Page 230 - Showsight March 2013

A Brief History of French Bulldogs
By Jim Grebe
FBDCA Historian In discussing the history of the
French Bulldog, we should
note the importance of three
countries: England, France and
America. England provided
the foundation for our modern
Frenchie: the old Bulldog. Breeders in
France developed the smaller Bulldogs into
a distinctly “French” type and American
breeders set the standard that prescribed
the all-important “bat ears.”
We begin with the Bulldog in England,
where so many of our AKC breeds originat-
ed. The ancestral type was not our modern
Bulldog, but was the Bulldog of 150-200
years ago: a strong, athletic dog, high on
leg, and capable of being used in that bar-
barous activity called “bull-baiting.”
Many English Bulldog breeders began
to change the breed around this time to a
bigger, heavier dog with exaggerated fea-
tures. Others crossbred them with terri-
ers resulting in the bull-and-terrier breeds
used for dogfighting, ratting, etc. Another
group of breeders developed a smaller,
lighter “toy” Bulldog, around 12-25 lbs.
in weight, having either upright or rose
ears, round foreheads and short under-
jaws—and perhaps a touch of terrier liveli-
ness. These were quite popular with work-
ers in the English midlands, in particular
the artisans in the lace-making industry
around Nottingham.
When the Industrial Revolution closed
down many of the small craft shops, these
lace-makers emigrated to the North of
France—and they took their little Bull-
dogs with them. The popularity of these
little dogs spread from Normandy to Paris
and soon the English breeders had a lively
trade, exporting small Bulldogs to France
where they began to be called Bouledogues
Français. They were favorites of ordinary
Parisians such as butchers, café owners and
dealers in the rag trade and became notori-
ous as the favorites of the Parisian street-
walkers, les belles de nuit. The famous artist
Toulouse Lautrec depicted in several works
“Bouboule”, a Frenchie owned by Madame
Palmyre, the proprietress of a favorite res-
taurant, “La Souris.”
Society folks noticed these cute little
Bulldogs and before long they were a la
mode. Most of the British wanted noth-
ing to do with these French Bulldogs so
it was the French who were guardians of
the breed until later in the 19th century.
They developed a more uniform breed—
a dog with a compact body, straight legs,
but without the extreme underjaw of the
English Bulldog. Some had the erect “bat
ears” while others had “rose” ears. Wealthy
Americans traveling in France fell in love
with these endearing little dogs and began
bringing them back to the USA. The
Yanks preferred dogs with erect ears which
was fine with the French breeders as they
preferred the rose-eared specimens, as did
the British breeders.
Society ladies first exhibited Frenchies
in 1896 at Westminster and a Frenchie was
featured on the cover of the 1897Westmin-
ster catalog even though it was not yet an
approved AKC breed. At that show, both
bat-eared and rose-eared dogs were exhib-
ited but the English judge put up only the
rose-eared specimens. This infuriated the
American fanciers who quickly organized
the French Bull Dog Club of America and
drew up a breed standard allowing only
the bat ear. At the 1898 Westminster show,
the Americans were outraged to find that
classes for both bat-eared and rose-eared
dogs were to be shown despite the fact
that the new breed standard allowed only
the former. They pulled their dogs, the
American Judge refused to participate in
230 • ShowSight Magazine, March 2013