Everyone's Guide to the Bullmastiff

By Carol Beans

Long-time Bullmastiff breeder and fancier Carol Beans offers a common-sense, time-tested guide to purchasing, rearing, training, showing, breeding and loving the Bullmastiff. The perfect introduction to this devoted canine companion, Everyone’s Guide to the Bullmastiff will help you answer the questions ever

• Language: English
• Publisher: Revodana Publishing
• Release date: Apr 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781943824380

Book preview

Chapter 1

History of the Breed

The Bullmastiff was developed in the Midlands of England, and was accepted by the country’s kennel club as a purebred in 1924. However, its development began many years before. Bulldog and Mastiff crosses have been referred to in publications as early as the mid-1800s.

Previously, dogs of this type had been called Gamekeeper’s Night Dogs, or Keeper’s Night Dogs. Gamekeepers on England’s vast estates needed help protecting the estates’ game from poachers who trespassed on the land and illegally hunted deer, rabbit and game birds. The gamekeeper definitely needed help in patrolling the forests and meadows of the preserve. At one time, poaching was a capital offense. (Poachers were also often transported. Usually they were sent to Australia, never to see their families again.) Therefore, the gamekeeper’s life could be in danger with a poacher, since the man could not be hung any higher for killing the keeper than he would be for stealing a rabbit.

The Gamekeepers Night Dog – the Bullmastiff – was the answer to the problem. He was the perfect combination of his ancestors, the Old English Mastiff and the English Bulldog. (The English Bulldog of the 19th Century was longer legged and far more agile than the present-day representative of the breed.) While the Mastiff was certainly large and powerful enough to do the job, he did not have the agility and speed required. The Bulldog of that day had plenty of speed and agility, but was far too ferocious. The combination of the two breeds produced a dog that was powerful, agile, fearless and yet manageable.

Born in the early 1900s, Thorneywood Terror weighed only 90 pounds. But he was undefeated when paired against any would-be assailant.

The method used by the Bullmastiff to capture the poacher was to knock him down and keep him down until the gamekeeper came and took the poacher into custody. The Bullmastiff was also capable of dispatching the large and often ferocious hunting dogs accompanying the poachers.

Above: Early Bullmastiff Tigers Vindictive.

Below: Beauty of Bulmas, 1950s.

Since most poaching was done at night, the gamekeepers preferred a dog whose coloring would blend into the surroundings. Brindle was the original preferred color of the breed for that reason.

In 1900, at the first Gamekeepers Dog Show, William Burton demonstrated the ability of these dogs to down and hold by offering £1 to anyone who could withstand his Thorneywood Terror’s attempt to bring him down and keep him there. Terror was a 90-pound brindle who was securely muzzled during the contest. The dog never lost.

Prior to World War I, there were a number of breeding programs developing the Bullmastiff. There is some thought that breeds other than Mastiff and Bulldog were employed in the breedings at that time. The breed had not yet been recognized by the United Kingdom’s Kennel Club, and the important factor was developing a dog to do a specific job.

In the early part of the 1920s, Sam Moselely began the most systematic breeding program of the period with Bulldogs and Mastiffs to set a type. He developed a dog whose characteristics were 60 percent Mastiff and 40 percent Bulldog. Many of his first Bullmastiffs bore the Hamil prefix, although he is famous for his Farcroft Bullmastiffs. It is believed that all modern Bullmastiffs descend from his stock.

Sir James and Lady Dunn and their Bullmastiff, U.K., 1934.

Farcroft Fidelity, a fawn dog, was the first Bullmastiff eligible for the Kennel Club Stud Book, and the first Bullmastiff to win a first prize at a Kennel Club show. Farcroft dogs were very prominent in the list of winning show dogs in the decade following the breed’s recognition.

In 1925, the Midland Bullmastiff Club established a standard for the Bull-Mastiff (the spelling used for the breed until about 60 years ago). The height of the breed at that time was an inch less at the shoulder for dogs and bitches than the present American standard. The dogs and bitches were also described as about 20 pounds lighter in weight than their present-day counterparts.

Fawns and reds were now popular colors in the breed, and as time progressed the brindle took a back seat to these in popularity, to the point that the color was almost lost. Mr. and Mrs. Warren of Harbex Kennels were the dominant force in keeping the color in the breed.

Ch. Roger of the Fenns, born in 1929, is in the pedigree of every Bullmastiff alive today.

Pioneers who helped establish the breed include Mr. Burton (Thorneywood), Mr. Biggs (Osmaston), Mr. Barrowcliffe (Parkvale), Mr. Sam Moseley (Farcroft), Mr. Victor Smith (Pridzor), Mrs. Doris Mullin (Mulorna), Dorothy Nash (Le Tasyll), Mr. and Mrs. Higginson (Stanfell), Mr. and Mrs. Warren (Harbex) and Mr. Cyril Leeke (Bulmas). These are but a few well-known names of many who devoted themselves to the Bullmastiff.

Some early dogs well known to breed enthusiasts are Ch. Tiger Prince (first Bullmastiff champion), Ch. Roger of The Fenns, Ch. Tenz, Ch. Athos, Ch. Farcroft Finality, Ch. Simba, Ch. Jeannie of Wyland, Ch. Wendy of Bulmas, Ch. Billy of Bulmas, Ch. Bubbles, Ch. Springwell Major and Ch. Rosalind Felice, to name a few.

The future of the breed rests with the dedicated breeders all over the world who are continuing the careful and responsible breeding begun by these founders of the breed.

Photo: Dan Hogan.

Chapter 2

AKC Breed Standard

General Appearance: That of a symmetrical animal, showing great strength, endurance, and alertness; powerfully built but active. The foundation breeding was 60 percent Mastiff and 40 percent Bulldog. The breed was developed in England by gamekeepers for protection against poachers.

Size, Proportion, Substance: Size - Dogs, 25 to 27 inches at the withers, and 110 to 130 pounds weight. Bitches, 24 to 26 inches at the withers, and 100 to 120 pounds weight. Other things being equal, the more substantial dog within these limits is favored. Proportion - The length from tip of breastbone to rear of thigh exceeds the height from withers to ground only slightly, resulting in a nearly square appearance.

Head: Expression - Keen, alert, and intelligent. Eyes - Dark and of medium size. Ears - V-shaped and carried close to the cheeks, set on wide and high, level with occiput and cheeks, giving a square appearance to the skull; darker in color than the body and medium in size. Skull - Large, with a fair amount of wrinkle when alert; broad, with cheeks well developed. Forehead flat. Stop - Moderate. Muzzle - Broad and deep; its length, in comparison with that of the entire head, approximately as 1 is to 3. Lack of foreface with nostrils set on top of muzzle is a reversion to the Bulldog and is very undesirable. A dark muzzle is preferable.

Nose - Black, with nostrils large and broad. Flews - Not too pendulous. Bite - Preferably level or slightly undershot. Canine teeth large and set wide apart.

Neck, Topline, Body: Neck - Slightly arched, of moderate length, very muscular, and almost equal in circumference to the skull. Topline - Straight and level between withers and loin. Body - Compact. Chest wide and deep, with ribs well sprung and well set down between the forelegs. Back - Short, giving the impression of a well balanced dog. Loin - Wide, muscular, and slightly arched, with fair depth of flank. Tail - Set on high, strong at the root, and tapering to the hocks. It may be straight or curved, but never carried hound fashion.

Forequarters: Shoulders - muscular but not loaded, and slightly sloping. Forelegs - straight, well boned, and set well apart; elbows turned neither in nor out. Pasterns straight, feet of medium size, with round toes well arched.

Pads thick and tough, nails black.

Hindquarters: Broad and muscular, with well-developed second thigh denoting power, but not cumbersome. Moderate angulation at hocks. Cowhocks and splay feet are serious faults.

Promising fawn youngster. Photo: Nina Paakkari.

Coat: Short and dense, giving good weather protection.

Color: Red, fawn, or brindle. Except for a very small white spot on the chest, white marking is considered a fault.

Gait: Free, smooth, and powerful. When viewed from the side, reach and drive indicate maximum use of the dog’s moderate angulation. Back remains level and firm. Coming and going, the dog moves in a straight line. Feet tend to converge under the body, without crossing over, as speed increases. There is no twisting in or out at the joints.

Temperament: Fearless and confident yet docile. The dog combines the reliability, intelligence, and willingness to please required in a dependable family companion and protector.

Chapter 3

Temperament and Character

Most people choose a dog because they like its appearance. Far more important than appearance in day-to-day living with an animal is its temperament and behavioral tendencies.

The Bullmastiff came into existence as a companion and