The Bulldog Proper©

aka Alaunt de Boucherie, Alano, Shepherds' Mastiff

The information provided below is concerning the English Bulldog Proper, the Alaunt of the Butchers. see Alaunt

English Shepherds' Mastiffs, i.e. butcher's alaunts. "Our Mastiffs, especially the ones we call Bulldogs, are of unmatchable courage." Guy Miege 1707

Above are two images of the Bulldog Proper, demonstrating not only the physical type, but the working traits of the Bulldog Proper as well. In the first picture, the two White Alaunts display the exact working temperament and character of the WEB. Notice that neither dog has caught the bull, nor do they even have their mouths open ready for a bite. Instead, both await their masters command. The dog running along beside the bull is looking back over his shoulder and directly up at his master's face, awaiting instructions, as opposed to rushing in and blindly biting at the bull. In the second scene we see a group of five bulldogs chasing after a runaway bull. (This is why the BP was long legged).  A small farmhouse is in the background, surrounded by what looks to be a six foot fence, which one dog has easily jumped over. One is tossed, another trampled, while the other two run along beside the bull. These bulldogs are working together without aggression towards each other not trying to kill the bull, only to seize it. This is not a bait nor a bull-running, rather a scene of everyday life. Notice the types of the dogs in both images. They are identical, having long legs, capable of covering much ground with one leap; a flat, rectangular skull and square muzzle, their color being white with very little if any color. This is the Bulldog Proper in both form and function.  "It is fair to surmise that the dog would need to be a middle weight and not a full mastiff, nor a light terrier type dog. For bull-baiting in the middle ages and after, taking place in a fixed arena, a bulldog would not require the stamina or fleet-footedness of the dogs used in the earlier bull running, and the greater emphasis fell on developing a dog that was less leggy and more powerful."  The Story of the Real Bulldog 

The Bulldog is commonly thought to derive from the dogs of the bull baiting days in England. What most do not realize is that the baiting type bulldog "portrays another chapter in the evolution of the breed." The New Bulldog Col. Bailey C. Hanes pg.13.  The Bulldog indeed predates this baiting type bulldog. It was developed in England from the Alaunt of the Butchery, (the Mastiff/Bulldog type Alaunt), and used as a livestock dog and property guardian. This original bulldog was the Bulldog Proper. The Bulldog Proper was also employed by butcher's in guarding, moving, separating, and holding the cattle in the butcher's care. These dogs were not the highly animal and dog aggressive bulldogs that the bull-baiting dog was. The bulldog proper was a calm, even tempered dog, of great intelligence. It could think for itself, assessing situations, yet it relied upon it's master for instruction. It became a ferocious beast able to control two thousand pound animals with one command from it's master, yet could transform back into a family pet with another command. (This was an inherent ability of the Bulldog Proper; it required little to no training at all.) It was a dog of the greatest determination and grit, lacking in any fear, and with an inordinately high threshold for pain. The Bulldog Proper was significantly lacking in animal aggression, working well with other dogs and livestock. It's actions were slow and smooth, calm and deliberate; calculating; yet possessing of lightning speed and agility when necessary. When approaching the bull, the BP crept in upon it's belly in cat-like fashion, to stay below  the reach of the bulls horns. "The original bull-baiting at Tutbury is thus described by John Houghton "This dog, if right, will creep upon his belly that he may, if possible, get the bull by the nose." The New Bulldog  Col. Bailey C. Hanes  pg. 8.  (This was in the very beginning of bull-baiting before the pit bulldog had been developed, when the Bulldog Proper was being used in the bait. As is described and seen in many images of bull-baiting in the middle to later part of the era, the dogs were restrained before being "loosed" upon the bull; whereas the BP sat beside it's master waiting for his command to seize the bull.)  The BP conserved it's energy in much the same way as do lions; sleeping when not at work for his master, though never letting it's guard down. It was a superior watchdog, showing little to no threat display, "The Bulldog seldom barked; some were known never to bark or scarcely even to growl or utter any kind of sound."  The New Bulldog  Col. Bailey C. Hanes.  The BP would wait until the moment was right for the attack, whether it be a bull or an intruder on his master's property; when it would strike in complete silence, with astonishing speed and force, taking it's target by surprise and holding on until either his master's command to release or until his death.  It was a large Mastiff type dog on tall, muscular legs, (the BP required long legs for chasing down livestock, rounding them up from large pastures, and herding them into stockyards), a large, flat head with a truncated muzzle, and the body of which more resembled a Great Dane than that of the bull-baiting dogs.  "By the 1700's there were two primary bull baiting dogs that had developed. This was the Blue Poll/Paul of Scotland and the Alunt from Ireland, both of which were referred to as bulldogs.  The Alunt of the time resembled something closer to a Great Dane but is presumed to have later developed into the Alano of Spain." American Pit Bull Registry  Remember that the Alaunt had been in Britain for centuries. The Alaunt was bred and formed by the Alani tribes, the nomads of Indo-European Sarmatian ancestry who were related to the Sarmatian and spoke a Into-Iranian language. The "Alunt from Ireland" refers to where the Alaunt was most prolific at the time, not the place of it's origin.  "Around 400 A.D. a second strain of very tough Mastiffs with white coats known as Alaunts found their way to England. The Alaunt was also developed by English butchers and farmers into Bulldogs. The defining characteristic between a Mastiff and a true Bulldog is that the latter has the so called lock jaw grip. Unlike any other breed of dog at that time a true working Bulldog had the ability to catch a large herbivore (such as a bull, horse or pig) on the nose, cheek or ear and hang on no matter how hard the big beast struggled. When the Bulldog's opponent submits he is either held immobile or the dog physically drags it backwards to the dog's master where it can be slaughtered or put into a holding pen." Dave Putnam  This is the work of a livestock dog. These abilities can easily be put to use in other functions including baiting and hunting, though it was never the original function of the bulldog proper.

Above: Details of the larger images above, comparing the head type of the Bulldog Proper to the head type of the WEB.

The picture to the right is from The New Bulldog by Bailey C. Hanes. It shows the differences not only between the Bulldog Proper and Pit Bulldog as far as form, but in function as well. The caption under the first image reads, "Bull-baiting probably got it's start in England from the butcher's dogs' attempts at restraining livestock. Over the years and until it was abolished, bull-baiting became more familiarized and a number of variations of the basic idea were developed." The second caption reads; "Bull-baiting - Reproduction of an oil painting by Charles Towne 1880."  It is simply titled Bull baiting, while the top image portrays and describes butcher's dogs, (Bulldog Proper), "restraining livestock."

• Fact: The Alaunt was developed by butchers and farmers into the Bulldog Proper; a livestock dog.

• Fact: The Bulldog Proper predates the baiting type bulldog. 

• Fact:  The Bulldog Proper was a superior watchdog, showing very little or no threat display.

• Fact: The Bulldog Proper more resembled a Great Dane than that of the bull-baiting dogs.

• Fact: The Bulldog Proper looked to it's master for instruction.

• Fact: Livestock handling abilities could/can easily be put to use in other functions.

• Fact: Butcher's first began the practice of bull-running and then bull-baiting with the Bulldog Proper.

The Shepherds' Mastiff / Bulldog Proper is where the WEB got it's name; it was a reference to this old dog of England given to the dogs by the English settlers here in the southeast. The dogs they saw here were of Spanish descent and not English though, brought and developed by the Spanish; as Spain had their own version of the Shepherds' Mastiff / Bulldog Proper; it was the Alano.

In Spain and England, this type of dog existed in one form, yet varying in coat color; a brindle form and a white form. The brindle form was typically a more aggressive and dominant dog, much more suited to man work than stock work, though this was not a rule, there were exceptions either way. Today in Spain there still exists a white Alano and an Alano of color, usually brindle. In the southeastern US, there still exists a white form and a brindle form, known as the brindle bulldog. This brindle bulldog holds true to the typical character of the brindle form and is usually more aggressive. "It is documented that in Molossus itself, large aggressive dogs were systematically bred, that these dogs were used pricipally to guard the herds, but that they were also superbly suited for use as war dogs. Apparently, in peacetime, the white dogs stayed with the large herds..."  Fighting Dog Breeds  Dr. Deiter Fleig

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