Adopt A Bulldog

The American Bulldog is one of the rare breeds that was developed in the United States.  Descended from the English Bulldog the American Bulldog has taken on a life of its own.  Its history starts back in England, but we covered that in another post already so now we talk about our unique dog.  In fact this dog was one of the last ones to be recognized by the AKC!

We pick up the story when the English bulldog arrived on the shores of American.  This dog arrived with working class people who settled in the South.  The bred did okay, but by the end of WWII it was almost extinct.

The men who saved the breed was John D. Johnson who was a war veteran.  He worked with another man called Alan Scott.  Together they tried to breed the dog to stay true to its working class routes and as an all around utility dog.

You see the early American bulldog in the south was used to chase feral or wild pigs.  To this day there are wild pigs that run throughout Florida and other southern states.

Johnson and Scott worked together only breeding the best specimens.

Eventually there was a split between them and hence we have two different types of American Bulldogs, the Soctt and Johnson type

Johnson Type

This dog is larger but with a shorter muzzle.

Scott Type

This dog is smaller but with a longer muzzle.

Nowadays almost all American bulldogs are a mix between these two types, so this distinction is falling out of favor.

Thanks to selective breeding this dog is the largest of the three different bulldogs (French and English).

This dog breed is increasing in popularity in the United States because of its unique appearance and agility.