We do not believe, nor do we claim that the WEB is the dog brought by the Spanish, or the dog used by the Spanish in Florida in the form as the WEB exists today. What we do believe is that the WEB is descended from the stock brought mainly by the Spanish, (including, French, Italian, and English stock), into Florida.  see Geographic Comparison. We do not claim the CWE to be THE ALAUNT, rather, of the traditional alaunt butchers type, in both form and function. 

To claim that any breed of bulldog is pure and traceable in a pure form for more than a few centuries is futile and a perversion of the truth. Some may be purer than others, though none are pure past a few hundred years. Throughout history people have infused other breeds into the bulldog in efforts to create a dog more suited to their needs, whether those needs be blood sports, (fighting, hunting, etc.), farm dogs, (herding, guarding, etc.), or as pets. Mass infusion of other blood has left the history of bulldogs very convoluted and difficult to state as fact. If a breed can be traced through written documentation and with images that match the breed as it's exists today, only then one can claim purity of a breed, though only until the paper trail ends. It is at that point in history that the breed can be traced to, thus making a breed only as old as can be proven with hard evidence. Beyond this, any breed's history is purely speculation. We will trace the WEB with hard evidence as far back as we can prove. This evidence places the first ancestors of the WEB in Florida and South Georgia shortly after the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500's.

For a much better understanding of the history of the WEB and how it correlates with the Alano, please read the information provided on the pages here; Spanish alano history.  Reading this in it's entirety is a must for a complete picture of WEB history.    

It is important to understand that the English were not the first Europeans to explore or settle in the Americas. The romantic notion that the Pilgrims stepped off at Plymouth Rock with the ancestors of all modern bulldogs is an absolute myth. The English, (Pilgrims), first landed at what was to become Provincetown, on Cape Cod, on November 21, 1620, and were among the last of the Europeans to settle in the Americas. This is not to say that the English did not bring bulldogs in later years, they indeed did. But bulldogs were in this country long before the English ever set foot here. Columbus, an Italian born explorer and captain, sailing under the flag of Spain, "discovered" the new world in 1492, landing on the shores of San Salvador, (Bahamas). Prior to 1492 and Christopher Columbus' voyage to the Americas, Spain's only possession of any consequence outside Europe were the Canary Islands. By the mid-sixteenth century, (1550), however, Spain would control much of the Caribbean, large portions of the Americas and parts of Africa. However, he was not the first European to find North America either. The Vikings had come to the northern shores of North America hundreds of years earlier. Our country, America, is in fact named after the Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci. Columbus found the new world, but Vespucci was the man who recognized that it was indeed a new world.

When Ponce de Leon arrived in Florida in 1513, he brought with him weapons and dogs. (La Florida was comprised of nearly 1/3 of the United States by the mid 1500's). At that time Florida was vast and green with open pastureland. He returned in 1521 bringing horses and cattle with him.  The horses and cattle were the first to set foot on American soil. Florida was the only part of America to have cattle until 1624 when the Pilgrims brought them into what is now Massachusetts from England. The Spanish guns were the first ever to be seen by natives, and their dogs were the biggest, most ferocious dogs the natives had ever seen: Both the guns and the massive dogs instilled fear and awe in the imaginations of the local tribes. 

The dogs that led to the conquering of America.

The friar Bernardino de Sahagún refers testimony of Indians attacked by dogs, enormous, with ears cut off, eyes fierce yellow injected into blood, enormous mouths, tongues hanging and teeth as knives, wild as the devil and stained as jaguars. The description is an inevitable tone of admiration and fear, we should not forget that in the pre-Columbian era (prior to the arrival of the conquistadors) Indians had dogs small body size and often. Thus, indigenous people called the dogs of Spaniards a diabolical invention.

"For the purpose of hunting, he said, the Spaniards introduced pureblood greyhounds, beagles, retrievers, setters, pointers, spaniels, and whippets. The mastiffs, according to the Inca chronicler, was the last type of dog to be introduced and he claims it was used primarily as a watchdog. Some of these dogs were brought to devour Indians, others to guard the thousands of swine that accompanied the expedition. Mastiffs, Garcilaso explains, were greatly esteemed by owners of domestic cattle...these men, as a matter of pride, wished their herds to resemble those of their homeland."  Dogs of the Conquest

The Spanish dogs, having been trained and bred to tear out the bellies of their victims, (right), were used to attack and kill the natives. They were used in open battle and as weapons in the brutal murders of innocent men, women, and even children. These Spanish war dogs were of different types. One being a Spanish Alano, (left, picture A: a large Mastiff type dog on very long, muscular legs, and a broad, flat head with a long muzzle and powerful jaws and hound ears, with a ferocious nature and a known war dog), the second type being a Spanish Alano and original bulldog of England cross, (right, picture B; a large Mastiff type dog on tall muscular legs, a broad flat head, with a square muzzle, powerful jaws, some having a truncated muzzles and some having hound ears). In the picture above, B, and below right, C, both the Alano and Bulldog Alano cross can be clearly seen. The Spanish also brought with them an original type bulldog of England as a livestock dog for the cattle they imported into Florida, (below left, picture D: a large Mastiff type dog on tall, muscular legs, a large, flat head with a truncated muzzle, and the body of which more resembled a Great Dane than that of a "known" bulldog, and of a very placid nature with tremendous heart). Despite popular belief, these were the first bulldogs brought into the new world, those brought by the Spanish. (seen at left),  The English did not began bringing bulldogs into the Americas for another 140 years. It is important to understand that despite popular belief, the original type bulldog of England was not the stout, medium sized dog portrayed in the many images of bull-baiting bulldogs. (below right, picture E). These bull-baiting bulldogs were in fact cross breeds. The true function of the original bulldog was a farm dog and guard dog, not the commonly thought of fighting dog. The name itself, "bull-dog," was given the breed in antiquity because of it's uses as a cattle dog and it's superb abilities in handling bulls. It was these abilities that led people to began baiting bulls for sport. As the popularity of bull-baiting and pit fighting grew, the infusion of other blood into the bulldog became rampant, creating completely new breeds,  including the most often thought of  "bull-baiting bulldog and "pit bulldog," (below right, picture E).  It is the bull-baiting days in history that the majority of people believe the bulldog has it's origins, yet the bulldog in it's proper form far predates these blood sports,  not as a fighting dog but indeed that of a placid yet courageous farm dog. (see picture above left, picture D).

The Spanish crossed the original farm type bulldog, (Bulldog Proper), with their own war dog, (Alanos), in an attempt to better the Alano with the attributes of the bulldog. As well, "impressed by the appearance and performance of our Alanos, also called "bull-dogs" and "attack dogs" during the 17th century, the English, Germans and French imported them into their countries, as shown by writings of the period that refer to them as strains of Bulldog, (bull-dog), Bullenbeiszer (bull-gripper) y Bordeaux Dogo, respectively. These breeds gave rise to others in the said countries, such as the Boxer, Bullmastiff, Argentine Dogo, etc."  Modern Alano breeders acknowledge the fact that, "They were the dogs that accompanied the Spanish explorers (America)." see reference Spanish Alano history. This new Bulldog and Alano cross became invaluable to the Spanish in the Americas. They had a dog with all of the physical abilities of both the Bulldog and the Alano, the ferocity of the Alano, and most importantly, the heart of the bulldog. The Spanish continued breeding this new bulldog creating even tighter types; for example, this new bulldog, (Alano x bulldog cross), was bred back to the Alano as many times as necessary until the desired type was achieved and visa versa. It is this new bulldog that is the foundation of the WEB in America. The Alano was bred out of existence in Florida, yet remained in Spain and even in the Canary Islands.

After the conquest of the Americas, the Spanish began to colonize, raising crops, cattle, and families. This included all of the newly discovered Americas; Central and South America, Hispaniola, Cuba, and of course North America, which included most of the southeast, specifically Florida. La Florida, which included the southern part of Georgia, as well as the gulf coast down to the Mississippi River, was sold by Spain in 1819. It is in these areas we find WEB's, with the concentration bottlenecked in North Florida. These Spanish cattle ranchers of Florida came to be known as "The Cracker Cowboy."

The term "Cracker" is often misspoken or misunderstood by the majority of modern America. It is assumed to mean poor country folk or of a very low class. The true meaning of the term in Florida goes back to these first cattle ranchers. The Florida Cattleman's Association describes it well, stating, " Florida's old-time cowboys had a unique way of herding cattle. They used ten to twelve foot long whips made of braided leather. Snapping these whips in the air made a loud "crack." That sound brought stray cattle back into line fast and earned cowboys the nickname of "crackers." 

These cracker cowboys employed dogs in herding their cattle as well. It is the dogs, (specifically the bulldogs), of the Spanish conquest of Florida that they used because of their proven abilities with cattle and the tremendous heart they possessed. Again the Florida Cattleman's Association describes the early use of dogs by the Cracker Cowboys;  "Cracker Cowboys also counted on herd dogs to move cattle along a trail, Their tough dogs could help get a cow out of a marsh or work a hundred steers into a tidy group. Of those rough riders of Florida's first ranges, a good dog, a horse and whip were all the tools a true cracker needed."

The Spanish Crackers used their bulldogs as herders and protectors of their cattle and farms, in very much the same manner as the English with the original farm type bulldog. These bulldogs were all around hunters for all types of game in order to feed their masters as well as themselves, though it's primary function remained a farm dog, not a hunting dog. The ranchers had to employ their dogs in herding and guarding the cattle while driving them to the markets that were most often far from the rancher's homes. Due to the exportation of cattle in Central and North Florida, many bulldogs were sold or left behind after the long cattle drive. Two large Spanish cattle towns of the time in North Florida were Kissimmee and St. Augustine. This may explain why so many WEB's are found in North Florida and South Georgia. see Geographic Comparison.

Unfortunately, the breed is in a serious decline due to the development of new breeds, using the WEB as a foundation. The increasing growth in popularity of the American Bulldog, specifically the performance type AB, has nearly caused the WEB to be bred out of existence. 

The WEB is still used today in central Georgia, Florida, and Alabama as an all around farm dog. A courageous protector of livestock, including cattle, swine, and fowl, and a family guardian, they are prized for their innate abilities and intelligence and respected for their ferocious guarding instincts.

©All Right Reserved