What is the Olde English Bulldog? Is it even a breed? It is said
that the Olde English Bulldogge of today is as a re-creation of a
Bull-baiting type dog that existed in England during the 13th century.
It was an English Gentleman by the name of William, Earl of Warren who
introduced the sport of Bull baiting in the year 1209 at an annual
Pre-Christmas Festival after witnessing a group of the butchers' dogs
pursuing a raging bull clean trough the town. The pure determination of
these dogs amazed the Earl he declared it a yearly event! The bulldog
was bred to attack a bull by grabbing its nose and not letting go, it
was written in history that people of this time believed that the meat
of the bull was tastier if the animal had been baited before it was
butchered. Some people found this most entertaining and it is because of
this cruel spectator sport that the bulldog was originated. This
tenacious breed was known by many names, such as Oldie Bulldog, Olde
Tyme Bulldog, Pit-bulldog and even the Olde English Bulldog term was
used. There were many other names used depending on owner, breeder, area
and time era they lived in. After the sport of Baiting was outlawed in
1835 the breed may have been extinct, but the Bulldog had many admirers.
The ferocity has been bred out of the bulldog after years of selective
breeding. The original athletic bulldog was crossed with dogs like the
Pug to alter the attitude to make him easier to manage by new owners.
The bulldog's appearance had also been drastically changed to fit the
mold of the modern day Show Ring. The original look of the bulldog has
changed so much that the breed is almost unrecognizable. With these
changes come great health issues.
The
Olde English Bulldog is like no other! Different types of this rare
breed were being developed in the late 1960's to the early 1970's by
individuals like Greg Hermes, The Wilkinson's, David Leavitt and others.
These like minded bull breed fanciers were focused on re-creation of
the 18th century Working type Bulldog. This recreation is very alert,
friendly, courageous, and loyal breed. They make very good family
guardians because of their intelligence and trainability. Some say that
this recreation has the appearance of a Gladiator with their thick body,
broad chest and massive head, with the Courage to match! Because of
these fine qualities the breed has derived a very large and loyal
following. This new breed is now a very healthy, active breed that can
do any thing asked of him or her. On average the life span of a Bulldog
is over eleven years. Thanks to the select group of breeders that stayed
true to there goal they are now producing Bulldogs that are superior to
its counter part! It is now up to the future generation of breeders to
produce a Bulldog with only the best health and temperament! I think
that the Olde English Bulldog has a very bright future and the rest is
History.
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