johhn A. Little, Ph.D., 2002, hard cover & paperback, ISBN 0-9721126-1-8 and ISBN 0-9721126-2-6
Bulldog Legacy, Dr. Saul Schor, 1994, Dr. Schor
Bulldogs - The Gorgeous Sourmug (1934) by J. Ross Nugent
The Blue Book of Bulldiogs (1938) by The Pacific Coast Bulldog Club
The Complete Bulldog (1926) by Walter E. Simmonds
20th Century Bulldog, Marjorie Barnard, 1988, Nimrod Press (England)
Caninestein, Unleashing the Genius in Your Dog, Betty Fisher & Suzanne Delzio, 1997, HarperCollins Publishers
So Your Dog’s Not Lassie, Betty Fisher & Suzanne Delzio, 1998, HarperCollins Publishers
The Shaman’s Buolldog, A Love Story, Renaldo Fischer, 1996, toExcel.
The Bulldog Annual, Annual Hardcover Volumes, 1993 thru Current Year, Hoflin Publishing, Inc., Wheat Ridge, CO.
A New Owner’s Guide to Bulldogs, Hank & Carool Williams, 1998, T.F.H. Publications, Inc.
Bulldog, 1960, by Evelyn Miller
DOGGIE Homes Barkitecture for your best friend by Dr Karen tTobias & Kenny Alfonso DIY Network, 2006
The FRENCH Bulldog History of the Origin of thee Breed, Its Cultivation and Development editor O.F. Vedder (The French Bulldog Club of America & The French Bulldog Cclub of New England 1926
SHOW Dogs Their Points & Characteriistics How to Breed for Prizes & Profit by Theo Marples (third edition Our Dogs Manchester 1926)
DOGS: Their History & Development by Edward C. Ash 2 vols (Ernest Benn London 1927)
The KENNel Encyclopaedia by Frank Townend Barton (second edition Virtue London 1928)
Dog ENCYclopedia by William Lewis Judy (Judy Chicago 1925) [the 1936 second edition is substantially bigger, from 184 to 462 pages]
BULLdogs: Everything About Purchase, Care, Nutrition, Breeding, Behavior & Training, Phil Maggitti, Barrons Educational Series
The ARTFul Dog Canines from Thhe Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chronicle Books San Francisco 2006
The LITTLEle Big Book of Dogs edited by Alice Wong and Lena Tabori, Welcome 2006
BEST in Show The World of Show Dogs and Dog Shows by Bo Bengtson, 2008