Page 231 - Showsight March 2013

the show, and the club organized their own
show, for bat-eared dogs only, to be held at
the luxurious Waldorf-Astoria.
This was the famous first specialty of
the French Bulldog Club of America—
which, incidentally, was the first breed
club anywhere in the world to be dedi-
cated to the French Bulldog. The winner
of that first Specialty was a brindle dog
named “Dimboolaa”.
Popularity of Frenchies skyrocketed,
particularly among the East Coast Society
folks. After World War I, the breed’s pop-
ularity began a decline that would last for
the next fifty years. The enormous popular-
ity of another small brachycephalic breed,
the Boston Terrier, probably contributed
to this. Also many Frenchies had problems
whelping naturally; it would be years before
safe veterinary cesarean sections would be
routinely performed. Hot summer months,
before residential air conditioning became
common, were rough going for the dogs.
And interest in purebred dogs gener-
ally declined during the Depression of the
1930s. A small number of Frenchie breed-
ers in America and Europe kept the flame
alive, but by 1940 French Bulldogs were
considered a rare breed and only 100 were
registered with the AKC. The years dur-
ing World War II were difficult for all dog
breeders and especially for those in Europe
where many fine dogs starved or were put
down for lack of food.
Heretofore most Frenchies were brindle
with a few pied and white dogs. Creams
and fawns were rare and not particularly
popular until the 1950s when a breeder
from Detroit, Amanda West, began show-
ing cream Frenchies with phenomenal
success. Her dogs, mostly creams, tallied
over 500 group wins and 111 Best in Show
awards as well as 21 consecutive breed wins
at Westminster. From then on, creams and
fawns were more and more common in
the show rings. But Frenchie registrations
totaled only 106 in 1960 and an article in
the AKC Gazette stated, “There are many
advantages to owning a dog of this breed
but there are very few bred and very few
exhibited. If the trend keeps on, eventually
the breed will become extinct... No one
wants to see the breed overpopularized but
certainly the breed deserves to be known
and appreciated by the public.”
The 1980s witnessed a rapid rise in
Frenchie registrations due to a newly ener-
gized French Bull Dog Club of America
that included younger breeders who trans-
formed the annual specialty shows into
major events and who contributed to The
French Bullytin, a new magazine devoted
solely to Frenchies.
The 1980 breed registrations were 170
and by 1990 were 632. Since then, the
popularity of these little dogs has soared
and 7,783 Frenchies were registered in
2011. Nowadays it’s not that uncommon
to see Frenchies featured in ads, movies or
in stories about celebrities. This skyrocket-
ing popularity can be scary for those of us
who love the breed and who fight a con-
stant battle to maintain breed type and
minimize those health problems to which
Frenchies are subject. Unscrupulous breed-
ers and importers complicate the picture.
Let’s hope that today’s successes are not a
passing fad and that many future fanciers
will enjoy all that can be offered by this
most companionable breed.
“...by 1940
FrencH Bulldogs
were considered
A rAre Breed
and only 100 were
registered with
the AKC.”
S howS ight Magazine, M arch 2013 • 231