French Bulldog History
First, we are going to start with the founding countries of the French Bulldog. French Bulldogs originated in England, France and America. England began the foundation of the French Bulldog, but they were known better as the “old bulldog”. This version of the breed was common amongst lace-makers and small business owners around the 1850’s and 1860’s. Sometime shortly after they become popular in England the English became disinterested and a large population of the breed still known as “old bulldog” were moved north of France. It is said that due to the Industrial Revolution that a lot of the lace-makers, and small crafts shop owners moved to France for the better economy taking the Bulldogs with them. This is another theory as to how the breed made it to France. After the dramatic move the breed became highly popular with the population of Normandy and Paris. With this the English settlers started a lively trade that would flourish. However, it did not last long.
Around the same time there was a group of breeders that started breeding a larger, heavier bulldog with exaggerated features. Some cross bred with other dogs such as terriers. This resulted in the bull terrier breed that was often used in dog fighting and ratting. While there was another version of the breed created across the pond. This version of the breed was smaller, about 12-15 pounds. They either had upright ears or rose ears. Also known as “bat ears”. More features that this version had was round forehead and short jaws. At this time is when today’s society would start recognizing what we know now as the French Bulldog.
Most of the British wanted nothing to do with this breed so the French became the loving guardians up until the 19th century. This when a more uniformed breed came in to existence. The French Bulldog at this point had a compact body, straight legs, and lost the under-jaw of the English bulldog. Wealthy Americans traveling to France adored this breed and instantly began taking there loving French Bulldogs with them back to the states.
After World War 1 the breed’s popularity began to decline. For the next five decades the population of the bulldog dwindled to about 100 registered breeders. Do to the warm weather and lack of air conditioning it was hard for the bulldogs to survive. This biggest know problem with this breed is there inability to whelp naturally. Breeders often had to artificially inseminate to breed the French Bulldog and the breed often had to have a cesarean. While the war was taking the worlds attention this also caused the attention to breeding to decline. It would continue to decline as the 1930’s rolled around. People often couldn’t afford a pure-bred dog. The Great Depression caused a lot of breeds to be euthanized and or many were just starving and passing away from lack of nutrition.
Around 1960 the attention for French Bulldogs increased and societies such as The American Kennel Society started to recognize the breed. AKC Gazette even went as far to say “There are many advantages to owning a dog of this breed, but there are very few bred and very few exhibited. If this 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”. For the next 20 years the breed saw a rapid increase in their population. This was mostly due to the French Bulldog Club of America. The amount of breeders went from 100 to 170 by 1990, 5500 dogs had also been reregistered through recognizable organizations.
In today’s time French Bulldogs are popular everywhere. You will often see them in magazines, commercials, billboards and movies. They are a special breed loved and adored by all. They still have the chance of taking a bad turn in today population. Thanks to the caring and nurturing breeders this breed continues to thrive and fill home with a love and joy.