The Great Book Of Bulldogs Bull Terrier and Molosser

CENTRAL ASIAN OVCHARKA

he Central Asian Ovcharka (CAO) is supposed to be the ancestor of all breeds. You can dispute about it, but it seems almost probably that the Tibetan Mastiff would be a descendant of the CAO and not his ancestor, as often believed. However, the possibility is high these dogs are being the direct descendants of the legendary Armenian Gampr and the Sage Kooche Dog from Afghanistan, with which they are related without any doubt. There is some general misunderstanding that the CAO is said to be older than 4000 years, but he is a relatively new Russian creation. The breeds building his basis are indeed older and really ancient; however the modern Central Asian Ovcharka has been formed only in the 20^th century. Before 1935, this breed was known by the name Turkish Shepherd and that because some Russians and western authors made no difference between Turkmenistan and the Turkey. As these dogs not only existed in one country, but could be found all over Eastern Europe and Asia, they officially were registered as Central Asian Ovcharka and from 1938 were shown on shows. Besides the Kavkaz Dog and the Youzhak the Central Asian Ovcharka is part of the famous troika, being recognized as Russian Shepherds.

Therefore the term “Central Asian Ovcharka” has been used for different shepherd breeds. However, the expression “Alabai” only applies to that breed being found in Turkmenistan and distinguishes from its other Asiatic relatives. Most of these breeds come from non-Russian regions of the former USSR. They are found in different types, varying sizes, coat, colors and character, always depending on their principal use in their native region. The Turkmen Alabai is the only one which already has an own standard and could be recognized as a breed in the future. Other countries, like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kirghizia, Afghanistan or Pakistan don’t show any interest for that, as for thousands of years their dogs have been bred for work and not for the show. Since the 1950’s breeders have tried to breed a homogenous type of the CAO, however it’s rather difficult as there are great differences in the various strains. The bloodlines from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are highest estimated, but even in these countries there only exists a rather small number of real pure bred dogs. Even if a dog has Turkmen or Uzbek ancestors in his pedigree, it doesn’t mean necessary that it really is an Alabai (Turkmenistan) or Sarkangik (Uzbekistan).

Alabai, owner Tasice, Ukraine (Photo Almaz Kennels, USA)

All CAO strains have a common appearance and quality of work. The Central Asian Volkodav (= wolf dog) is used for the fight and for guarding the cattle. Only those dogs acquiring a Champion title for fighting are used for breeding. The working dogs are tested in this way to secure that only those give the genes to the next generation, which have the necessary drive, stamina and power to face and kill a wolf. Depending on the bloodline and regional preferences there are only little differences in the appearance, but temperament and the potential of aggression can vary significantly. So called “native” dogs would differ totally from the show type, in the same way as the Russian military lines, being more aggressive than those CAO, being bred as companions for the family.

There exist minor differences of the head or in the size. This is the result from a selective breeding over centuries for special tasks in the respective region. And that’s the CAO – a working dog, be it they herd and guard the cattle, be it they hunt, coarse, fight or protect the property. These dogs are the ancestors of all working dogs, either directly, as for example with the Alaunt, or by their Greek and Roman descendants, which had been taken to the west by traders and had been used for creating many modern European breeds.

The Central Asian dogs are excellent watch dogs and good companions for people, living on farms. However, they are definitely not suited as a dog for an apartment. The Central Asian Ovcharka is not as protective and unfriendly to strangers as the Caucasian Ovcharka. Like his Caucasian cousin, he is a dog which thinks, calculates and does his work intuitively; he only acts as soon as he overlooks the situation.

Normally, ears and tail are cropped. The coat can vary from very short to longer. All colors are represented; most of the dogs either are white with darker markings or colored with white markings, of different size. In certain regions you can find black & tan, tricolor and even one-colored dogs, which are very estimated by some breed fanciers. The pure CAO wouldn’t have such high set ears and wouldn’t be so heavy built like the Caucasian Ovcharka. Good bones, muscular, with strong legs and a strong neck. The head is broad, with a moderate broad muzzle and a strong jaw. Dark pigmentation, the nose and the edge of the eyes has to be black. The CAO moves easily and is appreciated for his agility and speed. However, most of them are not very active, when they don’t work. Size and weight vary considerable, the height at the shoulders ranges from about 25 to 30, and even 34 inches.

The following pictures we’ve got from Almaz Kennels, USA:

Akelo, Ukraine

Kurazh, Almaz Kennels, USA

It’s difficult not to become enthusiastic about the three described breeds – Illyrian Shepherd, Kangal and Central Asian Ovcharka; therefore I would like to add some personal words:

We’ve chosen these three breeds as an example for working dogs, which have done their work for centuries and until now, have remained mainly in the hands of those, breeding and using them for that. Therefore these dogs remained largely genuine, healthy and robust, characteristics, which most of today only for show bred breeds largely are missing. However, I learned to know that from the three mentioned breeds the Central Asian Ovcharka already has gained certain popularity, especially in the East European countries. I would refer that to his great variety in size, length of coat and above all the color, which is very varying and makes him more colorful and distinguishes him from the others.

Though I notice a new trend the last time – the herding dogs are always more discovered by those who some years ago first had been occupied with the Molosser breeds and then with the Bull Terrier breeds. One could also say, after they had ruined these breeds, their health and look, they turn to something new now – the herding dogs. For there they still can let off steam! There you can select, but not for use or healthiness, but for size, color of coat, length of coat and so on. And they also have to be “civilized” for you can show them in the show ring that means only the dog, which puts up with all or almost all, then will get a chance. Sooner or later some incidents will happen with other dogs or people. The newspapers will have finally a “new fighting dog”, that will be the “Turkish fighting dog”. Again one will demand a character test, in which this dog will have to put up with some idiots pressing him, stumbling in front of him, putting up umbrellas and so on. If he reacts according to his natural character and what always has been demanded of him, that is to take it as a threat of his master, then he will be rated as dangerous. A ban of keeping might threaten and finally he might end up in an animal asylum. There he will be put to sleep or if he is “lucky”, he will be only castrated to make him calmer.

These valuable and proud dogs don’t deserve that. I hope this will be spared them, however fear that my hope will be in vain.

Former the wolf, now the mail carrier

At this point I would like to thank all those that supported me with information and pictures: Deltari Illir, Kosovo; Lutfullah Ayan and Mehmet Yalcin, Ankara; Boz Kennels, Istanbul; Almaz Kennels, USA.

MASTIFF

hen the Romans conquered Britannia in 50 B. C. they met the so called “pugnaces” or war dogs, the early ancestors of the Mastiff and the Bulldog. The Romans sent a considerable number of these dogs to Rome to let them fight in their amphitheaters. Already then these dogs existed in two sizes, a taller and a smaller variant. The actual separation in Mastiff and Bulldog took place in the 17^th century. However, these old Mastiffs might have looked like more the Bullmastiff in type and in size.

At the beginning of the 19^th century the Mastiff more or less seemed to have extinct. At the end of the 18^th and during the 19^th century many Mastiff breeders imported mastiff like breeds and some breeders used these breeds, being i. a. described as Alpine Mastiffs, Spanish Bullmastiffs, in their breeding program.

A Mr. Thomson bred a bitch called Duchess, which had an unusual big head with a short and dull muzzle, and with whom he had been successful on the shows in the years 1863 – 1865. Many favored this head type, others again thought that the breeding for a shorter muzzle would be wrong and would ruin the breed. However, the breeding for a broader head and a shorter muzzle brought back in the breed the original head type.

Ch. Marcella, at the end of the 19th century (breeder: R. Leadbetter)

After World War I and II the number of the dogs decreased drastically in England, as not many people could effort the keeping of such a big dog. Many dogs were killed, some sent to America. There were only left a few mastiffs after World War II, in 1947 there could be found only seven (!) specimens in England. Also in the USA there were not much more to be found. Some more dogs still existed in Canada, so in 1949 a pair was sent to England. Because of the sacrificing work of the Old English Mastiff Club and his member the number of the Mastiffs increased again.

Mastiff 1755

The early Mastiffs showed a great variety of colors. Mastiffs with big white patches, often on the chest or across the muzzle weren’t rare. There even existed spotted dogs, also black Mastiffs weren’t unusual.

Today’s Mastiffs are brown, silver-brown, brown brindle, apricot brindle and black brindle in color. Still today Mastiffs with a longer coat are born sometimes, because of the crossing with the St. Bernard (Alpine Mastiff). Some even state that such crossing in certain lines goes back only 20 to 30 years.

Mastiff in Italy

BULLMASTIFF

ulldog and Mastiff have the same origin, but developed in different ways. However, crossings of both breeds have always taken place. You also can suppose that the early British Molossers looked more like today’s Bullmastiff than today’s Mastiff in type and stature.

Bulldogge Jack & Mastiff Elder’s Maid

Bulldog of old type and Mastiff at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th century

Already in the 19^th century there existed Mastiff/Bulldog breeds, which were called “Keeper’s Nightdog” or “Mastiff with a dash of Bull”. Therefore six dogs were shown in the “Yard or Keeper’s Nightdog Class” on the Crystal Palace Show in 1871.

Bullmastiffs 1893; painting by Wright Barker (1864 – 1941)

The term “Keeper’s Nightdog” or “Gamekeeper’s Nightdog” derived from the dog’s duties. They were used for personal protection against poachers by the gamekeepers. They should be able to pull a poacher to the ground, but not injure him, at which they preferred the brindle dog, as this color melted better with the darkness and the poacher couldn’t see the dog.

Generally Mr. S. E. Moseley is regarded as the creator of the modern Bullmastiff, using 60% Mastiff and 40% Bulldog. However, other breeders too, like Thorneywood Kennels, W. Burton, J. H. Barrowcliffe, J. H. Biggs, V. J. Smith only to mention a few, have been important for the breeding of the modern Bullmastiff. Finally, in 1924, the Bullmastiff has been recognized as a breed.

Bullmastiff Ch. Brum in the 1920’s

The reason to create the Bullmastiff was to combine the guarding capability of the Mastiff with the courage of the Bulldog, being faster and more agile than the Mastiff, although the Mastiff has been more agile in former times than today.

The Bullmastiff is a reliable watch dog, very affectionate to his family and can distinguish between friend and enemy. At work he shows great stamina.

The Bullmastiff belongs to the smaller Molossers, he is very muscular and more compact than the Mastiff. He is very powerful, has heavy bones, a wide and deep chest. The head shall be big and square, with not too much wrinkles. Level mouth, undershot permitted, but not preferred. The color is brown, red or brindle. The male’s weight ranges from 110 to 130 lbs., with females from 90 to 110 lbs.

Bullmastiff in the 1960’s

BULLENBEISSER

ith the Germanic tribes and until the Middle Age in the area of today’s Belgium, Holland, Germany and Poland have already existed strong, broad muzzled dogs, being called depending on their use boar catchdogs, bull or bear biting dogs.

A powder-bottle with carved big bear biting dogs and small bull biting dogs (Bullenbeißer) hunting wild boar, second half of the 17th century

Three Bullenbeißer by Johan E. L. Riedinger (1698 – 1767)

Johan E. L. Riedinger (1698 – 1767) of Augsburg has been known for his portraits of the German Molosser. He also described them as follows:

“The main part of the old German hunting packs consisted of rough haired, large dogs with a shaggy tail and wolf-like heads. The farmers supplied with these dogs the Court in great numbers, because there were high losses with hunting. On the other hand the mastiffs and Bullenbeißer knew instinctively how to catch the game from behind and to hold, so that they wouldn’t be injured severely and the hunter could kill it. Therefore they were more valuable for hunting. They were high praised and bred carefully.”

H. F. von Fleming describes detailed in his work “The perfect German Hunter and Fisher” (Leipzig, 1719-24) the bear biting dogs and Bullenbeißer and their use:

“From this big type of English dogs exists a special sort of medium, but sometimes strong size, with a wide chest, with short and thick head, short raised nose, stiff, erected, cut ears, double bite, so that they can get fanged, and a wide forehead between the eyes. These dogs are corpulent, strong and don’t run agile. They catch furiously and with grim, so that they begin to tremble and can be hardly broken up. The same dogs you’ll find at the butcher’s in Danzig …

Still another type, also medium, but somewhat lower, but almost in all limbs similar to the previous, exists in Brabant, they are called Bullbeisser, they almost have the same condition as the before mentioned, only they are smaller, as told. Usually one uses to breed oneself for want of the previous mentioned type. They get secretly cropped ears and tail in their youth and are led on collars; in the beginning they are tried on moderate boars until they are used to the boars. Finally, they are put on small bears and taught to catch it on the ears. If they don’t succeed immediately and they could catch hard, you have to tickle them with a packing-stick or better with a strong, rugged quill or a small stick in the throat, so that they let loose. Now you can discipline them so that they take a better hold the next time, at which you talk friendly to them. Through that they will be more enthusiastic and pinch, frighten and bother the bear, so that it retires into a corner until the dogs got tired and the mastery gets weary of it.

Where the bears are rare, some mastery uses to course stares, oxen or bulls, but which is an exercise, more for the butchers than the hunters, and unknown to me, because I only want to write about wild animals. However, I’ve seen in Brabant, that the stare is bound to a long rope and coursed by such dogs, mostly attacking the nose or the throat, and because they have a strong bite, as already mentioned, they take a hold and stay there without any movement, until they let loose, when they got tired.

Otherwise these dogs are the most usual as good yard and chain dogs, because they are of bad manner, strong and have a rough barking. They are very watchful and attack all with fierce, what they notice, although they are smaller than the English dogs and their dwarfs.”

In Germany one distinguished two kinds of Bullenbeisser, that was the Great or Bullenbeisser of Danzig and the Small or Bullenbeisser of Brabant.

Great Bullenbeisser or Bullenbeisser of Danzig

Duke Berthold von Zähringen hunting bears, by an upper German master, around 1480

(Colored pen-and-ink drawing from a handwriting by Rudolf von Erlach)

The dogs got the name Bullenbeisser because of the work they did. So called Bärenbeisser (= bear biting dogs) were a little bit taller than the Bullenbeisser and were used for hunting and fighting with the bear.

Bear hunting by Karl Andreas Ruthard (1630 - 1703)

The Bullenbeisser of Brabant got his name from the province Brabant in northern Belgium and was described as a medium sized dog. He was used for hunting and coursing bears. The Bullenbeisser of Brabant is said to be the direct ancestor of the Boxer. During the French Revolution when the great Courts were dissolved and the hunts belonging to a master were over, also the importance of coursing dogs diminished. The Bullenbeisser of Danzig already wasn’t mentioned in dog books on and after 1783. However, Bullenbeisser still has been bred pure on the electoral Hessian Court until 1866. The pack was solid-colored yellow. In 1805, Georg Franz Dietrich of Winkell describes Bullenbeisser or Bärenbeisser as not too big, but strong and courageous, with broad short heads, “they catch all, on which they are coursed, but are heavy”. Still in 1885 there is an ad in the “Suisse Papers for Cynology”, N° 3, vol. 1, January 30: “A magnificent, shining black dog, Bullenbeisser, about 30 months old, 26’’ at the shoulders, suitable for a country seat.” Tschopp-Spörr, Handlung, Sursee.

However, the smaller Bullenbeisser has been bred as a house dog in smaller stocks. When from 1830 the English Bulldog has been imported to Germany, it has been crossed with the Bullenbeisser of Brabant. Therefore, on the one side you got the type of Boxer, on the other side the white color too. In1860, the term “Boxer” has been used for these crossings for the first time.

It’s supposed the Great Bullenbeisser to be an ancestor of the Great Dane. Others again think that they are the result of a crossing of the English Mastiff with the Greyhound. Probably both versions are correct, for English Mastiffs and Mastiff crossings had been exported from England to the continent. In England the Mastiff had been crossed with the Greyhound and eventually with the Irish Wolfhound too to create a faster and more agile hunting dog. However, these dogs never got popular in England, but in Germany they found their fanciers. In the early German literature they were described as “English, Danish or Ulmer Dogges”. Together with the Bullenbeisser they might have been involved in the breeding of those dogs, which later got known as “Great Dane”.

Emperor Charles V with his Ulmer Dogge, ainting by J. Seisenegger, 1530

It’s a fact that there was hunted with Bullenbeisser like dogs in the Netherlands until the 1930’s, preferred badger and wild boar. Today this kind of hunting is banned there.

Successful boar hunting in Holland (before 1939)

So what seems more likely that Boers and German settlers took the Bullenbeisser with them to South Africa, where he was used as one of the breeds to develop the Boerboel and the Rhodesian Ridgeback.