The Origin Of French Bulldogs
Learn all about the origins of French Bulldogs
Want to learn more about the origins of French Bulldogs?
Well, you've come to the right place. French Bulldogs or “Frenchies” are known to be incredibly loving and sweet-natured pets that will make you fall in love with them. They are social dogs that crave attention, companionship, and love to please their owners. They are often very child-like in their behaviors and have even been known to go sulk when they've been reprimanded.
French Bulldogs make for an excellent companion breed and are often selected to be therapy dogs. They are easily able to adapt their level of activity with the needs of their owners. They are perfect apartment dogs due to their small size and have a friendly and playful temperament, which means they get on exceptionally well with children and the elderly. As any French Bulldog owner will tell you, you’ll soon end up caring for them much more than you’d ever expect.
The History of French Bulldogs
The French bulldog was originally bred from the British Bulldogs in the early 1800’s by bulldog enthusiasts who were seeking to breed a miniature bulldog (weighing about 10lbs). By the 1860s these small “Toy Bulldogs” were starting to appear in competitions and were becoming popular amongst textile workers who specialized in sewing, weaving and lace making.
With the emergence of the Industrial Revolution in England, many textile workers were out of work and forced to relocate to textile factories in France that had not yet been revolutionized by machinery and of course the textile workers took their “Toy Bulldogs” with them.
Soon the tiny bulldogs were becoming popular amongst the working class in Paris. As French fanciers started to take an interest in them, they started to breed out some of the exaggerated featured that the Toy Bulldogs inherited from the British Bulldog such as the pronounced underbite, the spinal dip, bowed front legs and the saggy jowls.
The French fanciers aimed to breed a dog with a flatter face and softer features so these Toy Bulldogs were crossed with Pugs and French Terriers. This led to the Toy Bulldogs regaining their size and filling out a more muscular appearance. The British Bulldog’s floppy ears were also bred out in favor of upright and alert ears, which gave the dog a more comical demeanor.
This new look started to become popular with the wealthy and even royalty (Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and King Edward VII of England kept French Bulldogs by their side). Soon, the first French Bulldog Club was formed in the 1880s. It was around this time that traveling Americans fell in love with the French Bulldog and started to import them and with that, the French Bull Dog Club of America was formed in 1897. By 1907, American French Bulldog Breeders started to emerge and they soon started to perfect the French Bulldog’s erect ears that see today. The new look French Bulldogs soon started to achieve international popularity and funnily enough, were even imported back into Britain. Although in the period after World War I, the French Bulldogs started to decline in popularity and became rarer and rarer. It wasn’t until after the 1980s that the French Bulldog made its recovery in popularity, due in part to their ability to adapt to urban life and adorable look.
In the present time, the French Bulldog is again on the rise in popularity, as you just take one look on Instagram and there’s a very good chance that you are going to be bombarded with endless pictures of French Bulldogs.
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