388 BRITISH DOGS 



Once it was thought that when the law stepped in and put an 

 end to dog-fighting and bull-baiting and the other innocent amuse- 

 ments of our forefathers, the breed of Bulldogs would speedily 

 become extinct, and so, as a matter of fact, the fighting type of dog 

 did, but his descendant (whom some are pleased to call degenerate) 

 is now one of the most popular dogs of the day, and his popularity 

 is on the increase. 



The novice who sets out to buy a Bulldog for the first time 

 in his life has a difficult task before him. From a show point of 

 view, no breed is so prolific in " wasters," and in no breed are really 

 excellent specimens so scarce. If the novice desires to possess 

 a dog, let him buy one at a comparatively early age from six to 

 ten months. He should look out for a big-skulled youngster with 

 plenty of bone, a short back, a straight or cranked tail, carried 

 straight downwards, a wide, massive chest, supported on sturdy, 

 straight legs. On no account must the fore legs be bandy, as he may 

 imagine they should be. The hindquarters, compared with the 

 massive front of the dog, should be fine, or slightly made, so that 

 the body, seen from above, bears a distinct resemblance to a pear. 



In the head lies most of a Bulldog's strongest points. First, 

 the skull should be exceedingly large in comparison with the size 

 of his body, it should be flat above the temples ; the eyes, large, 

 round, and very dark in colour, showing none of the whites when 

 the dog is looking straight forward. The nose, which should be 

 black and large, is set back, well " on top " rather than in front of 

 the face: this, by fanciers, is called "lay-back" ; a dog deficient in 

 lay-back is called " down-faced," which means that there is too great 

 a distance from the tip of the nose to the " stop," or deep indenta- 

 tion in the skull between the eyes. The under-jaw must project 

 well in advance of the upper, so that the dog is considerably under- 

 shot this, in fanciers' parlance, is the "turn up," which is one of 

 the most important of the many necessary characteristics. A dog 

 with a poor, receding under jaw is "froggy," or "frog-faced." The 

 teeth should be strong and even, and, says the standard of^the 

 Bulldog Club, " must be completely covered by the flews, or chop, 

 when the mouth is closed " ; but with all deference to the compilers 

 of this standard, the exhibition of the canine teeth is no serious 

 fault ; some prefer that they should be visible, and it certainly gives 

 a more formidable and characteristic appearance to the dog. The 

 ears are of the utmost importance, though the large increase in 

 bad-eared dogs proves that proper attention is not being paid to 

 this very necessary point. The ear must be fine in texture, very 

 small, and of the shape known as " rose." Bat or tulip that is, 

 upstanding ears and buttoned ears are serious objections. 



As a guide to the novice, Fig. 85 is given. It shows all the head 

 points that a good Bulldog cannot possess. One ear is shown of 



