THE FRENCH BULLDOG. 



6i 



that the French do not cultivate this 

 feature to any marked extent. 



We should endeavour to breed out the 

 large, awkward ears which incline to hang 

 outwards instead of being erect. These 

 heaw ears, with incorrect carriage, spoil and 

 change the entire appearance, which should 

 be bright, crisp, and vivacious, rather than 

 heavy and sluggish. There is a tendenc\- 

 also to pay too little attention to ej'es, which 

 should not be full like those of a toy Spaniel 

 nor bulging like those of many Pugs. The 

 full eye is a fault ; the bulging eye is an 

 abomination. 



As will be seen in the illustration of the 

 French and English skulls, there is a great 

 fundamental difference in formation. They 

 arc both skulls of bitches ; the French one 

 is from a bitch bred by Mrs. F. W. Cousens 

 by her imported dog Napoleon Buonaparte 

 ex Coralie by Champion Polo de Bagatelle ; 

 the English from a prize-winning bitch of 

 championship pedigree on both sides. 



The question of underjaw is the one point 

 on which fanciers of the breed in France 

 differ seriously with some few of the English 

 breeders. The French Bulldog Club of 

 England stated in their 1903 description of 

 the breed that " the lower jaw should project 

 considerably in front of the upper," and 

 ten points in a hundred were given for under- 

 jaw in their standard of points. On this 

 side of the Channel we have been so accus- 

 tomed to regard a prominent underjaw in a 

 Bulldog as absolutely necessary to salvation, 

 that directly we begin to import and breed 

 French Bulldogs we do not stop to ask 

 what is correct, but finding a Bulldog with 

 a comparati\'ely small underjaw we pro- 

 ceed to put on a bigger one as fast as possible. 

 I must own to a little weakness in this direc- 

 tion myself ; but, after all, one's personal 

 fancies should not be made the standard 

 for altering a foreign breed, and I think it 

 would be a great pity, even a calamity, to 

 allow our very natural love of underjaw to 

 alter the appearance which the French 

 Bulldog should possess. It cannot be 

 said too often or too forcibly that a French 

 Bulldog is not by any manner of means a 

 small English dog with bat ears ; and if we 



wish to preserve the quaint characteristics 

 of the breed we must not presume to make 

 fundamental structural alterations. 



Perhaps a word against the hea\-y pendu- 

 lous lips and the equally pendulous skin on 

 the throat of a few specimens will be enough 

 to warn breeders that they must not emulate 

 the flews, or dewlap, of a Bloodhound. If 

 the lips well cover the teeth and the sides of 

 the upper lips slightly overlap the under, 

 that is correct ; the skin on the throat 

 should be loose, but not pendulous. 



The question of rickets looms large in all 

 Bulldog breeding, the English variety being, 

 perhaps, the more generally affected. If 

 breeders would carefully avoid using rickety 

 subjects, and pay more careful attention 

 to diet from weaning-time until maturity, 

 the race would materially benefit in health 

 and appearance, and would be much easier 

 to breed and rear. 



The quarantine regulations in force at the 

 present time rather handicap the breeders 

 of French Bulldogs, limiting their supply 

 very considerably, partly on account of the 

 six months' detention, and partly because 

 of the inevitable expense attached to the 

 arrangements. There is, however, a suffi- 

 cient number of the breed now in Great 

 Britain to obviate the necessity of in- 

 breeding to any disastrous extent. It be- 

 hoves those who have the interest of this 

 little dog at heart to continue the importa- 

 tion of fresh blood not only from France, 

 but, where possible, from Germany, Austria, 

 and America. By introducing entirely fresh 

 blood, or even blood of the same strain that 

 has been in a totally different climate for 

 se\'eral generations, the stamina and phy- 

 sique is improved, and type is not sacrificed ; 

 also by doing this greater facilities are 

 afforded for legitimate in-breeding, which, 

 in some cases, is undeniably necessary to 

 procure or retain certain special charac- 

 teristics. 



All breeders of the French Bulldog know 

 to their cost the difiiculties to be encountered 

 in rearing puppies. Unless a bitch has 

 proved herself a good mother, it is always 

 advisable to have a foster-mother in readiness 

 — by preference one who has had her puppies 



