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FCI-Standard
N° 101 / 06. 04. 1998 / GB
FRENCH BULLDOG
(Bouledogue français)
ORIGIN : France.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 28.04.1995.
UTILIZATION : Companion, watch dog, pleasure dog.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 9 Companion and Toy Dogs.
Section 11 Small Molossian Dogs.
Without working trial.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : Probably issued, like all the
mastiffs, from the Epirus and the Roman Empire molosses,
relative of the Bulldog of Great Britain, the Alans (tribe of
the Middle Age), the mastiffs and small type mastiffs of France,
the bulldog we know is the product of different crossings done
by enthusiastic breeders in the popular quarters of Paris in the
years 1880.
During that period, the Bulldog being a dog belonging to
butchers and coachmen of " les Halles " (market place), he soon
knew how to conquer the high society and the artistic world by
his particular appearance and character. He then rapidly
propagated himself.
The first breed club was founded in 1880 in Paris. The first
registration dates from 1885 and the first standard was
established in 1898, year in which the " Société Centrale Canine
" of France recognized the breed of the French Bulldog. The
first shown dog was from 1887. The standard, modified in 1931,
1932 and 1948, was reformulated in 1986 by H.F. Reant and R.
Triquet (F.C.I. publication 1987), then in 1994 by the committee
of the Club of the French Bulldog with the collaboration of R.
Triquet.
GENERAL APPEARANCE : Typically a small size molossian. Powerful
dog for its small size, short, compact in all its proportions,
smooth-coated, with a short face, a snub nose, erect ears and a
naturally short tail. Must have the appearance of an active
animal, intelligent, very muscular, of a compact build with a
solid bone structure.
BEHAVIOUR / CHARACTER : Sociable, lively, playful, sporty, keen.
Particularly affectionate towards his masters and the children.
HEAD : The head must be very strong, broad and square, the skin
of the head forming almost symmetrical folds and wrinkles. The
head of the bulldog is characterized by a contraction of the
maxillary-nasal part; the skull has taken up in width that which
it has lost in length.
CRANIAL REGION :
Skull : Broad, almost flat, forehead very bulging. Superciliary
arches prominent, separated by a particularly developed furrow
between the eyes. The furrow must not extend onto the forehead.
Occipital crest is hardly developed.
Stop : Deeply accentuated.
FACIAL REGION :
Nose : Broad, very short, turned up, nostrils well open and
symmetrical, slanting towards the rear. The inclination of the
nostrils as well as the snub nose (i.e. upturned) must, however,
allow a normal nasal breathing.
Muzzle : Very short, broad, with concentric symmetrical folds
coming down on the upper lips (length of muzzle about 1/6 of the
total length of the head).
Lips : Thick, a little loose and black. The upper lip rejoins
the lower lip at its middle, completely covering the teeth which
should never be visible. The profile of the upper lip is
descending and rounded. Tongue must never show.
Jaws : Broad, square, powerful. Lower jaw shows a broad curve,
terminating in front of the upper jaw. The mouth being closed,
the prominence of the lower jaw (prognathism-undershot) is
moderated by the curve of the lower mandibular branches. This
curve is necessary to avoid a too important shifting of the
lower jaw.
Teeth : The lower incisors must never be behind the upper
incisors in any case. The arch of the lower incisors is rounded.
The jaw must not show lateral deviation, nor torsion. The
disposition of the incisoral arches should not be strictly
delimited, the essential condition being that the upper and the
lower lips rejoin to completely cover the teeth.
Cheeks : The muscles of the cheeks are well developed, but not
prominent.
Eyes : Lively expression, set low, quite far from the nose and
especially from the ears, dark coloured, quite big, well round,
slightly protruding, showing no trace of white (sclera) when the
dog is looking straight ahead. Rims of eyelids must be black.
Ears : Medium size, wide at the base and rounded at the top. Set
high on the head, but not too close together, carried erect. The
orifice is open towards the front. The skin must be fine and
soft to the touch.
NECK : Short, slightly arched, without dewlap.
BODY :
Topline : Rising progressively at loin level to slope rapidly
towards the tail. This conformation which must be sought after,
is the consequence of the short loin.
Back : Broad and muscular.
Loin : Short and broad.
Rump : Oblique.
Chest : Cylindrical and well let down; ribcage barrel shaped,
very rounded.
Forechest : Wide.
Belly and flanks : Drawn up without excessive tuck up.
TAIL : Short, set low on the rump, close to the buttocks, thick
at the base, knotted or kinked naturally and tapering at the
tip. Even in action, must stay below the horizontal. A
relatively long tail (not reaching beyond the point of the
hocks), kinked and tapering is admissible, but not desirable.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS : Forelegs vertical and parallel seen in profile
and from the front, standing well separated.
Shoulder : Short, thick, with a firm and visible musculature.
Upperarm : Short.
Elbows : Close to the body.
Forearm : Short, straight and muscular.
Pastern joint - Pastern : Solid and short.
HINDQUARTERS : Strong and muscular, hindlegs a little longer
than the forelegs, thus raising the hindquarters. The legs are
vertical and parallel as seen both in profile and from behind.
Thigh : Muscled, firm without being too rounded.
Hock joint : Quite well let down, neither too angulated nor
certainly too straight.
Hock : Solid and short. The French Bulldog should be born
without dewclaws.
FEET :
Forefeet round of small dimension, i.e. " cat feet ", well set
on the ground, turning slightly outward. The toes are compact,
nails short, thick and well separated. The pads are hard, thick
and black. In the brindle subjects, the nails must be black. In
the pieds (caille = brindled fawns with medium white patching)
and fawn subjects, dark nails are preferred, without however
penalising the light coloured nails.
Hindfeet well compact.
GAIT / MOVEMENT : Free movement, the legs moving parallel to the
median plane of the body.
COAT
HAIR : Beautiful smooth coat, close, glossy and soft.
COLOUR :
· Uniformly fawn, brindled or not, or with limited patching
(pied).
· Fawn brindled or not, with medium or predominant patching.
All the fawn shades are admitted, from the red to light brown
(café au lait) colour. The entirely white dogs are classified in
" brindled fawn with predominant white patching ". When a dog
has a very dark nose, dark eyes with dark eyelids, certain
depigmentations of the face may exceptionally be tolerated in
very beautiful subjects.
SIZE AND WEIGHT : The weight must not be below 8 kg nor over 14
kg for a bulldog in good condition, size being in proportion
with the weight.
FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be
considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault
should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
· Nose tightly closed or pinched and chronic snorers.
· Lips not joining in the front.
· Depigmentation of the lips.
· Light eyes.
· Dewlap.
· Tail carried high, or too long or abnormally short.
· Loose elbows.
· Straight hock or placed forward.
· Incorrect movement.
· Coat (hair) too long.
· Speckled coat.
SERIOUS FAULTS :
· Incisors visible when mouth closed.
· Tongue visible when mouth closed.
· Stiff beating movement of the forelegs.
· Pink spots on the face, except in the case of brindled fawns
with medium white patching (" caille ") and fawns with limited
or predominant white patching. (" fauve ").
· Excessive or insufficient weight.
DISQUALIFICATIONS :
· Colour of nose other than black.
· Hare lip.
· Dog with lower incisors articulating behind upper incisors.
· Dog with permanently visible canines, mouth being closed.
· Eyes of two different colours (heterochromatic).
· Ears not carried erect.
· Mutilation of ears, tail or dewclaws.
· Taillessness.
· Dewclaws on hindquarters.
· Colour of coat black and tan, mouse grey, brown.
N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles
fully descended into the scrotum.
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