The Vanguard Bulldog

                                  CWE Pit Bulldog throwback 1994         English Pit Bulldog 19th century                 Vanguard Bulldog pup

A Bit of History

The English Butcher's Alaunt / Bulldog Proper, also known as the Shepherds' Mastiff, was an ancient breed type directly descended from the Indo-Iranian nomad's cattle and war dogs that were brought into western Europe. This ancient type served in it's traditional function throughout much of Europe for centuries, however, by the time of the first English arrival in America, it had been bred out of existence in nearly all areas, including England, due to crossbreeding for alternate functions.  Today, only two known breeds can claim this ancient phenotype as well as genotype and that still serve according to their original purpose, that of a guardian of cattle and man. These include the Spanish Alano as registered by SEFCA and the Carr White English Bulldog as registered by the WEBPS. We do not claim that these two breeds are THE SAME breed as the ancient alaunt, only that they are the best modern representatives in all respects.

The English Butcher's Alaunt was modified through cross-breeding to produce a type much better suited for bull-baiting. This sport required a dog lower on leg, shorter through the back and possessing of a much higher prey drive and tenacity than the rangier built farm and butcher's alaunt. This was achieved by the crossing of various terrier breeds to the butcher's type and later the infusion of the Pug blood. This baiting type bulldog was referred to as pit bulldog, or bull terrier, in reference to the terrier infusions. From the baiting dogs came various new types that eventually became separate breeds, such as the Staffy, APBT, Boston Terriers, American Bulldogs, and others, and including the EB.

The first standard for the English Bulldog was written in London in 1865, several years after the dogs began being shown in the show ring, and was deemed the Philo-Kuon standard. It was based on the renowned 'Rosa', a traditional pit bulldog dating to 1817, that was bred for function, long before the advent of the show ring. This standard was written by enthusiasts in an effort to preserve the baiting type bulldog as it existed prior to the show ring, as within a few years of being shown, the bulldog had already begun to deteriorate from it's baiting form. Some of the earliest bulldogs to enter the show ring were splay-footed and showed enough modification in type to spur the writing of the Philo-Kuon standard in hopes that it would preserve the pre-show ring type. With the outlawing of baiting, some post-baiting type enthusiasts set out to distance the breed from the stigma of the blood sports by denying this standard and continued to modify the baiting dog into a smaller ladies companion dog. There has been and remains much debate as to the infusion of the Pug to achieve this. During the late 19th century, two sides of the debate arose, the Philo-Kuon supporters and those supporting the new smaller companion type. Each accused the other of cross-breeding and claiming the other's type of impurity. In the end, the new companion type won favor as most wanted to simply forget their own bloody history of baiting dogs against animals. The 1865 Philo-Kuon standard was modified in 1876 and again in 1896 to allow for the modification of the dogs that were being produced and shown. By the beginning of the 20th century, the baiting type dogs were no more and the breed we know today as the English Bulldog was well on it's way to becoming what it is today, though these early specimens were much more functional and not nearly as exaggerated as today's English Bulldog, most today being bred simply for wrinkle and breadth of chest.

Degeneration of the bulldog

                  Rosa 1817                           Bell 1837                   Ch. King Dick 1861       Ch. Guido 1894                 'The Bulldog' 1930

As said before, much speculation and debate remains as to how this new companion type English Bulldog emerged. The first show champion, King Dick, (above center), shows an unmistakable influence of Pug, so much so, that he could easily be mistaken for a large Pug. It is our own belief that the baiting bulldog, or Philo-Kuon bulldog, was indeed crossed with the Pug, with more Pug infusions added until well into the 20th century. The baiting type, or pit bulldog, and the new type are so divergent in phenotype, genotype, and function, as to be considered completely separate breeds, that the claim, both then and now, that no Pug blood was infused is simply unrealistic and illogical. The genetic influence is overwhelmingly and unquestionably present, so that the modern EB more resembles the Pug in genotype and phenotype than it does the old breed that EB fanciers claim as it's 'only' ancestors!

Above left is the skull of a Pug beside the skull of an English Bulldog; the similarities are remarkable. The next image compares the skulls of the EB in 1890 to the skull of the EB in 1935. How can anyone claim that these two skulls belong to the same breed?! The degeneration of the breed from 1890 - 1935 is so extreme as to warrant the establishment of an entirely new breed that simply shares it's origins with the old Baiting / pit bulldog of England, just as several modern breeds do. The skull on the far right belongs to an APBT, which is nearly identical to the 1890 EB skull, which had much of the old functional type still visible in the breed. This is striking proof that the origins of the APBT belong to the baiting / pit bulldogs of England. It would be safe to say that the skulls of the first American 'Pit' Bulldogs such as Dick the Bruiser, had a skull closely resembling the old baiting / pit bulldog skull as well. The APBT and the American 'Pit' Bulldogs, as first registered by JDJ and Scott, have a phenotype and genotype much closer to the baiting bulldogs than the modern EB! "It is not historically correct to breed bulldogs, and certainly not mastiffs or bullmastiffs, with the truncated muzzle which has long been a feature of the Pug." Col. David Hancock Mastiffs, the Big Game Hunters  The round heads often seen in many modern bull breeds is an inaccurate representation of the bulldog proper, showing clear evidence of round-headed Pug genetics at work. The bulldog proper had and has a square or rectangular, flat head. 'It's head looks flat from the side, blunt when viewed from the front.' Aldrovandus 1637

Modern Recreations

Many breeders today have set out to recreate the English Bulldog as it existed during the 19th century, before the obvious infusion of Pug blood. There are various new breeds developed by fanciers in their efforts to achieve this goal, such as the Victorian Bulldog, Renaissance Bulldog, and Olde (English) Bulldog. We salute their efforts to correct what we believe to be dire mistakes made by early EB enthusiasts in their own efforts to produce a dog for fancy, based on a standard that had no bearing on or consideration of function or even viability. The modern EB, along with far too many modern breeds, has been corrupted by breeders making these same mistakes for the same reasons. Unfortunately, early EB breeders left little to nothing for those today, who are bold enough to attempt to correct the wrongs of past breeders, to work with. A selective back-breeding program of the EB we believe to be ineffectual, as the original type has long been decimated and is simply unobtainable through back-breeding. This is as hard of a concept to conceive and achieve as is the concept that the modern EB was selectively bred for and achieved from the Philo-Kuon bulldog alone. Then, as well as today, a cross MUST be made in order to achieve any success in such extreme modification of type.

Victorian Bulldog, Renaissance Bulldog, and Olde (English) Bulldog breeders have all chosen various breeds to cross into the modern EB to produce much healthier, athletic, functional, free breathing, natural breeding and natural whelping bulldogs that more resemble the EB before the obvious Pug infusion. It is a sad state the modern EB is in, as proven by these bold breeders' achievements, when their new breeds, the product of cross-breeding the EB with various other breeds, more resembles the dog in which EB fanciers claim as their breeds ancestors!! This is a very obvious and telling tale of past infusions into the old Philo-Kuon bulldog to produce what the EB has become today. What is the rationale of denying infusions of other breeds to produce a new type or even a new breed? All breeds are products of cross-breeding to achieve a desired type or function at some point. Tragically, it seems as though the symbol of English pride and heritage exists as it does today because people were ultimately ashamed of the breed's bloody history; and so, denied the breed to even exist as it once did by modifying it. To this day, the denial of that modification persists and fanciers continue to claim purity and the exact heritage that was the shame of the Victorians and what in-fact led to the old type's demise and even to the denial itself!? How ironic that the English symbol of pride emerged as a product of shame!!

The Program

The Vanguard Bulldog is the re-establishment of the bulldog as developed in England from the 15th - 18th, and very early 19th centuries.

This dog was the original 'Pit Bulldog'  as modified from the English Butcher's Alaunt for the sport of bull-baiting. The baiting bulldog / pit bulldog was the progenitor of the modern Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, Boston Terrier, American Bulldog, and including the English Bulldog, among others. Today the AB is the closet living descendant to the old baiting bulldogs of England with the APBT being a close contender. Lest we forget, the American Bulldog was originally registered as the "American Pit Bulldog."  While the AB and the APBT both sprang from the same source and are each close descendents of the old pit bulldogs of England, they are separate breeds today.  see White English Mastiffs and Pit Bulldog

Our concept and goal is much like that of the Victorian Bulldog, Renaissance Bulldog, and Olde (English) Bulldog breeders, but with a few changes. All of these new bulldogs have been developed by using the EB as a foundation breed for their programs. While these new bulldogs are far superior to the modern EB in every way, we believe they still do not completely describe the baiting dogs as depicted and described prior to 1850, being heavier in bone, muscle, and head, though much of their physique does indeed fit. We are taking the bulldog back to it's form before the Victorian era, before the Pug infusion, and long before their introduction to the show ring. We have implemented a back-breeding program on Dick the Bruiser, as he was the best modern example of the pit bulldogs of England prior to 1850. Our goal is to continue back-breeding using the Philo-Kuon standard as a guide. However, while we use the Philo-Kuon as a guide and foundation for the Vanguard, we have made some changes to the old standard concerning several aspects of the structure that serves no purpose in the Vanguard Bulldog, that was at one time deemed essential to bull-baiting. We are not breeding for a Victorian type or even the type of the first show competitors, rather we are breeding for the type displayed by Rosa, the model for the Philo-Kuon standard.

Ironically, we do not believe that the English Bulldog is the right breed to use in any percentage in reproducing it's own progenitors, quite simply because it is so far removed in form and function from those progenitors, having more genetic and physical similarities with the Pug. We've no reason to use a breed as a foundation for a rebuilding program that has nothing in common, genetically, physically, or in function, to the breed we are trying to recreate. 

                                               Left: Adult female Vanguard Bulldog               Center: Rosa                    Right: Adult female Vanguard Bulldog

The original foundation AB, Dick the Bruiser, was 75 pounds and his son Scott's Dixie-man was less than 70 pounds, both were used for family protection and guarding livestock, including fowl and cattle. The old drawing below right shows this same working temperament of the traditional pit bulldog as described by Johnson and Scott of the first American Pit Bulldogs, aka American Bulldog. The two photos below of a Vanguard pup also display this same working temperament of the traditional pit bulldog. The 'bulldog', (being a mastiff breed), and descriptive of a function rather than a breed, has always been used as a guardian of the farm and livestock, despite the blood-sports.

The Vanguard is bred to perform just as the baiting bulldog was, with the same athleticism, abilities, and determination, however, today baiting and fighting are illegal and we do not condone nor endorse this practice, rather, in rural settings, these dogs are used by farmers just as the first bull-baiting dogs and the original American Bulldogs were, i.e. JDJ Dick the Bruiser and Scott's Dixie-man. "Throwing a big bull that was one thing they were needed for, they also needed them for protection of the family and home. They were useful in killing wild predators or wild dogs that may be after any animal that you owned."  JDJ

Right; is a Vanguard at 6 months and 36 pounds. We are confident that our efforts will be successful and that we can produce a dog that most resembles the original baiting bulldogs of England prior to 1850. We want to produce a dog that will serve as excellent guardians for the family and or farm with a superb protection drive, active and highly athletic, free breathing dogs that require almost no upkeep. A breed that will be ideal for any living situation and will make an ideal apartment dog as we plan to keep them under 60 lbs. The adult Vanguard above measures 19" and weighs 45 lbs. 

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