This breed has a long history and plays many roles in now a day bulldog breeds.
Most Bulldogs breeds trace back to the Old English Bulldog. The Old English Bulldog was originated in England between 1600 and 1700. They were bred to participate in blood sports like bull baiting. This so called sport, became quite popular in England through out the middle of the 18th Century. Bull baiting primarily consisted of staking out a bull and allowing several Bulldogs to attack it. Around 1835, laws were passed in England prohibiting bull baiting and the Old English Bulldog main purpose of existence vanished.
Within a decade the numbers of bulldogs declined drastically almost to extinction. Dog show fanciers eventually decided to reconstruct the breed, but wanted to tone down the aggressive temperament of the original Old English Bulldog. They crossed the remnants of the existing stock with other breeds and over the years that followed they developed the modern English Bulldog. Unfortunately though, this modern dog is wrought with all kinds of genetic health problems.
The modern Olde English Bulldogge is a reconstruction of the original Old English Bulldog of the 17th and 18th centuries. Various genetic crosses have been used in carefully and thoughtfully planned breeding programs to obtain this goal.The foundation of most of today's Olde English Bulldogges can be traced to English Bulldog, American Bulldog, APBT and Mastiff. These various dog breeds were used very selectively in various combinations to obtain the desired physical traits of the original Old English Bulldog.
The result has been a good looking Bulldogge of great athletic ability that is much healthier and physically fit without most or all of the problems that plague many of today's modern English Bulldogs.The goal of all Olde English Bulldogge breeders should be to produce genetically healthier Bulldogges that are free breathers, free breeders, and free whelpers.
