The Bull-Mastiff as I Know it - With Hints for all who are Interested in the Breed - A Practical Scientific and Up-To-Date Guide to the Breeding, Rearing and Training of the Great British Breed of Dog

By Arthur Craven

This volume contains a detailed handbook on the Bull-Mastiff, a large-sized breed of domestic dog developed by 19th-century gamekeepers and descended from the English Mastiff and the extinct Old English Bulldog. It contains chapters on everything from selection and breeding to training and exhibiting, making it a must-have for existing and prospective owners. Contents include: "The Dog Breeder's Handy Calculating Table", "To My Readers", "The Bull-Mastiff's Progenitors", "The Evolution of the Bull-Mastiff", "What Bull-Mastiffs Really Are", "How Bull-Mastiffs Were Produced", "Bull-Mastiffs and Bull-Baiting", "The Canine Structure", "Bull-Mastiffs as Guards", "The Colour Question", "Principal Points of a Dog", "The Birth of the Bull-Mastiff", "The Brood Bitch", etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality addition complete with the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Country Books
• Release date: Oct 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781473344280

Book preview

Central

CHAPTER I

TO MY READERS

As every writer is presumed to take some interest in his readers, I feel privileged to address you as a friend, and think you will be convinced of this, if you will have the patience to follow me, whilst I endeavour to explain some interesting points about an animal, which I can safely lay claim to being an English breed of dog.

Whether you at the present possess a Bull-Mastiff, or not, matters very little. So long as you are a dog lover, I recommend you to follow my lecture, and as I speak with a confidence derived from long experience in every sphere of canine activities, you can rely upon me not attempting to mislead you, on the other hand serving you up facts without resorting to whitewash. Were this not the case, I would refrain from putting pen to paper.

As you read through the various chapters of this work, you will, I feel sure, find plenty to interest you, and irrespective of what previous knowledge you possess, you will find much data which no previous writer of dog books has given, and I feel confident that you will appreciate the details being recorded here, as same will help to guide you in your search for historical facts about a breed of dog I am confident you so greatly admire.

Although the old adage There is nothing new etc. may be a truism, you should not overlook the fact that, centuries ago, many of the interesting events which took place were left unrecorded. That being so, a great deal of past history has been lost for ever, and present-day writers in their search for data find themselves up against many difficulties, and irrespective of how they delve through the archives, it is only by splicing together the various threads of religion, history, and art, that they are able to get much of the knowledge of the past.

As much water has flowed under London Bridge since the first edition of this work was published, and in view of the fact that neither before nor since, has any other writer undertaken the task to produce a book that deals exclusively with the Bull-Mastiff, I am firmly convinced in view of what has happened during the past few years, that many of the suggestions which I gave in the former edition have been adopted, much to the benefit of my canine friends, and their masters also. In view of this, I have decided that the second edition shall be a new work, instead of just being a reprint of the former, feeling confident that the additional data I embody in the chapters of this edition will be fully appreciated by my readers, and of benefit to those who foster the breed’s interest.

It is gratifying to me to have seen the Bull-Mastiff’s rise to popularity coincide with the issue of the first edition of this work, and this has helped to prove to me that no breed of dog can become popular, and be in great demand unless, and until, some person takes the trouble of writing a work that will help the general body of dog lovers to know something about it, what exactly it is bred for, and how it has been produced. I have received numerous letters of appreciation from dog lovers in all parts of the world, since the first edition was published, and I am happy in the knowledge that I have been of some assistance to them, as this has enabled me to go forward with confidence in a search for further data that deals with the Bull-Mastiff realising to the full that same will be appreciated by all who wish to get to know more about a noble breed of animals.

It is now many years since I first became interested in Bull-Mastiffs. It is also many years ago since I first judged the breed. That being so, I am pleased to see the vast improvement which has been made by breeders during the past few years, in the type of animals they now breed and exhibit; without doubt most fanciers appear to be doing well, and excellent stock is being bred by novice fanciers as well as in the large kennels, which proves that a more uniform basis has at last been arrived at, and that type appears to be more fixed.

But let me here give a few words of advice to newcomers and forgive me for my candour. I have in the past seen a few novices who have purchased a dog, and later on exhibited it with great success, in some cases the successes they have attained have got into their heads like wine, and I have seen some of them who, within a few months of owning their first dog, imagine that they know all about the breed.

Now the Bull-Mastiff is like other breeds, in so far as you can now get to know a great deal about it in a short space of time, by reading all that is published on the breed, and attending dog shows where the breed is exhibited and talking to exhibitors and breeders, but it is as well to realise that irrespective of what theoretical knowledge you may possess, the more experience you have the more you will be able to understand the breed. Knowledge is a wonderful asset, if properly applied, but a little of it can sometimes be dangerous. I urge all who go in for the Bull-Mastiff, in their own interest, to try and get to know as much about the breed as they can, seek the experience of others also if this be possible, and never overlook the fact that irrespective of what you know, you will still find plenty more to learn.

CHAPTER II

THE BULL-MASTIFF’S PROGENITORS

As the Bull-Mastiff is a made breed, it might be helpful to my readers if this chapter deals in brief with its progenitors, in order to give them an idea what these were. The name by which the Bull-Mastiff is known clearly defines the respective breeds which have been used to produce it, but the question might arise in the minds of readers why the pioneers of the breed should use what is possibly imagined to be two distinct types of animals.

WHAT THE ORIGINAL MASTIFF DOG POSSIBLY LOOKED LIKE

When Julius Cæsar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. at least two kinds of dogs were found, and if we search the canine archives we learn that they had drooping ears and flabby lips. One of the species was of massive build, the other smaller. The former was employed in hunting and in warfare; the latter as a guard and as a protector of the herd.

Of these early types history tells us that many of the larger specimens (Mastiffs) were exported to Rome, where they were used in the