The evolution of the French Bulldog Breed Standard – Part 1

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The breed standard is the written blue print of the breed. It is the master plan that instructs breeders on what their ultimate goals are to be, in terms of structure, when evaluating their own dogs or planning a breeding. It is also the guide which judges are to use when evaluating French Bulldogs at breed shows.

Often times, breeders treat the standard as if it is graven in stone – un changeable, and to be adhered to rigidly. This isn’t really true.

Standards are mutable, and change over time. What follows are three versions of the French Bulldog breed standard – one from 1901, one from 1923, and one from 2005.

Reading it closely, you’ll see the changes that occur over time to various aspects of the breed. In particular, pay attention to the sections on color. This is interesting to us today, as one of the reason often given for fighting against disallowed colors is that they aren’t ‘true’ to the standard – but which version of the standard are they untrue to? Should we adhere to what the originators of the breed sought in terms of consistency, or to the more modern versions?

Food for thought.

This will be posted in three parts, for the sake of brevity.

The French Bull Dog Breed Standard, 1901

General Appearance. — The general appearance of the French bulldog
should be that of an active, intelligent, muscular dog; smooth-coated,
compactly built and of small stature.
Head. — Large, si]nare and broad, craninm almost flat, jaws large,
powerful, deep, square, and undershot; the muscles of the cheek well
developed ; the face extremely short, broad and very deep. Stop strongly
defined, causing a hollow or groove between the eyes, and extending well
up the forehead.
Eyes. — Wide apart, set low in skull, as far from the ears as possible,
round, of moderate size, neither sunken nor bulging, and very dark. No
haw and no white of eye should be visible when looking forward.
Nose, etc. — Muzzle, nose and lips should be black. The lips thick,
and nose deep, and nostrils broad. Neck short, thick and well arched.

Ears. — Ears bat ears, large in size, broad at base, well elongated, with
rounded top, set high on head, but not too close, yet carried erect, with
orifice plainly visible when seen from the front.

Body. — Short, well rounded, well let down between shoulders and fore-legs, chest deep, broad, full, well-ribbed, with belly well tucked up. Back short, strong, broad at shoulders and narrowing at loins. Fore-legs short, stout, straight, and muscular, set wide apart ; hind-legs longer than fore-legs so as to elevate the loins above the shoulders. Feet compact and
firmly set, turning slightly outward. Toes compact, with high knuckles and
short nails. The tail can be either straight or screwed (not curl), short,
hung low, downward carriage, thick root and fine tip. Preference given to
short, straight tail.
Color. — Uniform, pure of its kind, and brilliant; preference given to
dark brindle, dark brindle and white ; all other brindles, all other colors.
Skin soft and loose, especially at head, forming wrinkles.
Coat. — Moderately fine, short and smooth.
Disqualifications. — Docked tails, mutilated, and other than bat ears are
disqualifying.
SCALE OF POINTS.
General appearance 15
Skull 15
Eyes 5
Muzzle 5
Ears 10 Neck 5 Body 15 Legs and feet 10 Tail 10 Color, skin and coat 10
Total 100

French Bulldog Breed Standard, 1923

The following is the description of the breed as approved by the French Bulldog Club of America:

GENERAL APPEARANCE. — The French Bulldog should have the appearance of an active, intelligent, muscular dog, of heavy bone, smooth coat, compactly built, and of medium or small stature.

PROPORTION AND SYMMETRY. — The points should be well distributed and bear good relation one to the other, no feature being in such prominence from either excess or lack of quality that the animal appears deformed or ill proportioned.

INFLUENCE OF SEX.— In comparison of specimens of different sex, due allowance should be made in favor of the bitches, which do not bear the characteristics of the breed to the same marked degree as do the dogs.

WEIGHT. — A lightweight class under 22 pounds; heavyweight class, 22 pounds, and not over 28 pounds.

HEAD. — The head should be large, square, and broad, cranium almost flat; the underjaw large and powerful, deep, square, broad, undershot, and well turned up. The muzzle should be well laid back and the muscles of the cheeks well developed. The stop should be strongly defined, causing a hollow or groove between the eyes and extending up in the forehead. The nose should be extremely short, broad, and very deep; nostrils broad and black, with well-defined line between them. (Dish-face undesirable.) The nose and flews should be black. The flews should be thick, broad, pendant, and very deep, hanging over the lower jaw at sides. Tusks must not show. Front teeth may show slightly.
EYES. — The eyes should be wide apart, set low down in the skull, as far from the ears as possible,
round in form, of moderate size, neither sunken nor bulging, and in color dark. No haw and no white of the eye showing when looking forward.
NECK. — The neck should be thick and well arched, with loose skin at throat.

EARS. — The ears shall hereafter be known as the bat ear, broad at the base, elongated, with round top, set high in the head, but not too close together, and carried erect, with the orifice to the front. The leather of the ear fine and soft.
BODY. — The body should be short and well rounded. The chest broad, deep, and full, well ribbed, with the belly tucked up. The back should be a roach back, with a slight fall close behind the shoulders. It should be strong and short, broad at the shoulders and narrowing at the loins.
LEGS. — The forelegs should be short, stout, straight, and muscular, set wide apart. The hind-
legs should be strong and muscular, longer than the forelegs, so as to elevate the loins above the shoulders. Hocks well let down.
FEET. — The feet should be moderate in size, compact, and firmly set. Toes compact, well split up, with high knuckles, and short, stubby nails; hind- feet slightly longer than forefeet.

TAIL. — The tail should be either straight or screwed (but not curly), short, hung low, thick root and fine tip, carried low in repose.
COLOR, SKIN, AND COAT. — Acceptable colors are: All brindle (dark preferred) and any color except the following, which constitute disqualification: Solid black, black and white, black and tan, liver and mouse color. (Black as used in the standard means black without any trace of brindle.) The skin should be soft and loose, especially at head and shoulders, forming wrinkles. Coat moderately fine, brilliant, short and smooth.

Disqualification. — Other than bat ears, any mutilation, solid black, black and white, black and tan, liver and mouse color, eyes of different color, nose other than black, and hare lip.

VALUE OF POINTS. —

Proportion and symmetry, 5;
expression, 5; gait, 4; color, 4; coat, 2; skull, 6;
cheeks and chops, 2; stop, 5; ears, 8; eyes, 4; wrinkles,
4; nose, 3; jaws, 6; teeth, 2; shoulders, 5; back,
5; neck, 4; chest, 3; ribs, 4; brisket, 3; belly, 2;
forelegs, 4; hindlegs, 3; feet, 3; tail, 4.

Total, 100

French Bulldogs at Stud in the 1920s

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The common method of offering your French Bulldog at stud in the 1920’s was to place a ‘kennel card’ advertisement in one of the popular show dog magazines of the day. The ad would tout his accomplishments, mention his numerous champion get, and generally state his stud fee, which seemed to vary between $7 and $25 dollars. Bitches were generally shipped in by train, if they were not local.

Now, French Bulldogs offered at stud are handled much, much differently. Owners generally place an ad in one of the popular French Bulldog breed magazines. The ad touts the dog’s show accomplishments, mentions his numerous champion get, and states he’s available to ‘approved bitches’. OK, maybe not so different, but at least stud fee isn’t usually mentioned in print any longer. This is probably a good thing, since they can now vary from $850 to $2500, with bitches staying put at home, and the stud dog’s semen being flown to the bitch via courier.

Here are some kennel card ads from the 1920’s – click to view full sized. The ad for Never Never Land Kennels appeared in, of all places, the Yale Newspaper.

More on Les Moujiks, Yves Saint Laurent's Very Fashionable French Bulldogs

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Yves Saint Laurent French Bulldog Moujik Andy Warhol PosterAs mentioned in my last blog, Yves Saint Laurent’s Moujik (each Moujik, that is) was a tres fashionable Bouldogue Francais.

Moujik II was the subject of the final portrait painted by Andy Warhol – the only dog ever immortalized by the famous pop artist.

Each year, Saint Laurent issued a of small Season’s Greetings posters. The posters, entitled “Love” and then the year of issue, were intended as gifts for close friends.

In 1991, Saint Laurent’s “Love” poster featured the Warhol painted portraits of Moujik.

Copies of the poster can be found from time to time on eBay, and at live auctions.

With the recent death of Yves Saint Laurent, they can only be imagined to raise in value significantly…

Here’s the auction copy for the poster pictured, which sold for $1800 on eBay in May of this year:

Description:

ANDY WARHOL & YVES SAINT LAURENT.LOVE. 1991.

24×15 inches, 61×38 cm.

For over twenty years Yves Saint Laurent designed small season’s greeting posters entitled “Love.” Generally they were pop art images with a heart appearing as the central motif (see Swann Modernist Poster Auction #1897, lot 114). His 1991 image is very special, as it represents one of Saint Laurent’s true loves, his dog Moujik. Using four images of his pet painted by Andy Warhol, Saint Laurent arranges them against a bright yellow background. The charming, handwritten text reads, “He is Moujik, my dog, painted by Andy Warhol, I am Yves Saint Laurent.”

Yves Saint Laurent French Bulldog Moujik T ShirtIf a Moujik poster is out of your price range, you might be able to find one of the limited edition “Moujik” t shirts that Saint Laurent designed for French Children’s charity D.E.M.

Saint Laurent joined designers Sonia Rykiel, Lolita Lempicka, Barbara Bui, Emanuel Ungaro, Christian Lacroix and others in designing fashionable, 19,90 € t shirts, which were sold at a special sale that ran from June 18th to 19th in 2007.

Now that I think about it, the t shirts just might be as scarce as the posters, and possibly more expensive!

A google search, eBay search and just about every other search I know of failed to turn up a single one, either for sale now or in the past. Apparently those who own them, plan to keep them – and who can blame them?

Free roaming strays beat building new shelter

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This just in from Arkansas, where the Helena West animal shelter director has decided that letting his city’s strays run free in the National Forest beats more complicated measures, such as caring for them or trying to arrange for them to be adopted out

Ark. city releases shelter dogs into forest

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Unable and unwilling to keep abandoned dogs in a dilapidated shelter, the city of Helena-West Helena is taking strays to a national forest and leaving them on the side of the road.

“They are better off free,” Mayor James Valley said Thursday. “Pardon the pun, but it was just something that was dogging us. So it would be easier for us until we get a facility and have a plan that we just not be in the animal shelter business.”

But the St. Francis National Forest isn’t in the animal shelter business, either.

“In the code, it is illegal to release animals, livestock or abandoned personal property on national forest land,” spokeswoman Tracy Farley said.

Valley said the city’s animal shelter was so run down that a regional humane society worker cut its locks last winter and released all the dogs. The city then temporarily moved its shelter to four uncovered pens at the city sanitation department.

After people complained the animals were still not properly cared for, the mayor decided the animals would be better off in the forest. The city street director on Wednesday took about 10 dogs to the forest after feeding and watering them. About three dogs were kept to be put down by a veterinarian, Valley said.

He said the city would need $50,000 to $60,000 to open a new animal shelter — and also must enforce existing animal-control laws.

“We have a leash law that we’ve been trying to work our way into enforcing. It’s been so lax,” the mayor said. “People are not buying leashes or tags for the animals. We could literally pick up every other dog in the city.”

If animal-control officers get a call now, “they’re going to pick the dog up and probably just take them to the other side of town,” Valley said. “And it’s going to be someone else’s problem. … or maybe they will take them to the forest.”

You’d like to believe this is just a joke, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, here’s a video clip just to back up how surreal-ly real this story is.

Art for the Masses – and the Frenchie Lovers, too

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Is there a space on your wall that is just crying out for some art? If so, and you’re in New York (or willing to travel there), pop on over to The Affordable Art Fair , at The Metropolitan Pavilion.

Mixed in with the Alice In Wonderland inspired prints, tiny hand colored photographs, and quirky statuary, you can find some more unusual and unique pieces to bring home, for fairly reasonable prices.

For price unknown, you can light up your loft with a chandelier, lovingly created from tampons, fake nails, hairbrushes and other odds and ends. It’s sure to give an atmospheric glow to even the stodgiest of dinner parties.

If you’re like me, you prefer your art, like all else in your life, to be French Bulldog themed. Does this mean there’s nothing for us at the Affordable Art Fair?

Absolutely not!

For just $4500, you can nab a nine inch high bas relief, mixed media French Bulldog (esque) sculpture, created from lace, buttons, cloth and sequins.

Artist Donya Coward does custom orders, too.

I’m not sure if you can custom order the chandeliers, but if you just don’t have space for a new lighting fixture, you can adorn yourself with artist Vadis Tuner’s birth control necklace.

The Affordable Art Fair at The Altman Building and The Metropolitan Pavilion, 135 W. 18 St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.) June 12-15 from noon – 9 on Thurs., noon – 8 Fri. and Sat., noon – 5 Sun.

For a list of galleries go to www.aafnyc.com