The commencement of the dog-show era in 1859 enabled classes to be provided for Bulldogs, and a fresh incentive to breed them was offered to the dog fancier. In certain districts of the country, notably in London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, and Dudley, a number of fanciers resided, and it is to their efforts that we are indebted for the varied specimens of the breed that are to be seen at the present time.
In forming a judgment of a Bulldog the general appearance is of most importance, as the various points of the dog should be symmetrical and well balanced, no one point being in excess of the others so as to destroy the impression of determination, strength, and activity which is conveyed by the typical specimen. His body should be thickset, rather low in stature, but broad, powerful, and compact. The head should be strikingly massive and large in proportion to the dog's size. It cannot be too large so long as it is square; that is, it must not be wider than it is deep. The larger the head in circumference, caused by the prominent cheeks, the greater the quantity of muscle to hold the jaws together. The head should be of great depth from the occiput to the base of the lower jaw, and should not in any way be wedge-shaped, dome-shaped, or peaked. In circumference the skull should measure in front of the ears at least the height of the dog at the shoulders. The cheeks should be well rounded, extend sideways beyond the eyes, and be well furnished with muscle. Length of skull—that is, the distance between the eye and the ear—is very desirable. The forehead should be flat, and the skin upon it and about the head very loose, hanging in large wrinkles. The temples, or frontal bones, should be very prominent, broad, square and high, causing a wide and deep groove known as the "stop" between the eyes, and should extend up the middle of the forehead, dividing the head vertically, being traceable at the top of the skull. The expression "well broken up" is used where this stop and furrow are well marked, and if there is the attendant looseness of skin the animal's expression is well finished.
The face, when measured from the front of the cheek-bone to the nose, should be short, and its skin should be deeply and closely wrinkled. Excessive shortness of face is not natural, and can only be obtained by the sacrifice of the "chop." Such shortness of face makes the dog appear smaller in head and less formidable than he otherwise would be. Formerly this shortness of face was artificially obtained by the use of the "jack," an atrocious form of torture, by which an iron instrument was used to force back the face by means of thumbscrews. The nose should be rough, large, broad, and black, and this colour should extend to the lower lip; its top should be deeply set back, almost between the eyes. The distance from the inner corner of the eye to the extreme tip of the nose should not be greater than the length from the tip of the nose to the edge of the under lip. The nostrils should be large and wide, with a well-defined straight line visible between them. The largeness of nostril, which is a very desirable property, is possessed by few of the recent prize-winners.
When viewed in profile the tip of the nose should touch an imaginary line drawn from the extremity of the lower jaw to the top of the centre of the skull. This angle of the nose and face is known as the lay-back, and can only properly be ascertained by viewing the dog from the side.
The inclination backward of the nose allows a free passage of the air into the nostrils whilst the dog is holding his quarry. It is apparent that if the mouth did not project beyond the nose, the nostrils would be flat against the part to which the dog was fixed, and breathing would then be stopped.
The upper lip, called the "chop," or flews, should be thick, broad, pendant and very deep, hanging completely over the lower jaw at the sides, but only just joining the under lip in front, yet covering the teeth completely. The amount of "cushion" which a dog may have is dependent upon the thickness of the flews. The lips should not be pendulous.
The upper jaw should be broad, massive, and square, the tusks being wide apart, whilst the lower jaw, being turned upwards, should project in front of the upper. The teeth should be large and strong, and the six small teeth between the tusks should be in an even row. The upper jaw cannot be too broad between the tusks. If the upper and lower jaws are level, and the muzzle is not turned upwards the dog is said to be "down-faced," whilst if the underjaw is not undershot he is said to be "froggy." A "wry-faced" dog is one having the lower jaw twisted, and this deformity so detracts from the general appearance of the dog as seriously to handicap him in the show-ring.
The underjaw projects beyond the upper in order to allow the dog, when running directly to the front, to grasp the bull, and, when fixed, to give him a firmer hold. The eyes, seen from the front, should be situated low down in the skull, as far from the ears, the nose, and each other as possible, but quite in front of the forehead, so long as their corners are in a straight line at right angles with the stop, and in front of the forehead. They should be a little above the level of the base of the nasal bone, and should be quite round in shape, of moderate size, neither sunken nor prominent, and be as black in colour as possible—almost, if not quite, black, showing no white when looking directly to the front.
A good deal of a Bulldog's appearance depends on the quality, shape, and carriage of his ears. They should be small and thin, and set high on the head; that is, the front inner edge of each ear should, as viewed from the front, join the outline of the skull at the top corner of such outline, so as to place them as wide apart, as high, and as far from the eyes as possible. The shape should be that which is known as "rose," in which the ear folds inward at the back, the upper or front edge curving over outwards and backwards, showing part of the inside of the burr. If the ears are placed low on the skull they give an appleheaded appearance to the dog. If the ear falls in front, hiding the interior, as is the case with a Fox-terrier, it is said to "button," and this type is highly objectionable. Unfortunately, within the last few years the "button" and "semi-tulip" ear have been rather prevalent amongst the specimens on the show bench.
If the ear is carried erect it is known as a "tulip" ear, and this form also is objectionable. Nevertheless at the beginning of the nineteenth century two out of every three dogs possessed ears of this description.