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The Olde English Bulldogge is an American
dog breed
A dog breed is a particular strain of dog that was purposefully bred by humans to perform specific tasks, such as herding, hunting, and guarding. Dogs are the most variable mammal on Earth, with artificial selection producing around 450 globally ...
, recognized by the United Kennel Club
The United Kennel Club (UKC) is a kennel club founded in 1898 in the United States. In contrast with the American Kennel Club, which is non-profit and which only clubs can join, the United Kennel Club is a profit-making corporation, open to indivi ...
(UKC) in January 2014. The breed is listed in the UKC Guardian Dog Group. Five years prior to UKC recognition, the breed was registered by the former Canine Developmental, Health and Performance Registry (CDHPR), a privately held business located in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...
. In the early 2000s, CDHPR had been working with the UKC under a unique agreement to develop breeding plans and strategies in an effort to produce improved breeds of dogs that would be accepted as purebred and, therefore, eligible for UKC registration.
In the early 1970s, dog breeder David Leavitt of Coatesville, Pennsylvania
Coatesville is a city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike beginning ...
, wanted to "recreate a with the looks, health and athleticism of the 18th which was originally created for the English sport of bull baiting
Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving pitting a bull against dogs.
History England
Crowds in London during the Royal Entry of James VI and I in March 1604 were entertained by bull-baiting. During the time of Queen Anne, bull-baiting was p ...
between the years 1100 to 1835". Capitalization style of the quotation is preserved from the original. In an effort to rapidly achieve his goal for a purebred dog, Leavitt modeled his program after a livestock line breeding
Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...
scheme developed by Nathan Fechimer, a professor in the Department of Dairy Science, Ohio State University. The result was an athletic breed that looks similar to the bulldogs of 1820, but with a friendly temperament, fewer health issues, and with longevity reaching into the teens. U.S. researchers have said the Olde English Bulldogge is a "viable candidate" as an outcross on which to rebuild the Bulldog
The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.
In order to maintain his original breeding aims and to distinguish his line of Olde English Bulldogges from those of other breeders, in 2004 David Leavitt named his line of dogs Leavitt Bulldogs (sometimes spelled "Bulldogges"), founding the Leavitt Bulldog Association the following year. The UKC recognizes dogs registered with the Leavitt Bulldog Association as Olde English Bulldogges, along with those registered with the Olde English Bulldogge Kennel Club and the Olde Bulldogge Club Europe.
The Olde English Bulldogge is a muscular, medium-sized dog of great strength, and possesser of fluid, agile movement. They are 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. Males should be , and at the withers, while females should be , and at the withers.
History
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. Leavitt began his project in 1971 utilizing the cattleline breeding
Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...
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 one-half Bulldog, one-sixth American Bulldog, one-sixth Bullmastiff and one-sixth of other breeds. After many planned crosses, the Olde English Bulldogge emerged and began to breed true
Purebreds are "cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the pedigree chart, lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "Pedigree (animal), pedigreed". Purebreds b ...
.
Leavitt formed the Olde English Bulldogge Association (OEBA) to maintain the breed's stud book
A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders ...
and issue registration papers to future offspring. During the 1980s, Ben and Karen Campetti from Sandisfield, Massachusetts
Sandisfield is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 989 at the 2020 census.
History
Sandisfield was first settled in 1750 as Hou ...
, worked closely with Leavitt in breeding the Olde English Bulldogge. In 1993, Leavitt stopped breeding and turned the OEBA registry Registry may refer to:
Computing
* Container registry, an operating-system-level virtualization registry
* Domain name registry, a database of top-level internet domain names
* Local Internet registry
* Metadata registry, information system for re ...
as well as his personal breeding stock
Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to Selection (biology), selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically ...
over to Working Dog Inc. which was owned and operated by Michael Walz of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
In 2001 the Olde English Bulldogge Kennel Club (OEBKC) was formed, and in 2005 David Leavitt was involved with merging the Olde English Bulldogge Association's registry with that of the OEBKC's. The Olde English Bulldogge was enrolled with the Canine Developmental Health and Performance Registry (CDHPR) in August 2008 in order to evaluate the breed for recognition within the UKC as a purebred breed of dog. In 2013, the UKC announced that the Olde English Bulldogge would become a fully recognized breed as of January 1, 2014. The OEBKC is currently the recognized Parent Club for the breed with the United Kennel Club (UKC).
Leavitt Bulldog
In order to maintain his original breeding aims and to distinguish his line of Olde English Bulldogges from those of other breeders, in 2004 David Leavitt named his line of dogs Leavitt Bulldogs (sometimes spelled "Bulldogges"), founding the Leavitt Bulldog Association the following year. The UKC recognizes dogs registered with the Leavitt Bulldog Association as Olde English Bulldogges, along with those registered with the Olde English Bulldogge Kennel Club and the Olde Bulldogge Club Europe.
Appearance
The Olde English Bulldogge is a muscular, medium-sized dog of great strength, and possesser of fluid, agile movement. They are 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. Males should be , and at the withers, while females should be , and at the withers.
Health
The Olde English Bulldogge may be a healthier breed of dog than many modern bulldog breeds, though they can be affected by many of the same disorders that occur in any breed. Proponents of the breed maintain that it does not suffer from the same disorders aspurebred
Purebreds are "cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the p ...
Bulldog
The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose. A 2016 study published in the journal ''Canine Genetics and Epidemiology'' examined genetic diversity among 102 registered Bulldogs. The Olde English Bulldogge was mentioned as an outcross candidate to introduce new genetics in an effort to correct some of the problems associated with inbreeding. In the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, rules have been written specifically for farm animals which state they have the rights of "freedom from discomfort" and "freedom from pain, injury and disease." A 2013 constitutional amendment in Switzerland restates the EU rules in greater detail, and extends such rights to all animals. Many Swiss dog breeders have begun outcrossing Bulldogs with the Olde English Bulldogge, having created the Continental Bulldog in an effort to bring the Bulldog into compliance.
References
Further reading
* * * {{Mastiffs Bulldog breeds Dog breeds originating in the United States