Natural History

The following story is the tale of a race between two bulldogs named King Orry and Dockleaf. The two dogs were show bulldogs from the late nineteenth century in Britain, and even at that time, there was a huge controversy about the conformation of these dogs.

Dockleaf had been condemned as a deformed “cripple,’ yet he kept winning prize after prize at dog shows. Despite his success in the ring, many fanciers were still lambasting him and his owner, a Mr. S Woodiwiss, at every opportunity.

Tired of the criticism, Mr. Woodiwiss agreed to have an endurance race between Dockleaf and a more lightly built dog named King Orry.

Rawdon Lee describes this 1893 race in The History of the Modern Dogs of Great Britain and Ireland (Nonsporting Division) (1894) :

I must write of dogs as I find them at the present time, and, to show the state to which an endeavour to breed for exaggeration in certain points has brought the bulldog, reproduce the following account of a walking match between two crack bench winners, which took place in the summer of 1893. There had been a brindled dog shown with extraordinary success at that time, for which his owner, Mr. S. Woodiwiss, was reported to have given £250—the greatest amount of money ever paid for a dog of this variety. In the opinion of many persons he was so much a cripple as to be unable to stand properly in the ring, which was a fact. However, the judges under whom the dog in question came, appeared blind to his defects, and time after time he was placed over more perfect animals. Then a match was made between Dockleaf, the dog above alluded to, and another well-known prize-winning bulldog, called King Orry, owned by Mr. G. R. Murrell.

The novelty of the contest caused considerable interest to be taken therein, and it was arranged under the following conditions: “Each dog to be led and make the best of the way from the Roebuck Hotel, Lewisham, to Bromley Town Hall and back, the distance being about ten miles. The competitors might have as much rest as appeared desirable, but ‘lifting’ from the ground was disqualification. At seven o’clock, when the start was made, a big crowd was in attendance, a portion of which accompanied the dogs on their journey. King Orry went off with the lead, and was nearly 400 yards ahead when a mile or more had been traversed. Soon after Dockleaf showed signs of fatigue, but continued on his journey to a couple of miles from the start, when, being fairly beaten, Mr. Woodiwiss withdrew him from further competition; his opponent was then far in front, and ‘going well.’ Mr. Murrell’s dog, after a rest of seven minutes, arrived at Bromley Town Hall, and then set off on the return journey, Lewisham being duly reached at 9.25 p.m. Both animals had been in training for the match, and the winner showed no signs of distress after the accomplishment of what some modern admirers of the bulldog consider a great feat, but which we consider any bulldog ought to do equally satisfactorily. The loser occupied a trifle under forty minutes in covering his two miles, and, exclusive of stoppages, the winner progressed at the rate of some four and a half miles in the hour.”

So much for the activity and working capacity of a bulldog that has been pronounced by some parties to be one of the best of his race ever exhibited. However, all bulldogs are not so unable to walk at a fair pace as was the case with this dog; still, he must be given as an example of the evil of breeding for certain exaggerations which nature could never have produced without human assistance, and of the curious decisions that often take place in the show ring  (pg. 208-210).

The Kennel Club was only twenty years old when this walking race was held between Dockleaf and King Orry, and in those twenty years, the bulldog was already being developed into a grotesque creature.

The bulldog’s health problems that are associated with its poor conformation are not new.

They were already in place by the 1890’s.

Bulldogs are now one of the most popular breeds in the United States, and very little has been done to make them better from the days of poor knackered Dockleaf.

The animal is a caricature of the catch dogs of yore.

The breed standards still reward dogs that are not much fit for anything, but because the type is so institutionalized, too many bulldog breeders assume that nothing is wrong with it.

And if you say anything, they get very defensive.

No one wants to change anything, but of course, when Dockleaf was winning prizes, there were enough people to complain about it for someone to suggest some sort of empirical proof that he was not a poorly constructed animal.

There plenty of loudmouth bulldog fanciers on the internet. I wonder if they would subject their dogs to simple walking race like this one.

I somehow doubt it.

Bulldogs are really about symbols.

No one wants reality to crush any fantasies.