Bulldog Breed
Bulldog Dog Bits
The most desirable weight for a Bulldog is
about 50 lbs. In forming a judgment of a
Bulldog the general appearance is of most importance, as the
various points of the dog should be symmetrical and well
balanced, no one point being in excess of the others so as to
destroy the impression of determination, strength, and
activity which is conveyed by the typical specimen. His body
should be thickset, rather low in stature, but broad,
powerful, and compact.
Head
The head should be strikingly massive and large in proportion
to the dog's size. It cannot be too large so long as it is
square; that is, it must not be wider than it is deep. The
larger the head in circumference, caused by the prominent
cheeks, the greater the quantity of muscle to hold the jaws
together. The head should be of great depth from the occiput
to the base of the lower jaw, and should not in any way be
wedge-shaped, dome-shaped, or peaked. In circumference the
skull should measure in front of the ears at least the height
of the dog at the shoulders. The cheeks should be well
rounded, extend sideways beyond the eyes, and be well
furnished with muscle. Length of skull--that is, the distance
between the eye and the ear--is very desirable. The forehead
should be flat, and the skin upon it and about the head very
loose, hanging in large wrinkles. The temples, or frontal
bones, should be very prominent, broad, square and high,
causing a wide and deep groove known as the "stop" between the
eyes, and should extend up the middle of the forehead,
dividing the head vertically, being traceable at the top of
the skull. The expression "well broken up" is used where this
stop and furrow are well marked, and if there is the attendant
looseness of skin the animal's expression is well finished.
The face, when measured from the front of the cheek-bone to
the nose, should be short, and its skin should be deeply and
closely wrinkled. Excessive shortness of face is not natural,
and can only be obtained by the sacrifice of the "chop." Such
shortness of face makes the dog appear smaller in head and
less formidable than he otherwise would be. Formerly this
shortness of face was artificially obtained by the use of the
"jack," an atrocious form of torture, by which an iron
instrument was used to force back the face by means of
thumbscrews. The nose should be rough, large, broad, and
black, and this colour should extend to the lower lip; its top
should be deeply set back, almost between the eyes. The
distance from the inner corner of the eye to the extreme tip
of the nose should not be greater than the length from the tip
of the nose to the edge of the under lip. The nostrils should
be large and wide, with a well-defined straight line visible
between them. The largeness of nostril, which is a very
desirable property, is possessed by few of the recent
prize-winners.
When viewed in profile the tip of the nose should touch an
imaginary line drawn from the extremity of the lower jaw to
the top of the centre of the skull. This angle of the nose and
face is known as the lay-back, and can only properly be
ascertained by viewing the dog from the side.
The inclination backward of the nose allows a free passage of
the air into the nostrils whilst the dog is holding his
quarry. It is apparent that if the mouth did not project
beyond the nose, the nostrils would be flat against the part
to which the dog was fixed, and breathing would then be
stopped.
The upper lip, called the "chop," or flews, should be thick,
broad, pendant and very deep, hanging completely over the
lower jaw at the sides, but only just joining the under lip in
front, yet covering the teeth completely. The amount of
"cushion" which a dog may have is dependent upon the thickness
of the flews. The lips should not be pendulous.
The upper jaw should be broad, massive, and square, the tusks
being wide apart, whilst the lower jaw, being turned upwards,
should project in front of the upper. The teeth should be
large and strong, and the six small teeth between the tusks
should be in an even row. The upper jaw cannot be too broad
between the tusks. If the upper and lower jaws are level, and
the muzzle is not turned upwards the dog is said to be
"down-faced," whilst if the underjaw is not undershot he is
said to be "froggy." A "wry-faced" dog is one having the lower
jaw twisted, and this deformity so detracts from the general
appearance of the dog as seriously to handicap him in the
show-ring.
The underjaw projects beyond the upper in order to allow the
dog, when running directly to the front, to grasp the bull,
and, when fixed, to give him a firmer hold. The eyes, seen
from the front, should be situated low down in the skull, as
far from the ears, the nose, and each other as possible, but
quite in front of the forehead, so long as their corners are
in a straight line at right angles with the stop, and in front
of the forehead. They should be a little above the level of
the base of the nasal bone, and should be quite round in
shape, of moderate size, neither sunken nor prominent, and be
as black in colour as possible--almost, if not quite, black,
showing no white when looking directly to the front.
Ears
A good deal of a Bulldog's appearance depends on the quality,
shape, and carriage of his ears. They should be small and
thin, and set high on the head; that is, 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, as high, and as far from the eyes as
possible. The shape should be that which is known as "rose,"
in which the ear folds inward at the back, the upper or front
edge curving over outwards and backwards, showing part of the
inside of the burr. If the ears are placed low on the skull
they give an appleheaded appearance to the dog. If the ear
falls in front, hiding the interior, as is the case with a
Fox-terrier, it is said to "button," and this type is highly
objectionable. Unfortunately, within the last few years the
"button" and "semi-tulip" ear have been rather prevalent
amongst the specimens on the show bench.
If the ear is carried erect it is known as a "tulip" ear, and
this form also is objectionable. Nevertheless at the beginning
of the nineteenth century two out of every three dogs
possessed ears of this description.
Neck
The neck should be moderate in length, very thick, deep,
muscular, and short, but of sufficient length to allow it to
be well arched at the back, commencing at the junction with
the skull. There should be plenty of loose, thick, and
wrinkled skin about the throat, forming a dewlap on each side
from the lower jaw to the chest.
Chest
The chest should be very wide laterally, round, prominent, and
deep, making the dog appear very broad and short-legged in
front. The shoulders should be broad, the blades sloping
considerably from the body; they should be deep, very
powerful, and muscular, and should be flat at the top and play
loosely from the chest.
The brisket should be capacious, round, and very deep from the
shoulder to the lowest part, where it joins the chest, and be
well let down between the fore-legs. It should be large in
diameter, and round behind the fore-legs, neither flat-sided
nor sinking, which it will not do provided that the first and
succeeding ribs are well rounded. The belly should be well
tucked up and not pendulous, a small narrow waist being
greatly admired. The desired object in body formation is to
obtain great girth at the brisket, and the smallest possible
around the waist, that is, the loins should be arched very
high, when the dog is said to have a good "cut-up."
Back
The back should be short and strong, very broad at the
shoulder and comparatively narrow at the loins. The back
should rise behind the shoulders in a graceful curve 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 known as the "roach" back, which is
essentially a characteristic of the breed, though,
unfortunately, many leading prize-winners of the present day
are entirely deficient in this respect. Some dogs dip very
considerably some distance behind the shoulders before the
upward curve of the spine begins, and these are known as
"swamp-backed"; others rise in an almost straight line to the
root of the tail, and are known as "stern-high."
Tail
The tail should be set on low, jut out rather straight, then
turn downwards, the end pointing horizontally. It should be
quite round in its whole length, smooth and devoid of fringe
or coarse hair. It should be moderate in length, rather short
than long, thick at the root, and taper quickly to a fine
point. It should have a downward carriage, and the dog should
not be able to raise it above the level of the backbone. The
tail should not curve at the end, otherwise it is known as
"ring-tailed." The ideal length of tail is about six inches.
Many fanciers demand a "screw" or "kinked" tail, that is, one
having congenital dislocations at the joints, but such
appendages are not desirable in the best interests of the
breed.
Fore-Legs
The fore-legs should be very stout and strong, set wide apart,
thick, muscular, and short, with well-developed muscles in the
calves, presenting a rather bowed outline, but the bones of
the legs must be straight, large, and not bandy or curved.
They should be rather short in proportion to the hind-legs,
but not so 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, so
as to permit the body to swing between them. If this property
be absent the dog is said to be "on the leg." The ankles or
pasterns should be short, straight, and strong. The fore-feet
should be straight and turn very slightly outwards; they
should be of medium size and moderately round, not too long or
narrow, whilst the toes should be thick, compact, and well
split up, making the knuckles prominent and high.
Hind-Legs
The hind-legs, though of slighter build than the fore-legs,
should be strong and muscular. They should be longer, in
proportion, than the fore-legs in order to elevate the loins.
The stifles should be round and turned slightly outwards, away
from the body, thus bending the hocks inward and the hind-feet
outward. The hocks should be well let down, so that the leg is
long and muscular from the loins to the point of the hock,
which makes the pasterns short, but these should not be so
short as those of the fore-legs. The hind-feet, whilst being
smaller than the forefeet, should be round and compact, with
the toes well split up, and the knuckles prominent.
Coat
The coat should be fine in texture, short, close, and smooth,
silky when stroked from the head towards the tail owing to its
closeness, but not wiry when stroked in the reverse direction.
Colour
The colour should be whole or smut, the latter being a whole
colour with a black mask or muzzle. It should be brilliant and
pure of its sort. The colours in order of merit are, first,
whole colours and smuts, viz., brindles, reds, white, with
their varieties, as whole fawns, fallows, etc., and, secondly,
pied and mixed colours. Opinions differ considerably on the
colour question; one judge will set back a fawn and put
forward a pied dog, whilst others will do the reverse.
Occasionally one comes across specimens having a black-and-tan
colour, which, although not mentioned in the recognised
standard as being debarred, do not as a rule figure in the
prize list. Some of the best specimens which the writer has
seen have been black-and-tans, and a few years ago on the
award of a first prize to a bitch of this colour, a long but
non-conclusive argument was held in the canine press. Granted
that the colour is objectionable, a dog which scores in all
other properties should not be put down for this point alone,
seeing that in the dog-fighting days there were many specimens
of this colour.
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