50 Fun Facts About Bulldog

The Bulldog is a British breed of which type?

It is stocky and muscular with a large head, thick facial folds and a protruding lower jaw.

The modern Bulldog descends from the Old English Bulldog, which was used for what sport?

Wagers were placed on each dog, and the one that grabbed the tethered bull by the nose and pinned it won.

Which act outlawed the Bulldog's original blood sport in England?

It left the Old English Bulldog without a job in England, though emigrants found uses for the dogs in the New World.

The earliest written reference to the word 'Bulldog', around 1631, appears in a letter asking for what?

Preswick Eaton wrote 'procuer mee two good Bulldogs, and let them be sent by ye first shipp'.

In 1666 Christopher Merret listed the Bulldog in Latin as Canis pugnax, describing it as what?

The entry appeared in his Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum.

In mid-17th-century New York, Governor Richard Nicolls used Bulldogs to do what?

Dogs seized a bull by the nose long enough for a rope to be secured round its neck.

Which dog dealer is credited with continually promoting Bulldogs as pets?

Once the sport was gone, the breed had to find a new career on the sofa.

The 1864 Bulldog Club founded under R. S. Rockstro is remembered for producing which document?

Treasurer Samuel Wickens published it in 1865 under the pseudonym Philo-Kuan; the club folded within three years without holding a show.

What was the name of the first English Bulldog entered in the Kennel Club register?

Born in 1864, he appeared in the first Stud Book presented at the Birmingham Show in December 1874.

The Bulldog Club founded in 1875, which still exists, met at which London pub?

It became 'The Bulldog Club, Inc.' in 1894 and is the oldest single-breed kennel club in the world.

In which year did the American Kennel Club recognise the Bulldog?

The Bulldog Club of America followed in 1890.

In an 1894 contest, top Bulldogs King Orry and Dock Leaf were set to walk how far?

The lighter, athletic King Orry finished; the heavier, modern-looking Dock Leaf collapsed and died.

The characteristic fold of skin above a Bulldog's nose is called what?

It is also known as the nose roll, part of a face with brow folds, wide-set eyes and an upturned underbite.

A Bulldog's short tail may hang straight or be coiled into what shape?

The coat is short, flat and sleek in red, fawn, white, brindle or piebald.

Roughly how much does a male Bulldog weigh under the British standard?

Bitches are about 23 kg; American standards are lighter at about 50 lb for dogs and 40 lb for bitches.

The AKC standard says a Bulldog's demeanour should be what?

The disposition should be 'equable and kind, resolute, and courageous (not vicious or aggressive)'.

A 2022 UK study gave the Bulldog what life expectancy, second lowest of all breeds studied?

A 2024 UK study was kinder at 9.8 years, still far short of the 12.7-year purebred average.

A 2004 UK survey found the leading cause of Bulldog deaths to be what?

Heart problems took 20%, cancer 18% and old age just 9%.

Why do many airlines ban Bulldogs from the cargo hold?

Brachycephaly leaves them unable to cool themselves by panting and prone to laryngeal collapse.

What share of 467 Bulldogs tested by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals had hip dysplasia?

That was the highest of any breed, and the Bulldog also has the worst score in the BVA/Kennel Club scheme.

Which condition of young dogs, where the back legs splay out, is found most often in the Bulldog?

The breed also has nearly three times the average risk of patellar luxation.

Over what share of Bulldog litters are delivered by Caesarean section?

The pups' huge heads can lodge in the birth canal, and labour can bring on the mother's breathing problems.

The Bulldog is one of the two breeds most commonly affected by which condition?

A 1963 study found 17% of Bulldogs with skin-fold dermatitis, and demodicosis runs at 1.5% against 0.17% for all dogs.

After which 2008 BBC documentary did the Kennel Club revise the Bulldog and 209 other breed standards?

The British Bulldog Breed Council opposed changes expected to mean a smaller head, fewer folds and a longer muzzle.

The Dutch Kennel Club's 2019 fitness test requires a Bulldog to walk 1 km in how long?

Its temperature and heart rate must recover within 15 minutes.

Dutch law forbids breeding dogs whose snout is shorter than what fraction of the skull?

The 2014 law began to be enforced in 2019 and makes Bulldogs illegal to breed in the Netherlands.

What happened to the 2022 Oslo ruling that banned breeding Bulldogs in Norway?

Borgarting Court of Appeal ruled that breeding English Bulldogs in Norway was legal after all.

Which British prime minister was likened to a Bulldog for his defiance of Nazi Germany?

The BBC calls the breed 'a national icon, symbolising pluck and determination'.

Uga is the live Bulldog mascot of which university?

Every Uga since 1956 has been owned by the Sonny Seiler family of Savannah.

The first Uga came to Sonny Seiler as what?

Frank Heard gave him the dog; coach Wally Butts asked to use it as mascot and a friend suggested the name Uga.

Handsome Dan is the Bulldog mascot of which university?

The first Handsome Dan served from 1889 to 1897 and won first prize at Westminster.

The first Handsome Dan was chosen partly for his negative reaction to which colour?

He also had to tolerate bands and children and dislike tigers, the symbols of rivals Harvard and Princeton.

The Bulldog mascot of the US Marine Corps is named after which highly decorated Marine?

The first Chesty was named in July 1957 after the most decorated Marine in history; the line has reached Chesty XVI.

Which of these is NOT listed among well-known Bulldog mascots?

Bevo is the University of Texas longhorn steer; the Bulldog list also includes Uga, Handsome Dan and Chesty.

In 2013 the Bulldog was ranked where among breeds registered worldwide?

Though a symbol of ferocity, the modern Bulldog is generally friendly and amiable.

The Old English Bulldog, per the 1865 description, stood about how tall?

It weighed about 45 pounds and was compact, broad and muscular, as in the painting Crib and Rosa.

Which painting, engraved by John Scott, is the best-known image of the Old English Bulldog?

The 1817 work by Abraham Cooper is also cited in Staffordshire Bull Terrier history.

A Royal Veterinary College study found Bulldogs had how much greater odds of a common disorder?

The study concluded the breed is much less healthy than average.

Which Bulldog coat colour is listed in the breed description?

Red, fawn, white and brindle are the others.

Why can today's Bulldog no longer do the job it was bred for?

It also could not withstand being chased and tossed by a bull.

Handsome Dan XVI was briefly stolen at his first game against Yale's great rival in 2005 by whom?

It was payback for a Yale student stealing the Harvard flag and running it across the field.

Bulldogs were included in the first Kennel Club Stud Book, presented at which show in December 1874?

The Kennel Club itself had been founded on 4 April 1873.

In which year was the Bulldog Club of America formed?

England's Bulldog Club had been founded in 1878, three years after the still-surviving club that met at the Blue Post pub.

Which university's Bulldog mascot is named Bully?

Georgetown's is Jack and Butler's is Blue IV, alongside Georgia's Uga and Yale's Handsome Dan.

Displaced lace workers from which English city took Toy Bulldogs to Normandy, seeding the French Bulldog?

By 1860 few Toy Bulldogs were left in England, such was their popularity in France.

The French name Bouledogue is a contraction of 'boule' and 'dogue', meaning what?

Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec are thought to have painted French Bulldogs, which were prized by society ladies and prostitutes alike.

Which ear type did the French Bull Dog Club of America's first standard prefer?

It was a reaction to a Westminster judge who in 1897 chose only rose-eared winners, as in the English Bulldog standard.

By 1906 the French Bulldog ranked where among the most popular breeds in America?

Dogs changed hands for up to $3,000 and were owned by the Rockefellers and J. P. Morgans.

Which two men are credited with rescuing the American Bulldog from near-extinction after World War II?

Johnson scoured the back roads of the American South for the best surviving farm dogs.

By what name did the ancient Romans refer to bulldog-like dogs in Britain?

They are believed to be ancestors of the alaunt and, later, the bulldog.