The Vanguard Bulldog

"Thanks Ray & Heather for selling me this dog. I gave this pup "Riley"(aka the Cat due to his agility) to my niece as a family pet & guardian. Riley was house broken & crate trained in short order. He's instilled such confidence in my niece & her hubby that they have no issues at all with Riley being with their 3 mo. old infant or even occasionally sleeping near or with him.
This pup has instincts that I've never seen in any other dog & I own 4 other well bred bulldogs. A friend looking at a sheathed knife suddenly found Riley coming at him as he pulled the knife out & calming down as if nothing happened as he put the blade away.
Heather & Ray informed me this is a trait of their bulldogs. How does a dog know to do this? No training what so ever."  

Thanks Again, Gary

The following history of the bulldog of England is rather well written, although, I must point out, the 'Master of the Game', written in 1406 was practically a copy of the works of Gaston of France in 1387. Also, though the alaunts were introduced as early as 50 AD into England, the Alani settled in France and Spain after invading in 406 AD. By the Middle Ages, the English mastiffs aka Alaunt butchers were mainly of intercrossings of the French Alaunts. From 1556 to 1649, while Spain imported a number of these now English Alaunts to Spain and Cuba via the Canary Islands, England imported a number of Alanos of Spain, and the English Mastiffs were of Spanish Alano intercrossings. 

Separation of the baiting bulldog vs. the original cattle and war alaunt butchers was most clear in Germany around 1500 AD and known as the Bullenbeisser. Still, separation of breed type can be seen in England as the ancient Welsh Laws of 920 AD separate the battle dog from the gripping dog. While the alaunt butchers can grip and hold as bred for in blood-sports and big game hunting, the true nature is as dogs of war. 

The Alani were nomadic herdsmen of cattle that were of the Aryans who first appear in history of 2500BC, and had already domesticated the horse. The descendants of the Aryans include the people of India, Greece, Italy, and Albania, together with the Celtic, Germanic, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Russian or Slavic peoples. The development of mastiff proto-type most likely pre-dates the Aryans first appearance in history by several thousand years, and differs from the flock guards as cattle dogs used to catch, control, and ddefend herds of cattle rather than simply defend flocks of sheep.

The smaller size bulldog of England of 1686 - 1735 was due to early terrier crossings. It was from 1735 - 1835 the term Pit Bulldog arose due to the even higher intercrossings of terriers. It was also from1733 the importations of these bulldogs into Savannah, Georgia occurred. mainly by the English, as they prepared for war with the Spanish in Florida. 

Various phenotypes of bulldogs were prevalent of the time, due to various intercrossings of any breed to produce bull-baiting dogs. Thus, the so-called 'pure English Bulldog' is concocted romantic history, much like American Bulldogs of today. The foundation American Pit Bull Dog was JDJ Dick the Bruiser, who defended cattle and farm from packs of wild dogs and a man with a gun. DTB sired Alan Scott's Dixieman, who would heel as well as catch cattle, and like the bulldogs of England, would defend his farm.

Rosa, of Crib and Rosa of 1817, became the standard of perfection in the English Bulldog. However, Rosa did not reproduce true to type as shown by her son Crib. The Vanguard Bulldog is an attempt to re-create through back-breeding the standard of perfection.

more info on the Vanguard Bulldog

                                                                                        1817                                             2006

Rosie

Fancy