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The French Bulldog (bouledogue Francais)


There appears to be no doubt that the French Bulldog originated in

England, and is an offshoot of the English miniature variety Bulldog,

not the Bulldog one sees on the bench to-day, but of the tulip-eared

and short underjawed specimens which were common in London,

Nottingham, Birmingham, and Sheffield in the early 'fifties. There

was at that time a constant emigration of laceworkers from Nottingham

to the coast towns
f Normandy, where lace factories were springing

into existence, and these immigrants frequently took a Bulldog with

them to the land of their adoption. The converse method was also

adopted. Prior to 1902 French Bulldogs were imported into this country

with the object of resuscitating the strain of bantam Bulldogs, which

in course of years had been allowed to dwindle in numbers, and were

in danger of becoming extinct.



There are superficial similarities between the English and the French

toy Bulldog, the one distinguishing characteristic being that in the

French variety the ears are higher on the head and are held erect.

Until a few years ago the two were interbred, but disputes as to their

essential differences led the Kennel Club to intervene and the types

have since been kept rigidly apart, the smart little bat-eared

Bulldogs of France receiving recognition under the breed name of

Bouledogues Francais.



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