3 historical curiosities about the bulldog

Hello everyone, bullosetti friends!

The French bulldog, as we know, is not an archaic breed but rather saw the light (at least from what reliable sources say) only 2 centuries ago.

Our hunger for curiosity about this breed made us discover some anecdotes that we were not aware of and that we would like to share with you.

1.FIGHTING DOGS

Exactly, just like that. Hard to believe, yet the bulldog was used in the past to fight bulls. In particular, this custom, called bull baiting , was practiced mainly in London between the Middle Ages and the 19th century.

There is evidence from the Elizabethan age (around 1600) which states that, to make bovine meat tastier, the royal court and subsequently a plebeian-popular extraction organized matches between bulls and dogs (in particular English bulldogs) .

But how do you do it!

Fortunately, in 1835 bull-baiting was formally abolished in England by the Cruelty to Animals Act.

Little by little, thanks to breed enthusiasts, a selection was made of bulldogs with the most docile character by crossing them to reduce their size with terriers or pugs to transform them into companion dogs. Then exported to France, the bulldog conquered the entire nation, earning the name French bulldog.

2. THERE WAS A FRENCH BULLDOG ON THE TITANIC

Don't you believe it?

This very cute bully pictured in the photo was called Gamin de Pycombe. He was a champion breed with a fawn coat recently purchased in France by Robert William Daniels. Gamin was supposed to participate in the beauty pageants that were supposed to be held on April 15.

That's right, on the Titanic many members of the first class cared about their four-legged friend and the ship's management took steps to give them the best possible comfort. Unfortunately, however, we all know what the epilogue of that experience was and the bulldog has never been heard from again. The owner, however, managed to save himself and collected 750 dollars from the insurance of his missing friend.

One of the survivors of the Titanic, Richard Norris Williams, while fighting for his life in the frozen waters, declared that he found himself facing Gamin. At first he thought of a "sea monster" (probably the cause of the hallucinations), until a friend of his told him that he had freed the dogs from their cages after lowering the last lifeboat.

3.STAR OF THE MOMENT

It doesn't even need to be said: the French bulldog is the dog of the moment.

Today the French bulldog is also highly appreciated by many celebrities such as "The Rock", Lady Gaga, Leonardo di Caprio, Neymar up to our own Chiara Ferragni who never misses an opportunity to be filmed on Instagram together with her son and her beloved dog! In fact, Matilda (the bulldog's name, but you already knew that) has an Instagram profile that has more than 300,000 followers.

What can I say, this cute bully has managed to enter everyone's hearts (thanks also to the wise and effective social communication of her owner).

We hope you enjoyed reading this article,

until next time!