FRENCH BULLDOG ORIGIN & HISTORY
The French Bulldog is a delightful little dog who shows little remnants of his gladiator ancestry. The French Bulldog or “Frenchie” evolved from fighting Bulldogs of the early 1800’s. With the abolition of bullbaiting in 1835, the Bulldogs of era fell into a decline. Thankfully some dedicated fanciers of the breed sought to tame the ferocious nature bred into these dogs for over 600 years. There is speculation about this point, but the most reasonable explanation for this achievement was the introduction of Pug blood. Regardless, there evolved two types of Bulldog. The larger 50-55lb variety and the smaller 30-35lb variety. The smaller dogs became known as “Toy” Bulldogs and were rather similar in appearance to their larger counterparts. These small nimble dogs adept at ratting fell into particular favour with the lace makers of the mid 1800’s. The advent of the Industrial Revolution brought an exodus of lace makers from Nottingham district to Northern France who took their little Bulldogs with them.
The refinement of the breed took place in France. The prevalence of pricked ears became a feature desired in the French Bulldog or Bouledogue Francais.
These little fellows became increasingly popular in France in the late 1800’s and were especially favoured by prostitutes of the era as lap dogs. The female glitterati of the time took to owning Frenchies in an effort to be daring, hence the advance of these charismatic little dogs to the upper class.
The French Bulldog was recognised as a breed in England in 1905, although many specimens had been imported prior to this. The Frenchie fell into favour with American tourists in Paris, who took specimens back with them to the USA.
The American breeders are largely attributed with the production of cobby, massive headed and square jawed specimens which have become the ideal for this breed.
Frenchies are affectionate dogs, ideal as a companion and great with kids. They are active little dogs and are generally low maintenance.
The two distinctive features of the French Bulldog are the Bat ears and the skull which is flat between the ears.
Frenchies are bred primarily as pets. However, they do make good watch dogs.
The Frenchie is well behaved, adaptable, and comfortable companions with an affectionate nature and even disposition: generally active, alert, and playful, but not unduly boisterous.
They make an excellent apartment dog but do enjoy roaming outside on a lead. A wonderful companion to small children who loves to play dress-up or a great companion in the car. In a family situation he behaves like a child, demanding a great deal of personal attention and interaction.
About French Bulldogs
Average Lifespan
When considering a dog, please realise you are taking it on for its lifetime. The French Bulldog lives up to 11 - 12 years of age.
Breed Personality/Characteristics/Temperament
French Bulldogs are very intelligent animals, they are highly affectionate and friendly. They are full of courage but can also have the qualities of a clown. They love to be around people at all times especially their owners. There are various colours but if showing your dog the following are acceptable: Brindle, Pied or Fawn. They are a sturdy small dog, with a large square head in proportion to their body size. Their most prominent feature is their "BAT" like ears. They have a very muscular body and are born with a very short tail.
Compatibility with other pets
A friendly non aggressive dog, compatible with most breeds.
Care Requirements
Because they are smooth coated dogs they require very little in the way of grooming. They do not shed their coats when coming into the hotter months. They will take just about all the exercise you can give them whether it be walking round the block or simply playing ball in the yard. They dont like being left out.
Please Take Note
As with any "Short Nosed" dogs there is the possibility of breathing problems, and during the hot summer days they can suffer Heat Stress extremely rapidly.
The ANKC breed standard for the French Bulldog is listed below.
Kennel Club, London 1994
GENERAL APPEARANCE - Sturdy, compact, solid, small dog with good bone, short, smooth coat. No point exaggerated, balance essential.
CHARACTERISTICS - Full of courage, yet with clown-like qualities. Bat ears and short undocked tail essential features of the breed.
TEMPERAMENT - Vivacious, deeply affectionate, intelligent.
HEAD AND SKULL - Head square, large and broad but in proportion to dogs size. Skull nearly flat between ears, domed forehead, loose skin forming symmetrical wrinkles. Muzzle broad, deep and set well back, muscles of cheeks well-developed; nose and lips black. Stop well defined. Lower jaw deep, square, broad, slightly undershot and well turned up. Nose extremely short, black and wide, with open nostrils and line between well defined. Lips thick, meeting each other in centre, completely hiding teeth. Upper lip covers lower on each side with plenty of cushion, never so exaggerated as to hang too much below level of lower jaw.
EYES - Preferably dark and matching. Moderate size, round, neither sunken nor prominent, showing no white when looking straight forward; set wide apart and low down in skull.
EARS - Bat ears, of medium size, wide at base, rounded at top; set high, carried upright and parallel, a sufficient width of skull preventing them being too close together; skin soft and fine, orifice as seen from the front showing entirely.
MOUTH - Slightly undershot. Teeth sound and regular, but not visible when the mouth is closed. Tongue must not protrude.
NECK - Powerful, with loose skin at throat, but not exaggerated. Well arched and thick, but not too short.
FOREQUARTERS - Legs set wide apart, straight boned, strong, muscular and short.
BODY - Short, cobby, muscular and well rounded with deep wide brisket; roach back; strong; wide at shoulders and narrowing at loins; good cut up, ribs well sprung.
HINDQUARTERS - Legs strong, muscular and longer than forelegs thus raising loins above shoulders. Hocks well let down.
FEET - Small, compact and placed in continuation of line of leg, with absolutely sound pasterns. Hind feet rather longer than the fore-feet. Toes compact; well knuckled; nails short, thick and preferably black.
TAIL - Undocked, very short, set low, thick at root, tapering quickly towards tip, either straight or kinked, never curling over back nor carried gaily.
GAIT/MOVEMENT - Free and flowing.
COAT - Texture fine, smooth, lustrous, short and close.
COLOUR - Brindle, pied or fawn. Tan, mouse and grey/blue highly undesirable.
(1) Brindle - a mixture of black and coloured hairs. May contain white provided brindle predominates.
(2) Pied - white predominates over brindle. Whites are classified with pieds for show purposes; but their eyelashes and eyerims should be black. In pieds the white should be clear with definite brindle patches and no ticking or black spots.
(3) Fawn - may contain brindle hairs but must have black eye lashes and eye rims.
SIZE -
Ideal weight: Dogs 12.7 kg
Bitches 10.9 kg
Soundness not to be sacrificed to smallness.
FAULTS - Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
NOTE - Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
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