THE TOY BULLDOG 621 



The Toy Bulldog pure and simple is a British Bulldog in minia- 

 ture, obtained sometimes by a freak of nature and sometimes by 

 long and persistent breeding, though at present the Fancy is com- 

 paratively too young for the effects of systematic breeding to be 

 yet visible. The process of dwarfing anything, whether it be animal 

 or plant, is bound to be a lengthy one that is to say, to produce 

 uniform results for the writer has already admitted that nature will 

 occasionally produce a Toy Bulldog of its own accord and without 

 apparent rhyme or reason. 



In a Toy Bulldog should be found all those qualities most 

 valued in the larger dog expression, the rose ears, the wide under 

 jaw, with its upward sweep protruding considerably beyond the 

 upper jaw, lay-back, a big black nose and well defined stop, depth 

 of brisket, a good set-on of shoulder, strength of bone, the roach 

 back and a small tail, straight screw or crank set on low. To obtain 

 these qualities with diminutive size should be the aim of every 

 breeder, but the introduction of the French blood will make his 

 task harder, if not actually impossible. 



To attempt at once to breed Toys from one mating of small 

 specimens of the British Bulldog would be futile and would probably 

 be followed by disastrous results ; and this brings the writer to a 

 point which he would urge the breeder to constantly keep in mind, 

 the natural inclination of all creatures to " throw back." 



By " throwing back " is meant the reproduction of young bearing 

 strong resemblance to some ancestor. In human beings this resem- 

 blance is sometimes mental and sometimes physical. With dogs 

 the mental characteristics need here scarcely be taken into account, 

 but the physical are worthy of all attention. 



The tyro, in mating a very small English Bulldog with a very 

 small bitch of the same breed, would probably expect to produce 

 small puppies. It is true that his expectations might be realised, 

 but it is equally true and far more likely that they may not. What 

 then would be the result ? The small dog and bitch coming from 

 large stock would in all probability throw back, and big or at any 

 rate medium-sized puppies would result, with infinite danger to the 

 mother, who would in all probability succumb to the exertion of 

 bringing them into the world. 



The course, then, to be advised as a first step is the mating of the 

 very smallest specimen of the true English Bulldog it is possible to 

 secure with an English Bull bitch of medium size. Mrs. Carlo F. C. 

 Clarke, in her recent work on Toy Bulldogs, states : " I believe 

 there is just as much likelihood of getting a Toy puppy from an 

 English-bred bitch weighing 35lb. as from one weighing say 281b., 

 and infinitely less risk of losing the mother." 



.The principle to be observed, then, is to look to the sire for 

 diminution in size. More probably than not, he will throw back 



