What a mug! No wonder the bulldog is so popular.
The New York Times published this article on bulldogs last week. Better late than never, as they say.
They really can be charming dogs, I admit. I know a whole bunch and do adore a number of them. It is also an inarguable fact that they make some of the most freakishly cute puppies on the face of the planet. But I nonetheless routinely caution against their acquisition, along with hoards of fellow dog trainers, for a multitude of reasons including heart, joint, and breathing problems, debilitating allergies, and short lifespans.
Examining the progress of the breed over the past century explains a lot. Below is an illustration from the NYT article depicting the evolution of the University of Georgia mascot “Uga”, followed by some photographs I found online.
A) Uga I, 1956-66. B) Uga III, 1972-81. C) Uga V, 1990-99. D) Uga VIII, 2010-11.
Original Yale mascot "Handsome Dan", 1889
Westminster Best in Show, 1913
Original Georgia mascot "Uga", 1956-1956
Westminster Best in Show, 1955
Handsome Dan XIV, descended from a top show champion, 1995
Uga VIII, dead at 2-yrs-old from lymphoma, 2011
Handsome Dan XVII, present
For a more in depth take on the NYT article, see this recent post at Pedigree Dogs Exposed.
5 comments
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November 27, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Viatecio
The original Handsome Dan looks very similar to what is now called the Leavitt Bulldog today, except maybe with a shorter muzzle and more upswing in the mandible.
And of course the Leavitt Bulldog, when you really get down to the nitty-gritty, resembles a Boxer/pit bull mix.
I still would just go for the original bulldog and get a pit bull, if my state weren’t such a twit about those dogs (and of course the bill to de-twit the state is still simmering in the Senate, right where it was back in June).
Have you perchance read the write-up as well as the comments left on Jemima’s blog about the article?
November 27, 2011 at 3:12 pm
ruthcrisler
Haven’t read those yet. I’ll have to check out her blog…
November 27, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Linda Kaim
So many other dogs suffer from the same dilemma. Found this while perusing the Pedigree Dogs Exposed Blog:
http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.com/
http://www.steynmere.com/ARTICLES1.html
There are more there. I cannot find the original comment on PDE that the link appeared in, so a H/T to the original poster, whomever they may be.
November 27, 2011 at 5:36 pm
H. Houlahan
Are the bulldogs structurally worse today than they were 20-30-40 years ago? It seems to be so, overall, though there were more extreme dogs decades ago, too.
Were they “okay” 20-30-40-100 years ago?
No. They were not okay then, either.
November 28, 2011 at 10:46 pm
ruthcrisler
Mainly agreed. But the real trick is to determine what equals “okay”. I would suggest starting with the ability to reproduce normally, then live beyond eight or ten years on average without surgery. That second condition would sadly NQ an awful lot of breeds.