American Bulldog. Abe Fishman
The American Bulldog’s ancestry can be traced to purely American origins; the breed evolved from other breeds in the United States.
THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN BULLDOG IN ITS HOMELAND
As we begin this chapter, it is important for you to fully understand how completely misunderstood this breed is in the US and throughout the rest of the world. You will be presented with the history of the American Bulldog breed here, and this history may differ from written histories you will come across elsewhere. If you would rather simplify matters and believe one formal “history,” then believe this one. If you find yourself becoming a real student of the breed, however, read them all and, when you have done that, ask yourself which written history makes the most sense. After all, any theory presented should be tested, and I certainly encourage you to test mine.
American Bulldogs are mostly white, often with striking patches of color.
In the United States, where the American Bulldog breed originated, many believe that the American Bulldog is a breed of British origin, brought to the United States by the ancestors of early settlers from England. The claim is that the American Bulldog is of pure English Bulldog stock and it exists today in the form in which it was brought to the United States centuries ago. Proponents of this theory totally ignore the fact that at the time the American Bulldog first appeared in the United States, no dog even remotely similar to this breed existed anywhere else in the world, or had ever existed anywhere else in the world, including in England. The theory is totally unsupportable and was begun by one American Bulldog breeder in the United States who, in my opinion, devised it for use as a selling strategy. After all, those who were interested in buying his dogs wanted to hear the history of his breed and, since he didn’t know the history of his breed, he made one up for popular consumption. It’s as simple as that.
FROM HUTCHINSON’S POPULAR AND ILLUSTRATED DOG ENCYCLOPAEDIA
Ch. Impresario, in 1903, was the leading pillar of the English Bulldog breed. He does not look very much like the modern American Bulldog.
The English Bulldog, which has incorrectly been reputed to be the ancestor of the American Bulldog. Although one may assume that the two breeds share a common heritage, the author’s theory refutes a similar ancestry.
If you are, or plan to become, a serious student of the American Bulldog breed, I think it is important that you research what I just told you. In order to test my theory, you will need to find pictures of early American Bulldogs and compare the dogs in those early pictures with known English Bulldogs of that time or earlier. Remember that this is an old breed and when I say that you will need to find early pictures, I don’t mean pictures from 1980. I mean pictures known to date to 1940 or earlier. You must realize that American Bulldogs of 1980 or thereabout were already being crossed to other breeds, including the Bullmastiff and English Bulldog, not to enhance the breed’s working ability but rather to make the pups more marketable to novice puppy purchasers. These puppy purchasers were not in the market for an authentic American Bulldog, but instead they were in search of a pet they could relate to as a “Bulldog.”
FROM HUTCHINSON’S POPULAR AND ILLUSTRATED DOG ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
In 1904, this English Bulldog, whose name was “Oak Leaf,” was considered the best of the breed. Could this dog have been an ancestor of the modern American Bulldog? Though some think so, it is not likely.
FROM HUTCHINSON’S POPULAR AND ILLUSTRATED DOG ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
The early English Bulldogs “Boomerang” and “Katerfelto” were born in 1893. This famous strain featured size (bulk), long skulls, good turn-up of underjaw and excellent layback. Drawn by F. T. Daws.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, shown here, was originally brought to America as a fighting dog. The American Pit Bull Terrier derived from this breed.
CANIS LUPUS
“Grandma, what big teeth you have!” The gray wolf, a familiar figure in fairy tales and legends, has had its reputation tarnished and its population pummeled over the centuries. Yet it is the descendants of this much-feared creature to which we open our homes and hearts. Our beloved dog, Canis domesticus, derives directly from the gray wolf, a highly social canine that lives in elaborately structured packs. In the wild, the gray wolf can range from 60 to 175 pounds, standing between 25 and 40 inches in height.
At this point, let’s assume that we know what the American Bulldog is not, as a result of having read what has already been said. The question remains as to what the American Bulldog is. If the American Bulldog is of purely American origin, it had to come from somewhere, and the question remains as to where the American Bulldog did come from. If the breed evolved in the United States, from what breed or breeds did it evolve? To get to the bottom of this question, we will need to know a little about two closely related breeds.
One breed that is very similar to the American Bulldog and that is also known to have evolved in the United States is the American Pit Bull Terrier. The American Pit Bull Terrier, more commonly known as the “Pit Bull,” is essentially the American expression of the English Staffordshire Bull Terrier. As immigrants from England and Ireland began to make America their home, some brought their little “Staffords” along with them. One of the primary uses for the Staffords brought to the United States was fighting in organized “game-dog” matches. Such game-dog matches involved the pitting of one fighting dog against another of the same breed, the same sex and the same size. For purposes of these matches, it didn’t make any difference what size the dogs involved were, as long as both dogs were of the same size. With Staffords, the dogs involved were small (in the 35-pound range).
The American Bulldog had to be larger than the Staffords in order to protect the herd and perform his other duties effectively.
The breed’s strength and impressive build are evident even in American Bulldog youngsters.
Once in the United States, however, a few influences became responsible for the gradual metamorphosis of the game-bred English and Irish Staffordshire dogs into the Pit Bull. One of these factors was simply personal choice and selective breeding. America was the land of plenty, and a dog owner in the US could afford to feed a slightly larger dog than could a coal miner living and working in Staffordshire, England. Additionally, other ideas came to mind about uses fit for such a tough, fast, agile and determined little