My favorite dog is the French Bulldog.......
Studio Veneto's new mascot and guard dog "Tilly"
She is so sweet and very small.......very loving...........
Frenchies are playful and affectionate. Their loyal, loving nature makes them a wonderful companion dog. French Bulldogs are an intelligent breed, however their willful, stubborn nature can make them more challenging to train. They require patience, repetition and early socialization.
History
French Bulldog circa 1890
European Brindle French Bulldog
Blood sports such as bull-baiting were outlawed in England in 1835, leaving these "
Bulldogs" unemployed. However, they had been bred for non-sporting reasons since at least 1800, and so their use changed from a sporting breed to a companion breed. To reduce their size, some Bulldogs were crossed with
terriers, while others were crossed with
pugs. By 1850 the
Toy Bulldog had become common in England, and appeared in
conformation shows when they began around 1860.
[4] These dogs weighed around 16–25 pounds (7.3–11 kg), although classes were also available at dog shows for those that weighed under 12 pounds (5.4 kg)
At the same time,
lace workers from
Nottingham, displaced by the
industrial revolution, began to settle in
Normandy, France
] They brought a variety of dogs with them, including miniature Bulldogs. The dogs became popular in France and a trade in imported small Bulldogs was created, with breeders in England sending over Bulldogs that they considered to be too small, or with faults such as ears that stood up. By 1860, there were few miniature Bulldogs left in England, such was their popularity in France and due to the exploits of specialist dog exporters
The small Bulldog type gradually became thought of as a breed, and received a name, the Bouledogue Francais. This Francization of the English name is also a contraction of the words "boule" (ball) and "dogue" (mastiff or molosser). The dogs were highly fashionable and were sought after by society ladies and Parisian prostitutes alike, as well as creatives such as artists, writers and fashion designers.However, records were not kept of the breed's development as it diverged further away from its original Bulldog roots. As it changed, terrier and
Pug stock may have been brought in to develop traits such as the breed's long straight ears, and the roundness of their eyes.
Breed clubs and modern recognition
Bulldogs were very popular in the past, especially in Western Europe. One of its ancestors were the English bulldog. Americans had been importing French Bulldogs for a while, but it was not until 1885 when they were brought over in order to set up an American-based breeding program. They were mostly owned by society ladies, who first displayed them at the
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1896. They arrived again in the following year with even more entries, where the judging of the breed would go on to have future ramifications. The judge in question at the dog show, a Mr. Sven Feltstein, only chose winners with "rose ears" – ears that folded at the tip, as with the standard for English Bulldogs. The ladies formed the French Bull Dog Club of America and created the
breed standardwhich stated for the first time that the "erect bat ear" was the correct type. In the early 20th century they remained in vogue for high society, with dogs changing hands for up to $3,000 and being owned by members of influential families such as the
Rockefellers and the
J. P. Morgans. The
American Kennel Club recognised the breed quickly after the breed club was formed, and by 1906 the French Bulldog was the fifth most popular dog breed in America.
This new Bulldog breed arrived for the first time in England in 1893, with English Bulldog breeds in uproar as the French imports did not meet the new breed standards in place by this time and wanted to prevent the English stock from cross-breeding with the French.
The Kennel Club initially recognised them as a subset of the existing English Bulldog breed rather than an entirely new breed. Some English breeders in this period bred the French Bulldogs in order to resurrect the Toy Bulldog breed. On 10 July 1902, at the house of Frederick W. Cousens, a meeting was held to set up a breed club in order to seek individual recognition for the French breed. The adopted breed standard was the same one which was already in use in America, France, Germany and Austria. Despite opposition from Miniature Bulldog (the new breed name for the Toy Bulldog) and Bulldog breeders,
[9]in 1905, the Kennel Club changed its policy on the breed and recognised them separate from the English variety, initially as the Bouledogue Francais, then later in 1912 the name changed to French Bulldog. ~Wikipedia~
