Bulldog Breed Info

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Bulldog Breed Standard
Last Updated - October 2009

^� The Kennel Club

A Breed Standard is the guideline which describes the ideal characteristics, temperament and appearance of a breed and ensures that the breed is fit for function. Absolute soundness is essential. Breeders and judges should at all times be careful to avoid obvious conditions or exaggerations which would be detrimental in any way to the health, welfare or soundness of this breed. From time to time certain conditions or exaggerations may be considered to have the potential to affect dogs in some breeds adversely, and judges and breeders are requested to refer to the Kennel Club website for details of any such current issues. If a feature or quality is desirable it should only be present in the right measure.

General Appearance
Smooth-coated, fairly thick set, rather low in stature, broad, powerful and compact. Head, fairly large in proportion to size but no point so much in excess of others as to destroy the general symmetry, or make the dog appear deformed, or interfere with its powers of motion. Face relatively short, muzzle broad, blunt and inclined upwards although not excessively so. Dogs showing respiratory distress highly undesirable. Body fairly short, well knit, limbs stout, well muscled and in hard condition with no tendency towards obesity. Hindquarters high and strong. Bitches not so grand or well developed as dogs.

Characteristics
Conveys impression of determination, strength and activity.

Temperament
Alert, bold, loyal, dependable, courageous, fierce in appearance, but possessed of affectionate nature.

Head and Skull
Skull relatively large in circumference. Viewed from front appears high from corner of lower jaw to apex of skull; also broad and square. Cheeks well rounded and extended sideways beyond eyes. Viewed from side, head appears very high and moderately short from back to point of nose. Forehead flat with skin on and about head slightly loose and finely wrinkled without excess, neither prominent nor overhanging face. From defined stop, a furrow extending to middle of skull being traceable to apex. Face from front of cheek bone to nose, relatively short, skin may be slightly wrinkled. Muzzle short, broad, turned upwards and deep from corner of eye to corner of mouth. Nose and nostrils large, broad and black, under no circumstances liver colour, red or brown. Distance from inner corner of eye (or from centre of stop between eyes) to extreme tip of nose should not be less than distance from tip of the nose to edge of the underlip. Nostrils large wide and open, with well defined vertical straight line between. Flews (chops) thick, broad and deep, covering lower jaws at sides, but joining underlip in front. Teeth not visible. Jaws broad, strong and square, lower jaw slightly projecting in front of upper with moderate turn up. Over nose wrinkle, if present, whole or broken, must never adversely affect or obscure eyes or nose. Pinched nostrils and heavy over nose roll are unacceptable and should be heavily penalised. Viewed from front, the various properties of the face must be equally balanced on either side of an imaginary line down centre.

Eyes
Seen from front, situated low down in skull, well away from ears. Eyes and stop in same straight line, at right angles to furrow. Wide apart, but outer corners within the outline of cheeks. Round, of moderate size, neither sunken nor prominent, in colour very dark � almost black � showing no white when looking directly forward. Free from obvious eye problems.

Ears
Set high � i.e. front edge of each ear (as viewed from front) joins outline of skull at top corner of such outline, so as to place them as wide apart, as high and as far from eyes as possible. Small and thin. �Rose ear� correct, i.e. folding inwards back, upper or front inner edge curving outwards and backwards, showing part of inside of burr.

Mouth
Jaws broad and square with six small front teeth between canines in an even row. Canines wide apart. Teeth large and strong, not seen when mouth closed. When viewed from front under jaw directly under upper jaw and parallel.

Neck
Moderate in length, thick, deep and strong. Well arched at back, with some loose, thick and wrinkled skin about throat, forming slight dewlap on each side.

Forequarters
Shoulders broad, sloping and deep, very powerful and muscular giving appearance of being �tacked on� body. Brisket round and deep. Well let down between forelegs. Ribs not flat-sided, but well rounded. Forelegs very stout and strong, well developed, set wide apart, thick, muscular and straight, bones of legs large and straight, not bandy nor curved and short in proportion to hindlegs, but not so short as to make back appear long, or detract from dog�s activity. Elbows low and standing well away from ribs. Pasterns short, straight and strong.

Body
Chest wide, prominent and deep. Back short, strong, broad at shoulders. Slight fall to back close behind shoulders (lowest part) whence spine should rise to loins (top higher than top of shoulder), curving again more suddenly to tail, forming slight arch � a distinctive characteristic of breed. Body well ribbed up behind with belly tucked up and not pendulous.

Hindquarters
Legs large and muscular, slightly longer in proportion than forelegs. Hocks slightly bent, well let down; legs long and muscular from loins to hock. Stifles turned very slightly outwards away from body.

Feet
Fore, straight and turning very slightly outward; of medium size and moderately round. Hind, round and compact. Toes compact and thick, well split up, making knuckles prominent and high.

Tail
Set on low, jutting out rather straight and then turning downwards. Round, smooth and devoid of fringe or coarse hair. Moderate in length � rather short than long � thick at root, tapering quickly to a fine point. Downward carriage (not having a decided upward curve at end) and never carried above back.

Gait/Movement
Appearing to walk with short, quick steps on tips of toes, hind feet not lifted high, appearing to skim ground, running with one or other shoulder rather advanced. Soundness of movement of the utmost importance.

Coat
Fine texture, short, close and smooth (hard only from shortness and closeness, not wiry).

Colour
Whole or smut, (i.e. whole colour with black mask or muzzle). Only whole colours (which should be brilliant and pure of their sort) viz., brindles, reds with their various shades, fawns, fallows etc., white and pied (i.e. combination of white with any of the foregoing colours). Dudley, black and black with tan highly undesirable.

Size
Dogs: 25 kgs (55 lbs); bitches: 23 kgs (50 lbs).

Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum

Before you purchase a bulldog, please make every effort to find out as much as you can about the breed. The Bulldog is not a dog that should be taken on lightly, puppies are cute but they can take up to two years to mentally mature and he will require daily attention to his face and maybe under his tail too. By nature, Bulldogs are stubborn and although much healthier than their past cousins can on occasions develop breathing problems or structural faults simply due to their genetic make up. Also, despite what you may have been told previously, he will require a daily walk of approximately half an hour. He is not a fighting dog and adores human company, he is not a dog that likes to be left alone for hours on end and is therefore not suitable for working families as they can be destructive if left alone for too long. Be sure you know as much as possible before you buy, read every book you can find, visit every web site you can find and join your local bulldog club and a few on line bulldog mailing lists. Make the effort to attend a few breed shows and talk to as many breeders and bulldoggers that you can. You will be given much conflicting advice, but common sense often allows you to decide which advice makes the most sense. The more you know before hand the better equipped you will be to deal with situations should they arise. So many bulldogs end up in rescue because the owners weren't aware of just how much was involved in owning one, make sure yours isn't one of them.

PUPPY OR ADULT?

If you are looking for a puppy you can contact breeders through the Kennel Club's list of puppies for sale. Alternatively contact your nearest breed club so see if they know of any breeders in your area. Don't buy the first puppy you see, look around and talk to the breeders, don't be afraid to ask questions. Make sure you see the puppy with his mother and that he, his litter mates, mother and living quarters are clean. Remember too that the dam may not be looking her best at this point. Don't buy from a pet shop, because for every puppy sold another will take his place - these pups are often from puppy farms from overbred bitches and often from poor living conditions. If answering an ad in the paper make sure that you visit the home of the seller, don't make arrangement to meet half way or for them to come to you and trust your instincts. Be sure your breeder gives you a feed chart, a record of his vaccinations and the date he was last wormed along with his KC papers and pedigree.

DOG OR BITCH

In general bitches are usually that bit smaller than the males who tend to be more muscular and larger in both structure and size. Males are maybe slightly more dominant in personality and maybe that little bit more stubborn. Bulldogs pups take upto 2 years to mentally mature much of this time is hormone influenced, boisterous behaviour is quite normal for young bulldogs, they tend not to become the stereotypical couch potato until they are adults. Bitches will come into season around 6 to 9 months old and then every 6 to 9 months after that. Often after her second season you will see a change in her personality and she will begin to calm down. Males have a testonerone surge at around 9 months old, this hormone surge can sometimes make them more boisterous as they learn how to be a "man" dog, but once the hormone levels have settled down he will then begin to calm down also. If you already have another dog, aim to get your second dog of opposite sex, usually the bitch will become the boss in a male/female relationship.

NEUTERING

Try not to castrate your male until he is at least 18 months to 2 years old as they need their testosterone surge. Castration on a young boisterous male bulldog rarely calms them down and if done too early can sometimes make boisterous behaviour worse. Try to let your bitch have her first season and then aim to spay mid way between that and her next season. Humping behaviour is rarely curbed by nutering, humping is more likely to be associated with dominance or nervous behaviour than anything sexual and breeding him/her is not the answer either (see below). A nutered dog obvioulsy will never contract testicular cancer (males) or pyometra (females). Pyometra often occurs around middle age and can be fatal. The risk of mammory tumours are also reduced in a spayed bitch.

MICROCHIPPING

Did you know that should your dog escape or be stolen and he ends up in a shelter or with a rescue, that you only have 7 DAYS to claim him!!! Microchipping your dog is the most efficient way of ensuring that your dog isn't one of the many dogs rehomed because the owner couldn't be traced. A microchip is approximately the size of a grain of rice and is inserted just under the skin at the scruff of the neck, the proceedure is quick, painless and will last a lifetime. Visit our Theft Prevention Tips page for more information

WHERE TO BUY

Aim to buy only from a reputable breeder, preferably somebody who is breeding for the show ring as it is these breeders who will have done their homework - after all they want a good quality dog to keep for the ring! Avoid puppies that are priced too low, breeding bulldogs is hard work, time consuming and very expensive - if they can afford to sell the pups cheaply they've either not done it properly in the first place, the poor thing is stolen, or it's not even a bulldog!!!. Avoid breeders that do not show or claim to only breed pets, they will have little knowledge on how a correctly put together bulldog should look as it is the breed standard that dictates how a breed should look and the show ring that ensures the breed standards are adhered to.

Sometimes adult dogs are rehomed once they have finished their show careers, this kind of arrangement is often the best solution for everyone and these dogs make great companion animals.

Or contact rescue, many adult dogs pass through here for many different reasons.

Make Arrangements

What would happen to your bulldog if something happened to you? Make sure that plans have been made and that everyone in your family is aware of them. Be sure your dog has an ID tag on when outside the home and it's always a good idea to have him microchipped.