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History Australian Bulldog
The start of the Australian Bulldog Adventure:
The Australian adventure did not start from any noble premise or lofty ideals, but evolved into that. In the very early 1990s the writer put a British Bulldog over her husband’s pig hunting bitch, - as she says, more from curiosity than any other altruistic motive and planned to put another British Bulldog over the progeny.
After owning two British Bulldogs who had major health problems and were never bred from, more serious motivations came to mind. The third British Bulldog she did use for breeding was put over not only the writer’s crossed bitches, but also went over a mixed breed bitch, Dish, owned and bred by another Queensland couple (Jag lines) and in the early years both lines used many of the same male foundation dogs. Only very people friendly mixed breed dogs were used.
A word here about the use of pig hunting dog bitches for anybody throwing their hands up in horror – keep in mind successful pig dogs ( pig dogs are mixed breed dogs incorporating all sorts of breeds used for the purpose of hunting feral pigs) are extremely healthy, if they are not able to work they are no good and will not be tolerated by pig dog breeders for work or breeding. They have to be able to run with other dogs and therefore any dogs prone to constantly fighting each other are not tolerated and they have to be extremely loyal to their owners. All valuable traits in anyone’s language.
A chapter of a book addressing Dave Leavitt’s Olde Bulldogge breeding program in the USA cemented the idea that a similar program could be introduced for Australia.
So began the evolution of the idea of an Australian bulldog along the lines of the overseas ventures to produce an instantly recogniseable bulldog with hopefully relatively few health problems. The first Register (kept and recorded by the writer) shows that the original Nobes lines are descended from the mixed breed bitches: Lady Chipolata (Wingara lines), Penny (Hamersley lines) and Soda (Ducat lines) and the original Jag lines all descended from one mixed breed bitch - Dish (Jag Dishlex).
The overall predominant breeds in the mixed breed bitches, aside from any British Bulldog blood, were boxer, mastiff and english bull terrier with smidgens of other breeds. Only male British Bulldogs were used to make the generational crossings at first. Using British Bulldog bitches was rejected because of their known whelping problems. The few mixed breed dogs used by the writer all had impeccable temperaments with adults and children alike. Other key non-British Bulldog male dogs used were Cash Donkey Tonk Eeyore and Kestels Tiger Boy. Later on other breeders introduced American Bulldog blood, of which the foremost would be Cauchi lines.
In April 1998 the “Aussie Bulldog” received national publicity via a television programme. The idea of a bulldog for Australia touched a cord with the Australian people. Demand continued to grow and as a ‘market’ for the dogs became evident, so too did the people trying to breed these dogs. To this day it is still a situation of ‘buyer beware’ and buyers are advised strongly to do their research and buy from reputable breeders of dogs with properly recognised lineage.
It became obvious fairly early that breeding too close to the British Bulldog, for instance 7/8 or 87.5% British Bulldog blood, was not a good idea as the dogs predominantly came up with the same problems, such as soft palate troubles, breathing problems, whelping problems etc. Likewise 5/8 or 62.5% British Bulldog blood threw too inconsistently with type ‘going out the window’. Percentage wise 75-81% or ¾ to13/16 British Bulldog blood gives the best result in health and consistency of type. There were, and are, of course exceptions to both these, but as a rule 13/16 British blood should be aimed for.
In October 2004 a group of enthusiasts believed that a properly constituted, accountable organization with democratically elected committee and financial membership encompassing enthusiasts of all lines of Australian Bulldogs, was essential if ever the breed was to be officially recognised by the Australian National Kennel Council and if the future of the breed was to be assured, and to this end The Australian Bulldog Society was formed. The club became officially Incorporated on 10th May 2005 with members being owners and breeders from all over Australia and overseas and registering all lines of this new breed.
Mrs Pip Nobes
STATEMENT BY ANGELO TROPEA
I, Angelo Tropea, being a witness to the events of the early years of the Origins of the Aussie/Australian Bulldog and personally knowing all the parties involved then and prior to said Origins, attest to the truth and accuracy of the Origins of the breed as set out above.
Angelo Tropea
British Bulldogs in Australia circa 1910
Courtesy Joan Bevitt