Bulldog Breed Standard

One might think that the information on this page should be on the history page but we believe it should be on the "standards" page for the passionate student bulldogger to comprehend how the standard shapes the breed, a fact well understood by KC managers but maybe not so well by the rank and file bulldoggers and true lovers of the breed worldwide ,who just want today's bulldog to remain as he is today. (June 2009) but who are all agreed that we must all aim to breed healthy bulldogs eliminating faults which have crept into the breed through emphasizing and breeding undesirable exaggerated characteristics.
In our opinion any breeder, judge or just a lover of the breed must read up on the history of this exclusive breed and especially read , digest and thoroughly understand the first, very thorough and comprehensive ,bulldog standard which was compiled FOR The Bulldog Club Inc.by men who truly were matching form to function and were extremely careful in their choice of words while understanding that dogs do not come off a perfect production line and thus words like "could" "should" "must" or "about" demonstrably conveys the thoroughness in the use of the English language by the authors of the time in describing this most quintessential British Breed . From time to time some prominent breeder may put forward his or her own interpretation for public consumption but such temptations should be avoided/disregarded and one's only guide is the standard itself.


In 1865 The first Bulldog Club was formed and a standard for the breed was written by Mr Samuel Wickens known as the PhiloKuon Standard. Unfortunately the club folded after a few years due to lack of support but the standard was the basis upon which all others followed .In a note heading the standard Mr Wickens wrote :


The British Bulldog is a majestic ancient animal, very scarce, much maligned, and, as a rule, very little understood. If treated with kindness, often noticed, and frequently with his master, he is a quiet and attractive dog. but if kept chained up and little noticed, he becomes less sociable and docile, and if excited and made savage he is a most dangerous animal. He is generally an excellent guard, an extraordinary water dog, and very valuable to cross with terriers, pointers, hounds, greyhounds, etc. to give them courage and endurance. He is the boldest and most resolute of animals ."The game cock is a courageous bird, but he will only attack his own species. There is nothing a good bulldog will not attack, and very brave and unapalled with matchless courage, he will give up only with life itself. This noble dog becomes degenerate abroad. In truth , he is a national animal and is perfectly identified with Old England- and he is a dog of which Englishmen may be proud.


The Philo-Kuon Standard of The British Bull-Dog (Canis Pugnax)

THE HEAD should be large and high ,that is, with elevation about the temples, and deeply sunken between the eyes, which indentation is termed "The Stop" .this "Stop" should extend some distance up the head. The skin of the head should be wrinkled , and the cheeks should extend outwards well beyond the eyes. The forehead of the dog should not be prominent, as in the King Charles Spaniel, and not too round it it would be "Apple Headed" The head of a fine dog fifty pounds in weight, should measure round the thickest part about twenty inches.
THE EYES should be wide apart, almost black, of moderate size, rather full than otherwise, round, and not deeply set. The line of the eyes should be at right angles with the line of the face, and the eyes placed quite in front of the head, as far from the ear as possible.
THE EARS should be small, thin, and wide apart. They should be either "Rose" "Button" or "Tulip" .The rose ear falls backwards, while the ends lap over outwards, exposing part of the inside. The Button ear differs from the rose only in falling over forwards, which hides the interior. The Tulip ear is nearly erect. These are the only distinct sorts of ear, but there are various grades between them, and sometimes one almost merges into the other, for the dog does not always carry them in the same manner as, for instance, the ear which is naturally a Rose ear may become almost a Tulip ear when the animal is excited.
THE NOSTRILS should be wide and the nose large and almost between the eyes, and black, and deep, _ thus, taking the depth of the nose and the length from the eye to the end of the nose, the distance ought to be about the same. There should be a well defined line straight up between the nostrils. The best bred dogs will be liable to flesh or spotted noses; this is a blemish, but no sign of bad breeding; true bred Bulldogs will occasionally have flesh-coloured noses.
THE MUZZLE should be broad, deep. and short, with the skin deeply wrinkled and under hung, but not showing the teeth; for if the mouth be even they are termed shark-headed, which is considered a very bad point. The under jaw should be square and well upturned, with plenty of space in a nearly straight line for the six small front teeth in the lower jaw between the tusks. This is an important point, because it denotes width and squareness of under jaw.
THE NECK should be moderate in length ,thick and arched arched at the back, with plenty of loose wrinkled skin about the throat. the RIBS should be well rounded and the CHEST wide, deep, and rounded. The TAIL should be inserted rather low down ; thick where it joins the body, long and thin, and turned round at the end , in which case it is termed a "Ring" or "Tiger" tail, similar to that of the greyhound but shorter. The perfect tail is shown in the print of Mr Lovell's "Ball" and the tail nearest approaching that is the nearest to perfection. "the tail thin and taper , curling over the back or hanging down , termed "Tiger'-tailed; rarely erected except when the passions of the animal are aroused"- Vide Cynographia Brittannica, A.D. 1800
THE BACK should be short and arched at the loins. The Roach -back is shown in perfection in the print of " Crib and Rosa" Rosa's shape is perfect.
THE LEGS: the forelegs should be stout ,with well marked calves, bowed outwards, short, and very wide apart. The hind legs should be slightly longer in proportion than the forelegs, so as to elevate the loins, |The hocks should approach each other, which involves the stifles being turned outwards, and well rounded, which seems to obstruct the dog's speed in running, but is admirably adapted to progressive motion when combatting on his belly. The FEET should be moderately round; not so round as a Cat's nor so long as a hare's feet, and should be well split up between the toes. The forefeet should be straight, and should show the knuckles well. The Pasterns should be strong, that the dog may walk well on his toes.
THE COAT should be fine, short, and close. The Bull-Dog has a very peculiar carriage, heavy and rather slow. He rolls very much in his gait, and generally runs rather sideways: his hind legs are seldom lifted very high , so that his hind feet (which, li
ke the stifles, are turned outwards) appear to skim the ground. THE COLOUR should be salmon, fallow, red, brindled, or white, with these colours variously pied The salmon and fallow with black muzzles, called "Smuts" are choice colours. Some greatly admire the white, but a bright salmon with black muzzle would be the choicest of all colours. There is a strong resemblance between a brindled Bull-Dog and a striped Hyena.
WEIGHT : A BULL-DOG seldom weighs more than 60 lbs. If larger , he may be suspected of the Mastiff cross. On the other hand, he ought not to be less than 20 lbs. in weight, or he may be suspected of being crossed with the Terrier. The large Bull-dogs are grander and more striking in their proportions than the small ones.
PHILO-KUON. LONDON February 1865


This standard was later used as a blueprint which when refined and modified led in 1875 to the standard published by The Bulldog Club Incorporated

NOTE : There does not appear to be any disqualifications at this moment in time. The Bulldog Club Inc. Original Bulldog Standard

STANDARD DESCRIPTION OF THE CORRECT APPEARANCE AND THE SEVERAL POINTS IN DETAIL OF THE PERFECT BULLDOG
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The following description of the Pure-bred old English Bulldog has been compiled and adopted by "The BULLDOG CLUB (1875) as the correct standard type of excellence in the breed after carefully comparing all obtainable opinions

-In forming a judgement on any specimen of the breed ,the general appearance ,which is the first impression a dog makes as a whole on the eye of the Judge, should first be considered. Secondly, should be noticed it’s size, shape and make, or rather it’s proportions in the relation they bear to each other. (No point should be so much in excess of others as to destroy the general symmetry or make the dog appear deformed, or interfere with it’s powers of motion etc.) Thirdly, his style, carriage, gait, temper and his several points should be considered separately in detail, as follows, due allowance being made for the bitch, which is not so grand or as well developed as the dog.
(1)The general appearance of the Bulldog is that of a smooth-coated, thick-set dog, rather low in stature but broad, powerful and compact. It's head strikingly massive and large in proportion to the dog’s size. It's face extremely short. It's muzzle very broad, blunt and inclined upwards . It's body short and well knit, the limbs stout and muscular. It's hindquarters high and strong but rather lightly made in comparison with it’s heavily made fore parts. The dog conveys an impression of determination , strength and activity, similar to that suggested by the appearance of a thick-set Ayrshire or Highland Bull.

(2). The skull should be very large-the larger the better- and in circumference should measure (round in front of the ears ) at least the height of the dog at the shoulders. Viewed from the front it should appear very high from the corner of the lower jaw to the apex of the skull and also very broad and square. The cheeks should be well rounded and extended sideways beyond the eyes. Viewed at the side ,the head should appear very high, and very, short from it’s back to the point of the nose. The forehead should be flat, neither prominent nor overhanging the face: the skin upon it and about the head very loose and well wrinkled .

(3)The temples or frontal bones should be very prominent , broad, square and high, causing a deep and wide groove between the eyes. This indentation is termed the “stop”. and should be both broad and deep and extend up to the middle of the forehead, dividing the head vertically being traceable to the top of the skull.

(4)The eyes seen from the front should be situated low down in the skull, as far from the ears as possible. Their corners should be in a straight line at right angles with the stop, and quite in front with the head. They should be as wide apart as possible, provided their outer corners are within the outline of the cheeks . They should be quite round in shape of moderate size, neither sunken nor prominent , and in colour should be very dark - almost, if not quite black, showing no white when looking directly forward.

(5)-The ears should be set high on the head- i.e. the front inner edge of each ear should (as viewed from the front) join the outline of the skull at the top corner of such outline, so as to place them as wide apart and as high and as far from the eyes as possible. In size they should be small and thin, The shape termed “rose ear” is the most correct .The "rose ear" folds inwards at it’s back, the upper or front edge curving over outwards and backwards, showing part of the inside of the burr .

(6)The face, measured from the front of the cheekbone to the nose, should be as short as possible, and it’s skin should be deeply and closely wrinkled . The muzzle should be short, broad turned upwards and very deep from the corner of the eye to the corner of the mouth. The nose should be large, broad and black it’s top should be deeply set back almost between the eyes . The distance from the inner corner of the eye (or from the centre of the “stop” between the eyes) to the extreme tip of the nose should not exceed the length from the tip of the nose to the tip of the underlip. The nostrils should be large, wide, and black with a well defined ,vertical straight line between them.

(7)The flews ,called the “chop” should be thick, broad, pendant and very deep hanging completely over the lower jaw at the sides (not in front) They should join the under lip in front and quite cover the teeth which should not be seen when the mouth is closed

(8)The jaw should be broad ,massive and square, the canine teeth or tusks ,wide apart .The lower jaw should project considerably in front of the upper and turn up. It should be broad and square, an have the six small front teeth between the canines in an even row. The teeth should be large and strong.

(9) The neck should be moderate in length (rather short than long), very thick, deep and strong. It should be well arched at the back , with much loose, thick and wrinkled skin about the throat, forming a dewlap on each side from the lower jaw to the chest. The chest should be very wide latterly, round, prominent, and deep, making the dog appear very broad and short legged in front

(10) The shoulders should be broad, sloping and deep, very powerful and muscular,

(11)The brisket should be capacious, round and very deep from the top of the shoulders to the lowest part where it joins the chest, and be well let down between the forelegs. It should be large in diameter and round behind the forelegs (not flat sided, the ribs being well rounded) The body should be well ribbed up behind, with the belly tucked up and not pendulous.

(12)The back should be short and strong, very broad at the shoulder and comparatively narrow at the loins. There should be a slight fall to the back close behind the shoulders (it’s lowest part), whence the spine should rise to the loins (the top of which should be higher than the top of the shoulders ). Thence curving again more suddenly to the tail , forming an arch- a distinctive characteristic of the breed-termed “roach back” or more correctly wheel back.

(13) The tail, termed the “stern” should be set on low, jut out rather straight, then turn downwards, the end pointing horizontally It should be quite round in its own length , smooth and devoid of fringe or coarse hair. It should be moderate in length- rather short than long- thick at the root and tapering quickly to a fine point. It should have a downward carriage (not having a decided upward curve at the end or being screwed or deformed), and the dog should from its shape not be able to raise it over it’s back.

(14)The forelegs should be very stout and strong, set wide apart, thick , muscular and straight, with well developed calves, presenting a rather bowed outline but the bones of the leg should be large and straight, not bandy or curved. They should be rather short in proportion to the hind legs, but not as short as to make the back appear long, or detract from the dog’s activity, and so cripple him. The elbows should be low and stand well away from the ribs The ankles or pasterns should be short , straight and strong. The forefeet should be straight, and turn very slightly outwards, of medium size and moderately round. The toes compact and thick ,being well split up ,making the knuckles prominent and high.

(15)The hind legs should be large and muscular, and longer in proportion than the forelegs, so as to elevate the loins. The hocks should be slightly bent and well let down, so as to be long and muscular from the loins to the point of hock. The lower part of the leg should be short, straight and strong The stifles should be round and turned slightly outwards away from the body. The hocks are thereby made to approach each other and the hind feet to turn outwards. The latter , like the forefeet, should be round and compact with the toes well split up and the knuckles prominent. From its formation the dog ha a peculiar , heavy and constrained gait , appearing to walk with short , quick , steps on the tip of its toes, its hind feet not being lifted high, but appearing to skim the ground and running with the right shoulder rather advanced ,similar to the manner of a horse in cantering.

(16) The most desirable size for the bulldog is about 50 lbs. (this was later amended to 50lbs for a bitch and 55lb for a dog)

(17) The coat should be fine in texture, short, close and smooth (hard only from the shortness and closeness, not wiry) Its colour should be whole or smut (that is, a whole colour with a black mask or muzzle). The colours should be brilliant and pure of its sort . The colours in their order of merit if bright and pure,are, first whole colours and smuts viz; brindles , white and red (with their varieties),as whole fawns, fallows, etc., second pied and mixed colours.