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Branches Of The Old Oak Tree
British Bulldogs , Boxers , Bullmastiffs , American Bulldogs , Staffies, French Bulldogs , Boston Terriers , Pugs , Dogue De Bordeaux's and just about anything that you can think of with a short square head (otherwise known as the Brachycephalic Breeds ) are linked from one breed to the other.
Bull baiting and hunting were basically the original purposes for a strong medium size dog with the ability and tenacity to hold big game . For example the physical description and dimensions of the dogs that were recognised as one of the ancestors to the Bullmastiff are nearly identical in description to the Boxer , the Regency Bulldog and the American Bulldog. I believe it is possible that 200 to 400 years ago with a limited amount of dog types available for breeding , some dogs standing at stud could be responsible for producing pups that would travel on separate but similar paths that would later be recognised as a different breed. The Regency Bulldog was recognised in History as approximately 40% makeup of the Bullmastiff with approximately 60% English Mastiff apparently completing the picture . As History is written this is supposed to be the end result of the bullmastiff , but it is also the Regency Bulldog in later years put to the Old Style Pug to reduce the size of these Bulldogs for household pets , producing what we recognise today as the Modern British Bulldog. I strongly believe that even hundreds of years ago people undid these recipes in rebellious outcrosses to enhance the qualities and abilities of their immediate ancestors by going back to the original seeds. For example: Pug to Regency Bulldog concentrating on type for many years locks in the British Bulldog . Then a rebellious outcross of old times , where someone takes this dog and puts it back to the regency bulldog creating a litter where half look like old style bulldogs and the other half are a refreshed but slightly bigger British bulldog. This could also have happened with the Bullmastiff by putting it back to the English Mastiff producing bigger bullmastiffs, and on the other hand the Bullmastiff put back to the Regency Bulldog results in smaller Bullmastiffs and Bigger Regency Bulldogs. With this type of criss /crossing going on endlessly, any wonder there is confusion of which breed came first .

British Bulldog history also states that these dogs were bred down from mastiffs. This is definitely true if you look at the possibility that first there were mastiffs , then there were Bullmastiffs , Regency bulldogs , Boxers , Olde Bulldogge's , American Bulldogs , Bordeaux's etc. All these dogs could have been bred purely from smaller mastiffs and while making the most of the downsizing it reached a point through closed breeding programs that even these breeds started to get smaller, creating an opportunity for people with an interest in even smaller canines to choose from a wide selection of little dogs that are all Branches Laying Under The Big Old Oak Tree , that I see was obviously the Mastiff. It is always a lot easier to produce a litter of pups with a higher percentage of small pups than big pups and this is why breeders have to sometimes collect the best of the smallies and put them back to bigger dogs.

Crossbreeding does not always give you a healthier dog. If thorough investigations are not done scanning 3 or 4 generations behind the individual , then it is quite possible to bring in severe health problems if the knowledge of the parent dog is shallow. Here we have a catch 22 situation . (We must start somewhere) There are a couple of things that we can do .

No 1 : Seriously research the dogs background by thoroughly researching the breeder. You need to have facts about the Structure , Temperament , and overall Health. If you are at a breeders place and you get the opportunity to view 3 or 4 generations of dogs ranging from pups to 10 or more years old, this is a good place to start

No 2: If you purchase a pup from an unknown background , then prepare yourself for a long frustrating battle in chasing your own 5 generations of breeding , as it is possible that with every generation you produce that you could end up with a whole litter of defective pups dragging you 1 generation backwards purely by choosing the wrong dog. More often than not it will take 3 generations of breeding before some major health problems reveal themselves, this is very disheartening and this is why you should have 2 or more separate breeding programs going parallel to each other but not running into each other . This is possible if you know other people with an interest in the same breed of dog and not the same bloodlines. The fact is that all breeds of dogs have health problems which doesn't make them a disastrous animal , it just makes them the same as any other animal including human beings.

We shouldn't cull a dog or bitch from a breeding program because of one minor problem and on the other hand we shouldn't encourage anyone putting a pair of dogs together that have the same concerning health problem or incorrect breed characteristic. It is an endless game of mixing and matching until you get it right , and when you get it right you will have the added concern of trying to keep it right.

Non of these comments are meant to deter anyone from trying , just to prepare you for what lays ahead if you are planning on breeding. Good preparation and confidence generally result in success .Without having an open mind, or being full of false confidence, can generally lead to failure , and people that fail either disappear or they get up and try again with a different attitude and outlook.

Written By Noel Green
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