Olde English Bulldogge
The Olde English Bulldogge was an attempt to recreate the “Regency Period Bull Baiter” and was developed in the early 1970s by David Leavitt, of Coatesville, PA. Mr. Leavitt began his project in 1971 utilizing the cattle line breeding scheme of Dr. Fechimer from Ohio State University.The goal was to create a dog with the look, health, and athleticism of the original bull-baiting dogs, but with a much less aggressive temperament. The foundation crosses consisted of ½ English Bulldog, and the other half Bullmastiff, American Pit Bull Terrier, and American Bulldog. After many planned crosses, the Olde English Bulldogge emerged and began to breed true.
GENERAL APPEARANCE
The Olde English Bulldogge is a muscular, medium sized dog of great strength, and possessed of fluid, agile movement. He is well balanced and proportioned, while appearing capable of performing without any breathing restrictions in either heat or in cold. Serious Faults: Excessive wrinkle, lack of pigment around eyes, nose or mouth.
The skull is large and well-proportioned to the dog’s muscular body and prominent shoulders. There is a defined furrow between the eyes (from the stop to the occiput). Narrow skull and domed forehead are faults. The muzzle is square, wide and deep. Bite is undershot or reverse scissors. Lower jawbone is moderately curved from front to back. Nostrils are wide, with a line running vertically between nostrils from the tip of nose down to the bottom of the upper lip. Nose is large and broad in relationship to the width of the muzzle. Nose color is black. Eyes are medium in size and almond shaped, dark to light brown, with black pigmented eye rims. They are set wide and low, level with the top of the muzzle. Ears are small, rose, button or tulip. Rose is preferred. They are set high, wide and to the back outer edge of the skull. The neck is medium length, wide, and slightly arched. The body is sturdy, powerful and slightly rectangular when viewed from the side. Chest is wide and deep. Hind legs are well muscled and have the appearance of being slightly longer than the forelegs. The hind legs should be straight, parallel and set apart. Accepted color patterns include brindle, and solid colors, with or without white. Dogs should be 60 to 80 pounds, and 17 to 20 inches at the withers, while bitches should be 50 to 70 pounds, and 16 to 19 inches at the withers
TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER
The Olde English Bulldogge is a “thinking” breed. Their intelligence is readily demonstrated by their problem solving ability and their adaptability. They are extremely sensitive dogs who bond closely with their owners and family. The Olde English Bulldogge is generally kind and peaceful with its family and friends, often extending the family circle to include other household pets as well as people. Many of these dogs have been raised with cats and it is not unusual to see them playing together around the house or in the yard, or to see cats in the kennel. Olde English Bulldogges can be territorial and should be introduced to other dogs with care. Again, many of these dogs have been raised with other dogs and carefully supervised. There is a certain degree of same-sex aggression, but training and careful supervision may help to overcome this behavior. Neutering of non- breeding animals is highly recommended after the dogs first year. In most cases, it will reduce tensions and aggression. In general, Olde English Bulldogges are highly social animals who enjoy good company in any form.
The Olde English Bulldogge is generally very accepting of strangers. In fact, they can be very outgoing and friendly. However, their friendliness is the result of their profound intelligence and their absolute confidence. In other words, while they might appear gentle and friendly, they are not indiscriminately submissive. Olde English Bulldogges are, above all, “thinking dogs” that can and will form their own perspectives of people, their environment, and situations.
Although the Olde English Bulldogge is instinctively protective, some dogs mature slowly and may not exhibit this trait until around 1 ½ to 2 years of age. The OEB is very receptive to many types of training, provided the individual Bulldogge selected for such work is outgoing, stable, confident, and the training methods employed are positive. A Bulldogge lacking confidence or harshly trained will not be reliable under pressure or capable of good judgment in all situations.
Olde English Bulldogges are generally very willing to please their owners and learn readily as a result. They can however, be stubborn about simple things like going into their kennel for the day when they would prefer to be taken along in the car. They are, after all, “thinking dogs” and they sometimes exercise this intelligence at inconvenient times. Their intelligence, sensitivity, and desire to please, combine to make them very trainable dogs. But all training should be undertaken from a positive and motivational perspective. The Olde English Bulldogge does not respond well to harsh correction or compulsion and such measures will not bring about reliable results.
The bull breeds are generally excellent with children and the OEB is no exception. They are often at their very best with children, as their intelligence, sensitivity, desire to please, and astonishing capacity for play make them excellent companions for children. Their natural protectiveness is also an asset for a family pet. As with ANY dog, young children should be supervised when playing with an Olde English Bulldogge, while the dogs are acutely aware of their size and strength, these powerful animals can easily frighten a small child if the game gets too lively. Most often, the dogs demonstrate a natural ability to adapt their games to the child’s size and strength. Fetching games and play involving simple obedience commands given by the child are excellent ways to build a rapport between child and dog.
Breed Standard
Bulldogs were created for the English sport of bull baiting, which was widely practiced from 1100 till 1835, when it was made illegal. Once his work was outlawed the Bulldog rapidly started disappearing. In the 1860’s the breed was revived as a conformation show dog. The Bulldog has been made progressively more extreme through selective breeding until his health and life span have been severely compromised. He is a far different dog than his healthy, agile ancestor. In 1971 David Leavitt started his project of breeding back to a dog with the appearance of the Regency period Bulldog. He named the breed Olde English Bulldogge (OEB) to clearly differentiate it from the modern English Bulldog. Leavitt used a line breeding scheme developed by Dr. Fechimer of Ohio State, to rapidly achieve a pure bred dog. Today’s Olde English Bulldogge matches the looks of the bull baiting dog. They are first and foremost excellent family companions while also possessing the drive, temperament and agility to perform in numerous working venues.
GENERAL APPEARANCE
The Olde English Bulldogge is a muscular, medium sized dog of great strength, stability and athleticism. He is well balanced and proportioned, with no feature exaggerated or standing out. He has the appearance of a dog capable of doing his original job, bull baiting.
*Excessive height would have been detrimental for the old working Bulldog because he had to “play low” to avoid the bull’s horns and fasten onto his nose.
*A heavy weight dog would have also been at a disadvantage because the bull’s nose would have been more likely to rip, sending the dog flying.
CHARACTERISITCS
The disposition of the Olde English Bulldogge is confident, courageous and alert. OEB’s are very friendly and loving. They are extremely strong and occasionally display same sex dog aggression, so socialization and obedience training are important. It is best to channel high energy individuals to some type of work and exercise. While a watchful nature may be expected at home, human aggression without provocation is a disqualifying fault.
Fault: Shyness in a mature dog.
HEAD
The Olde English Bulldogge head is prominent and dramatic. The circumference of the head is at least equal to the dog’s height at the withers. The cheeks are large, well developed and display powerful jaw muscles. A slightly wrinkled forehead is acceptable.
SKULL – The skull is large but well proportioned to the dog’s muscular body and prominent shoulders. There is a crease from the stop to the occiput.
Serious Faults: Narrow skull; domed forehead.
MUZZLE – The muzzle is square, wide and deep, with definite layback. Distance from the tip of the nose to the stop does not exceed one-third of the distance from the tip of the nose to the occiput. Height of the muzzle, from the bottom of the chin to the top of the muzzle, is equal to or greater than the length of the muzzle, thus producing the deep square muzzle. There is slight to moderate wrinkle on the muzzle. Flews are semi pendulous. The bite is undershot and horizontally straight. Underbite is ¾” or less. Lower jawbone is moderately curved from front to back.
Faults: A slightly longer or shorter muzzle; excessive wrinkle.
Disqualifications: Wry jaw; overbite.
EYES – Eyes are round to almond shape and medium sized. They are set wide apart, and of moderate size with the outside corner of the eye intersecting with the outside line of the skull and are set low, at the level of the muzzle, where the stop and muzzle intersect. Any Eye color is acceptable. However, odd eyes (one dark, one blue or light) should be considered unpreferred. Misshapen or bugged eyes are a serious fault. Lacking pigment around the eyes is undesirable. Crossed eyes or non-symmetrically shaped eyes are a disqualifying fault.
Fault: Any pink on the eye rims.
Disqualifications: Any eye color other than brown; wall eyes; crossed eyes .
TEETH – Canine teeth are large. Broken, chipped or extracted teeth are acceptable. There are 6 corn row teeth between canines.
Fault: Exposed canine teeth
NOSE – Broad with open nostrils with no sign of air restriction. The nose should not be pushed up between the eyes. From the stop to the end of the nose must be at least one and one half inches.
The nose should be a solid color. Lacking pigment is a serious fault. A nose lacking all pigment is a disqualifying fault.
Serious Fault: Slit nostrils
EARS – Ears are rose, button or tulip, with rose preferred. They are set high and to the rear of the skull. The ears are positioned as wide as possible on the outside of the skull. They are small to medium in size.
NECK
Neck is medium length, wide, and slightly arched. It is a little smaller than the head where the two meet. and gets wider from that point to the shoulders. It is slightly loose from jaw to chest, forming a double dewlap.
Serious Fault: A single dewlap .
FOREQUARTERS
SHOULDERS – They are broad, heavily muscled and have a separation between shoulder blades. The scapula (shoulder blade) should be at an approximate 35 degree angle to vertical and forms an angle approximately 110 degrees to the humerus (forearm). Scapula and humerus should be roughly equal in length.
ELBOWS – A vertical line drawn from the point of the scapula (top) to the ground will pass directly through the elbow. The elbows are not turned in or out.
FORELEGS – The legs are set wide apart, coming straight down from the shoulders. They are straight vertically on inside of legs and well muscled giving a bowed appearance of front quarters. The forelegs have medium bone and are in proportion to the body.
PASTERNS – The pasterns are medium in length. They are straight, strong, flexible and nearly perpendicular to the ground.
Faults: Foreleg bones too heavy or too light.
Serious Faults: Loose shoulders; upright shoulders; loose elbows; weak pasterns (either too vertical or too horizontal).
BODY
Body is sturdy and powerful. The length from tip of breastbone to rear thigh is slightly longer than the height from ground to withers.
BACK – The back is wide and muscular, showing power. Top-line has a slight roach (or wheel back). There is a fall in the back, to its low spot behind the shoulders. From this point the spine rises to the loin. The high point of the loin is a little bit higher than the shoulders then there is a gentle curve, forming an arch, down to the tail. Loin (back of rib cage to hips) is muscular, medium in length and slightly arched.
CHEST – The chest is wide and deep with a muscular brisket. Ribs are well sprung and rounded, being at their fullest directly behind the shoulders. Shoulders to forelegs are well muscled.
Faults: Narrow rib cage. Very long or short loin.
HINDQUARTERS
Hips and thighs are strong and muscular. Hind legs are well muscled and slightly longer than the forelegs. In a natural stance they are straight, parallel and set apart when viewed from the rear. Distance between hind legs is less than distance between front legs. Angulation is moderate. Stifles have a gentle convex curve when viewed from the side. Stifle angle roughly matches the angle of the pelvis. Hocks are perpendicular to the ground when viewed from the side and back. They are parallel to each other when viewed from the back. A line drawn from the rear most part of the buttocks, perpendicular to the ground, should fall to the front of the toes. A line drawn from the upper (front) point of the pelvis, perpendicular to the ground, should pass through the knee (the two preceding tests of good angulation must be performed with the dog’s hocks set perpendicular to the ground).
Fault: Hips which are equal to shoulders in width.
Serious Faults: Straight stifle. Severely cow hocked or bow hocked.
FEET
Feet are of medium size and are well arched and rounded (cats’ foot). They are straight when viewed from the front. Rear feet are smaller than front feet.
Faults: Feet turning in nor out; long toes.
Serious Faults: Flat feet; hare feet; and splayed toes.
TAIL
Tail should be set low and tapering from base to end. It can be pump handle or straight with pump handle being preferred. Tail should reach the hocks or be slightly shorter. Tail is carried down, horizontal or high.
Faults: Tail curling 360 degrees. Same circumference from base to tip.
Disqualifications: Kinked, docked, bobbed or screw tail (a kinked tail is a tail with one or more sharp bends).
COAT
Coat is short, close and of medium density. It should be shiny, showing good health.
Faults: Fringe, feather or curl in the coat.
COLOR
Any color, except merle, is acceptable with no preference for one over another. The coat is short. A wavy coat or a long coat is a disqualifying fault. There should be no signs of feathering on the legs or neck area, also a disqualifying fault.
Disqualifications: Blue/Gray, as well as black with rust or mahogany.
HEIGHT and WEIGHT
Dogs are 26kg to 30kg. and 43cm to 50cm at the withers
Bitches are 22kg to 28kg. and 41 to 48cm inches at the withers.
Deviation from this range of height and weight will be faulted according to the extent of the deviation.
Weight should be proportioned to height and the dogs must not be squat or rangy.
GAIT
Gait is smooth, powerful, energetic and confident. Travel is straight. Feet should move forward and back in the same plane. Foot falls approach the centerline as trot speed increases. There is a slight under step as rear feet land just short of where front feet land. Front and rear reach are balanced. Feet must not cross or interfere with each other. Dog should have proper movement when viewed from the side and back.
DISQUALIFICATIONS
Eyes – Crossed eyes or non-symmetrically shaped eyes are a disqualifying fault.
Nose – Any color nose other than black.
Bite – Wry jaw or Overbite.
Tail – Kinked, docked, bobbed or screw tail.
Males lacking two fully descended normal testicles.