The American Bull and Terrier Kennel Club is for dog enthusiasts that have an appreciation for the breeds that descend from Old English Bulldogs, Bull and Terrier crosses, their Mastiff predecessors, and other related breeds. There were many different bulldog breeds (bull-baiting dogs) throughout Europe over the last few hundred years, but the dog most exclusively associated with that name was the Old English Bulldog. A dog that up until the early 1800s, was still a small mastiff-type dog, and is believed to share common ancestors with all of the mastiffs of Europe.
In the mid-1800s, breeders started trying to breed a more docile version of the Old English Bulldog; eventually leading to the creation of the modern English Bulldog. A dog that is much smaller and less ferocious than the original Bulldog of England. The original Old English Mastiffs and Old English Bulldogs were actually said to be of the same breed at one point in history.
Due to the desired qualities for their different working purposes in England, they eventually became two distinct breeds through years of selective breeding. Although there is much disagreement among experts about who brought the first brought mastiff-type dogs to Europe, the oldest historical evidence points towards a Middle Eastern origin.
In the ancient kingdom of Assyria, there were stone carvings illustrating large mastiff-type dogs being used on lion hunts dating back to at least 645 BC in Nineveh. It may even date back as far as 2000 BC to the same region. This idea is based on additional illustrations of large Mastiff-type dogs found on clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia around 4,000 years ago.
There are stories occurring at different and similar time periods in history, when these mastiffs could have been brought to Europe from the ancient Mesopotamian region. The Alaunt, Molussus, and Pugnace Brittania are all believed to originate somewhere between Western and Southern Asia (From Turkey to India). For more detailed information on the history of these mastiff-type breeds, you may read our blog articles on dog history.
Here at the ABTKC, you can learn about all of these amazing breeds and the breeders that work hard to promote them. Some of these breeds include: the American Bulldog, American Bully, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bernese Mountain Dog, Boston Terrier, Boxer, Boerbel, Bullmastiff, Bull Terrier, Bully Kutta, Ca de Bou (Majorcan Mastiff), Canary Dog (Perro de Presa Canario), Caucasian Shepard Dog, Central Asian Shepard Dog (Central Asian Ovtcharka), Cimarrón Uruguayo, Dogo Argentino, Dogue de Bordeaux, Fila Brasileiro (Brazilian Mastiff), Fila de São Miguel (Saint Miguel Cattle Dog), French Bulldog, Great Dane, Kangal, Molossus of Epirus, Pyrenean Mastiff (Mastín Español del Pirineo), Olde English Bulldogge, Rafeiro do Alentejo, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Spanish Alaunt (Alano Español), Spanish Mastiff (Mastín Español), Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and the Tibetan Mastiff.