Bulldogdom (A Vintage Dog Books Bulldog Classic - Bulldogs)

By A. G. Sturgeon and R. Ward Binks

BULLDOGDOM BY A. G. STURGEON A VINTAGE DOG BOOKS CLASSIC REPRINT. Originally published in 1920, this extremely rare early work on the Bulldog is both very expensive and very hard to find in its first edition. VINTAGE DOG BOOKS have republished it, using the original text and photographs, as part of their CLASSIC BREED BOOKS series. The author was a highly respected breeder of the day. The book's 188 pages cover all aspects of the Bulldog. Beginning with the history of the breed, it moves on to discuss buying, breeding, feeding and showing amongst many other topics. The book is illustrated throughout with the lovely line drawings of R. WARD BINKS, and contains a double-page spread of an original pedigree document. There is a "Standard description of the correct appearance and the several points in detail of a perfect Bulldog" The final chapter features over 40 photographs of champion Bulldogs of the day, a full descriptive write-up of each dog and their pedigrees. Also included in the text are a number of period adverts for dog products featuring Bulldogs. This is a fascinating read for any Bulldog enthusiast or historian of the breed but also contains much information that is still useful and practical today. Many of the earliest dog breed books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. VINTAGE DOG BOOKS are reprinting these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vintage Dog Books
• Release date: Jun 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528769785

Book preview

Bulldogdom

BY

A. G. STURGEON

Vintage Dog Books

Home Farm

44 Evesham Road

Cookhill, Alcester

Warwickshire

B49 5LJ

www.vintagedogbooks.com

© Read Books 2005

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing.

ISBN No. 1-905124-16-3

Published by Vintage Dog Books 2005

Vintage Dog books is an imprint of Read Books

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library.

Vintage Dog Books

Home Farm

44 Evesham Road

Cookhill, Alcester

Warwickshire

B49 5LJ

Contents

CHAPTER ONE.

CHAPTER TWO.

CHAPTER THREE.

CHAPTER FOUR.

CHAPTER FIVE.

CHAPTER SIX.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

CHAPTER NINE.

CHAPTER TEN.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

"Whenever a man is lonely, God sends him a dog."

LAMARTINE.

"And a Bulldog for preference."

A.G.S.

A. G. STURGEON,

Belmont,

Manchester Road,

Altrincham.

MANCHESTER:

Abel Heywood & Son Ltd.,

47 to 61 Lever Street.

PREFACE.

(Fourth Edition.)

1926.

In presenting this edition I offer my sincere thanks to those kind friends whose courtesy and support has been fully appreciated.

It has been said that the book loses all interest—to quote one breeder—if it is not fully representative of all that is best. But the apathy of owners of a number of our present-day good dogs is very baffling, and, if the illustrations herein do not contain some well-known specimens, the fault does not lie at the door of

A.G.S.

Sketching the Dog

from the Bullring

to the Show Bench

CHAPTER ONE.

IT has been said, that most fanciers of Bulldogs know more about other breeds than the authorities on other breeds know about Bulldogs. Be that as it may, (we will not argue the point) but it seems quite feasible, that the true Bulldog fancier, who must have spent many years breeding and exhibiting to be entitled to the name, must also have had numerous opportunities of observing other breeds at Shows, and thus have cultivated, perhaps unconsciously, a more than ordinary knowledge of other varieties.

To those fanciers of the Bulldog—those few working-men fanciers of the forties and fifties of the last century—we breeders and exhibitors of to-day, must offer thanks for their staunchness in sticking to the rapidly sinking breed, and preserving for us the dog as we know him now. Just a few pure-bred Bulldogs were all that remained in England in those days. The dog had become anathema. The fierce determined courage of him, cultivated for his work at bull-baiting, had eventually led to his being proscribed, and Parliament, having deprived his owner of his so-called sport, the dog was taboo. At last they had dwindled to a paltry few specimens, to be found in the slums of London, Sheffield, and Birmingham. From those few specimens, we, to-day, have such a number of their descendants that extinction of the breed is practically impossible. In those days registration was unknown, and the nomenclature of the time was confined to a very small compass. Dogs were usually So-and-So’s Crib, Duke, Dan, Punch, Ringer, Bowler, Toss, Charley, Tumbler, etc. Bitches were invariably So-and-So’s Rush, Kit, Nettle, Mog, Busy, Wasp, Smut, etc. Sometimes, to differentiate, it would be Big-headed-Billy, or One-eyed-Mog, but we may be reasonably sure that, although pedigrees were not registered at any recognised headquarters, the strain was kept pure and the present-day dog is the result of keen preservation of the pure Bulldog of those days.

From the Bullring to the Dog Show is the next stage, and this is as far as we have travelled to date or seemingly, likely to travel. The first dog show was held in 1859 and from then onwards, the Bulldog has been bred for Exhibition. In those early days of Exhibition, the Bulldog Classes were divided between dogs over and under 20 lbs. in weight (at one or two fixtures, the dividing weight was as low as 12 lbs.) and in this connection it is quite astonishing that the Toy Bulldog to-day is so rare, considering the fact that they abounded in fair profusion in those days. For one, however, I am not sorry, as a 30 to 35 lbs. dog, starved to 25 lbs., is no sight for a dog lover, although not uncommon a few years ago at Shows where classes were provided for Toys (so-called).

Comparisons between the present-day dog, and reliable prints and pictures of the old-timers will reveal the most marked changes in their general appearance. Detail too, in nearly every particular has altered. The old-time dog gives one the impression of a leggy, shelly, dog, with a fairly long face lacking that decided upturn, so essential to good expression. Activity and strength is certainly depicted, but to the eye, educated on the lines of the modern dog, the old-timer is certainly not prepossessing. The Show-dog however, had to be evolved from this material, and, as a consequence, the astute breeder had to use selective persuasion to get his specimens to the top. As years went by, the dog, generally, grew lower to the ground, bigger boned, and more massive. The turn of his forearm grew more pronounced, his shoulders more loose, his body consequently swinging deeper in the foreparts, his skull grew wider and the face more filled up. Wrinkle and loose skin (in some strains) became more distinctive, although in some cases very much overdone. In fact, the dog to-day is the gentleman, evolved from, shall I say, low parentage.

In temper too, the modern dog, far from being a dog not capable of much attachment; not safely to be trusted; rarely, if ever teachable, as Stonehenge has written, is now a more than faithful animal, can be trusted with a baby, or a kitten, and can be taught anything one would expect a dumb animal to learn. Humanise a Bulldog and let him be your pal—not a dog you go to see in his kennel—and no member of the canine race can compare with him. The droll turn of his eye, without moving his head, as he watches you putting on your hat. The guttural noises in his throat when he wants to tell you something special. The pensive leaning of his massive wrinkled head on your knee when he thinks some sort of notice should be taken of a dog. Things like these are not in the kennel dog’s curriculum. His life is eat, sleep, and an occasional walk—the walk generally taking the form of a sort of dragging-my-master procession of two. No! Let your Bulldog be your pal and you will get all the canine goodness that exists.

But, with all this change of aspect and demeanour, there still exists latently, the old-time courage and indifference to pain. Ask any Veterinary Surgeon which dog will stand the pain of an operation without a murmur or flinch. Take any old quiet inoffensive gentleman, who trots along sedately by the side of his master, irritated no doubt (but not showing it) at the repeated snarls of a fox terrier. The terrier tires of teasing and departs. Later, a fiercer sort of insect, an airedale, with more weight and less compunction, makes an unprovoked attack and slashes a tusk across our Bulldog gentleman’s ear. And what happens? Without a sound, our old friend, with all his years and cumbrous gait, makes a lightning grab, and, if that airedale is very lucky, he may get home alive. If, however, our old burly gentleman has really got his grip, his owner may receive a solicitor’s letter later on, demanding damages for the loss of a very valuable animal, the property of my client, Mr. So-and-so. Yes, the courage is still there! And the scribe (the Rev. W. Bingley, M.A., 1809) who put the following on record, "The Bulldog is remarkable for the undaunted and savage pertinacity with which he will provoke and continue a combat with other animals, and when once he has fixed his bite it is not without extreme difficulty that he can be disengaged from his antagonist," would, if he were alive to-day, be the first to admit that the word ‘provoke’ was entirely uncalled for, and to confess that elimination of the first word in ‘savage pertinacity’ is certainly warranted nowadays.

Now and then, however, that atavistic propensity for attacking cattle froths up through the generations of domesticity, and one finds a specimen (extremely rare) which has harked back to his primary days. The remedy for this is a stout leather lead when likely to be in the neighbourhood of horses, cows, etc. Otherwise, expect further Solicitor’s letters. verb. sap. In the year 1835 bull-baiting was prohibited by law, and the parson, who many years before (in 1802) decried the pastime from the pulpit, and prayed that it may be forever put aside, finishing his sermon with the words, "Cowards, of all men the least unmoved, can both witness