The Olde English Bulldogge is a recently created American dog breed. In the 1970s David Leavitt created a true-breeding lineage as a re-creation of the healthier working bulldog from early nineteenth century England. Using a breeding scheme developed for cattle, Leavitt crossed English bulldogs, American Bulldogs, American Pit Bull Terriers and Bull Mastiffs. The result was an athletic breed that looks similar to the bulldogs of 1820 but also has a friendly temperament.
Video Olde English Bulldogge
History
The Olde English Bulldogge was an attempt to recreate the "Regency Period Bull Baiter" and was developed in the early 1970s by David Leavitt, of Coatesville, PA. Leavitt began his project in 1971 utilizing the cattle line breeding scheme of Dr. Fechimer from Ohio State University. The goal was to create a dog with the look, health, and athleticism of the original bull-baiting dogs, but with a much less aggressive temperament. The foundation crosses consisted of one-half English Bulldog, one-sixth American Bulldog, one-sixth American Pit Bull Terrier and one-sixth Bull Mastiff. After many planned crosses, the Olde English Bulldogge emerged and began to breed true.
Leavitt formed the Olde English Bulldogge Association (OEBA) to maintain the breed's stud book and issue registration papers to future offspring. During the 1980s Ben and Karen Campetti from Sandisfield, Massachusetts worked closely with Leavitt in breeding the Olde English Bulldogge. In 1993 Leavitt stopped breeding and turned the OEBA registry as well as his personal breeding stock over to Working Dog Inc. which was owned and operated by Michael Walz of Pennsylvania.
In 2001 the Olde English Bulldogge Kennel Club (OEBKC) was formed, and in 2005 David Leavitt was involved with merging the Olde English Bulldogge Association's registry with that of the OEBKC's. The Olde English Bulldogge was enrolled with the Canine Developmental Health and Performance Registry (CDHPR) in August 2008 in order to evaluate the breed for recognition within the UKC as a purebred breed of dog and in 2013 the UKC announced that the Olde English Bulldogge would become a fully recognized breed as of January 1, 2014. The OEBKC is currently the recognized Parent Club for the breed with the United Kennel Club (UKC).
Maps Olde English Bulldogge
Leavitt Bulldog
The Leavitt Bulldog is a late 20th-century re-creation of the now extinct Old English Bulldog, the original bulldog breed which existed around the 19th century Regency era, about 1820. In contrast to English bulldogs of modern times, depictions of the breed from nearly two centuries earlier showed healthier, more agile dogs, with working ability. Unlike the 19th century breed however, the Leavitt Bulldog has a placid temperament. It is one of several breeds developed in order to overcome the genetic problems in the English Bulldog breed. The Leavitt Bulldog was developed by breeder David Leavitt which he originally named the Olde English Bulldogge. Leavitt has since disassociated himself with this name for the breed and set up the Leavitt Bulldog as its name due to many later OEB litters losing many of the qualities of his original OEB litter. David Leavitt's "Leavitt Bulldogs" were purebred from the earlier Olde English Bulldogge stock. Regardless of this, the original name has been adopted by the United Kennel Club whose breed standard is adopted as of 1 January 2014. The Leavitt Bulldog was mentioned in the documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed - Three Years On as a suggested healthier alternative to the English Bulldog.
Portions of the Olde English Bulldogge breeding circles renamed their dogs in 2005 in order to distance themselves from the OEB name, now commonly being used by some breeders to refer to their unrelated (and non-purebred, a.k.a. "designer dog" crossbreed) dogs using a different standard and foundation stock.
Breed developer David Leavitt wrote, in a formal statement [unusual capitalization as in the original text]: "A big reason for my wanting to change the Breed name is that there are far more Alternative Bulldog OEB's than true ones, and most of these dogs don't have the appearance of the old working Bulldog. I admit it's my pride that has driven me to want to make clear these heavy dogs aren't my creation. I couldn't force them to change and the logical answer was to change a name that really wasn't correct for the period we are trying to recreate anyway."
Breeders who decided against changing the OEB name have since gained United Kennel Club (UKC) recognition for their stock under the breed name Olde English Bulldogge, since 1 January 2014. The registries of both the competing clubs have since been granted recognition by UKC, so Leavitt Bulldog Association members can register their dogs with UKC as OEBs, contingent upon review by that breed's parent club.
The Leavitt bulldog was created in 2005 with only breeds that have old English bulldog in their background. According to David Leavitt, a line breeding scheme developed at the Ohio State University was used in the breed's development. The founding stock of the Olde English Bulldogge in 1971 purportedly consisted of 1/2 English Bulldog, 1/6 American Bulldog, 1/6 American Pit Bull Terrier and 1/6 Bullmastiff.
The Leavitt Bulldog has a very stable, friendly and loving temperament, which makes them suitable as family companions, and some have qualified as therapy dogs. They are easy to train and they are useful for various sports. This breed is extremely strong, which means that socialization and obedience training are important. Their disposition should be confident, courageous and alert without being overly protective. They enjoy not just physical games, but also activities that require intellect, such as tracking.
Characteristics
Appearance
The Olde English Bulldogge is a muscular, medium-sized dog of great strength, and possesser of fluid, agile movement. They are well balanced and proportioned, while appearing capable of performing without any breathing restrictions in either heat or in cold. Serious Faults: Excessive wrinkle, lack of pigment around eyes, nose or mouth.
The skull is large and well-proportioned to the dog's muscular body and prominent shoulders. There is a defined furrow between the eyes (from the stop to the occiput). Narrow skull and domed forehead are faults. The muzzle is square, wide and deep. Bite is undershot or reverse scissors. Lower jawbone is moderately curved from front to back. Nostrils are wide, with a line running vertically between nostrils from the tip of nose down to the bottom of the upper lip. Nose is large and broad in relationship to the width of the muzzle. Nose color is black. Eyes are medium in size and almond shaped, dark to light brown, with black pigmented eye rims. They are set wide and low, level with the top of the muzzle. Ears are small, rose, button or tulip. Rose is preferred. They are set high, wide and to the back outer edge of the skull. The neck is medium length, wide, and slightly arched. The body is sturdy, powerful and slightly rectangular when viewed from the side. Chest is wide and deep. Hind legs are well muscled and have the appearance of being slightly longer than the forelegs. The hind legs should be straight, parallel and set apart. Accepted color patterns include brindle, and solid colors, with or without white. Males should be 60 to 80 pounds, and 17 to 20 inches at the withers, while females should be 50 to 70 pounds, and 16 to 19 inches at the withers.
Health
The Olde English Bulldogge may be a healthier breed of dog than many modern Bulldog breeds, though they can be affected by many of the same disorders that occur in any breed. Proponents of the breed maintain that it does not suffer from the same disorders as purebred English bulldogs. Many breeders are now x-raying hips to reduce the incidence of hip dysplasia as well as having dogs evaluated by organizations such as the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and the University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program (PennHIP). The Olde English Bulldogge is also quickly becoming well respected in many working venues such as weight pull, therapy training, and obedience. They have become excellent breathers, but still are very sensitive to heat. Artificial insemination is not a standard protocol when breeding Olde English Bulldogges; natural ties are the standard. Breeders from the Olde English Bulldogge Kennel Club are working vigorously on educating new breeders on genetic disorders and the benefits modern genetic testing for these disorders can have on preventing genetic disorders in domestic animals. Many breeders are also becoming more aware of how important selective breeding can be to the breed as a whole.
See also
- Bulldog breeds
References
Further reading
- DePrisco, Andrew (1990). The Mini-Atlas of Dog Breeds. Neptune, NJ: TFH Publications. ISBN 0-86622-091-7.
- Brearley, Joan McDonald (1985). The Book of the Bulldog. Neptune, NJ: TFH Publications. ISBN 0-86622-027-5.
- Can the Bulldog be saved? (NY Times Magazine, Nov. 22, 2011)
External links
Source of article : Wikipedia
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