General
Appearance:

In forming a judgement on any specimen of the
 breed, the general appearance, which is the
first impression the dog makes as a whole
on the eye of the judge, should be first
considered. Secondly should be noticed its size,
shape and make, or rather its proportions in the
relation they bear to each other. No point should
be so much in excess of the others as to destroy
the general symmetry,or make the dog appear
deformed, or interfere with its powers of motion,
etc. Thirdly its style, carriage, gait, temper
and its several points should be considered
separately in detail, due allowance being made
for the bitch, which is not so grand nor as well
developed as the dog.
The general appearance of the Bulldog is that of
a smooth-coated, thickset dog, rather low in
stature, but broad,powerful and compact.
The head strikingly massive and large in proportion
to the dog's size.
The face extremely short. The muzzle very broad,
blunt and inclined upwards.
The body short and well knit; the limbs stout and
muscular.
The hindquarters high and strong but rather lightly
made in comparison with its heavily made foreparts.
The dog should convey an impression of
determination, strength and activity,similar to that
suggested by the appearance of a thick-set
Ayrshire bull.

Characteristics:

(See under General Appearance and Gait/Movement)

Temperament:

Should convey an impression of determination.

Head
And Skull:

The skull should be very large - the larger the better -
and in circumference should measure (round in front
of the ears) at least the height of the dog at the shoulders. Viewed
from the front it should appear very high from the corner
of the lower jaw to the apex of the skull, and also very
broad and square. The cheeks should be well rounded and
extended sideways beyond the eyes. Viewed at the side,
the head should appear very high, and very short from its
back to the point of the nose. The forehead should be flat,
neitherprominent nor overhanging the face; the skin upon it
and about the head very loose and well wrinkled. The
projections of the frontal bones should be very prominent,
broad, square and high, causing a deep and wide indentation
between the eyes termed the "stop". From the "stop" a
furrow both broad and deep should extend up to the middle
of the skull,being traceable to the apex. The face, measured
from the front of the cheek-bone to the nose, should be as
short as possible, and its skin should be deeply and closely
wrinkled.
The muzzle should be short, broad, turned upwards and very
deep from the corner of the eye to the corner of the mouth.
The nose should be large, broad and black, and under no
circumstances should it be liver coloured or brown; its top
should be deeply set back almost between the eyes. The
distance from the inner corner of the eye (or from the
centre of the stop between the eyes) to the extreme tip of
the nose should not exceed the length from the tip of the
nose to the edge of the under lip. The nostrils should be
large, wide and black, with a well-defined vertical straight
line between them. The flews, called the "chop" should be
thick, broad, pendant, and very deep, hanging completely
over the lower jaw at the sides (not in front). They should
join the under lip in front and quite cover the teeth. The
jaws should be broad, massive and square, the lower jaw
should project considerably in front of the upper and turn up.
Viewed from the front, the various properties of the face
must be equally balanced on either side of an imaginary line
down the centre of the face.

Eyes:

The eyes seen from the front, should be situated low down in
the skull, as far from the ears as possible. The eyes and
"stop" should be in the same straight line, which should be at
right angles to the furrow. They should be as wide apart as
possible, provided their outer corners are within the outline
of the cheeks. They should be quite round in shape, of
moderate size, neither sunken nor prominent, and in colour
should be very dark - almost, if not quite, black - showing no
white when looking directly forward.

Ears:

The ears should be set high on the head - i.e. the front
inneredge of each ear should (as viewed from the front)
join the outline of the skull at the top corner of such outline,
so as to place them as wide apart, and as high and as far
from the eyes as possible. In size, they should be small
and thin, the shape termed "rose ear" is correct, and
folds inwards at its back, the upper or front edge curving
over outwards and backwards, showing part of the inside
of the burr.

Mouth:

The jaw should be broad and square and have the six small
front teeth between the canines in an even row. The canine
teeth or tusks wide apart. The teeth should not be seen when
the mouth is closed. The teeth should be large and strong.
When viewed from the front, the underjaw should be
centrally under the upper jaw to which it should also be
parallel.

Neck:

Should be moderate in length (rather short than long), very
thick, deep and strong. It should be well arched at the back,
with much loose, thick and wrinkled skin about the throat,
forming a dewlap on each side, from the lower jaw to the
chest.

Forequarters:

The shoulders should be broad, sloping and deep, very
powerful and muscular, and giving the appearance of having
been "tacked on" to the body. The brisket should be
capacious, round and very deep from the top of the shoulders
to the lowest part where it joins the chest, and be well let
down between forelegs. It should be large in diameter and
round behind the forelegs (not flat-sided, the ribs being well
rounded). The forelegs should be very stout and strong, set
wide apart, thick, muscular and straight, with well-developed
forearms, presenting a rather bowed outline, but the bones
of the legs should be large and straight, not bandy or curved.
They should be rather short in proportion to the hind-legs,
but not so short as to make the back appear long, or detract
from the dog's activity, and so cripple him. The elbows should
be low, and stand well away from the ribs. The pasterns
should be short, straight and strong.

Body:

The chest should be very wide, laterally round, prominent,
and deep, making the dog appear very broad and
short-legged in front. The body should be well ribbed
up behind, with the belly tucked up and not pendulous.
The back should be short and strong, very broad at the
shoulders, and comparatively narrow at the loins.
There should be a slight fall to the back close behind
the shoulders (its lowest part), whence the spine should
rise to the loins (the topof which should be higher than
the top of the shoulders), thence curving again more
suddenly to the tail, forming an arch - a distinctive
characteristic of the breed - termed "roach back".

Hindquarters:

The legs should be large and muscular, and longer
in proportion than the forelegs, so as to elevate the
loins. The hocks should be slightly bent and well
let down, so as to be long and muscular from the loins to
the point of the hock. The lower part of the leg should
be short, straight and strong. The stifles should be
round and turned slightly outwards away from the body.
The hocks are thereby made to approach each other,
and the hind feet to turn outwards.

Feet:

The hind feet, like the forefeet, should be round and
compact, with the toes well split up and the knuckles
prominent. The forefeet should be straight and turn
very slightly outward, of medium size and moderately
round. The toes compact and thick, being well split up,
making the knuckles prominent and high.

Tail:

The tail, termed the "stern", should be set on low,
jut out rather straight,then turn downwards. It should be
round, smooth and devoid of fringe or coarse hair.It should
be moderate in length - rathershort than long - thick at
the root, and tapering quickly to a fine point.
It should have a downward carriage (not having a decided
curve at the end), and the dog should not be able to raise
it over its back.

Gait/Movement:

From its formation the dog has a peculiar heavy and
constrained gait, appearing to walk with short, quick steps
on the tips of its toes,its hindfeet not being lifted high,
but appearing to skim the ground, and running with the right
shoulder rather advanced, similar to themanner of horse
in cantering.

Coat:

Should be fine in texture, short, close and smooth
(hard only fromthe shortness and closeness, not wiry).

Colour:

The colour should be whole or smut (that is, a whole
colour with a black mask or muzzle). The only colours
 (which should be brilliant and pure of their sort) are
whole colours - viz., brindles, reds, with their varieties,
fawns, fallows etc., white and also pied (i.e. a combination
of white with any other of theforegoing colours). Dudley,
blackand black with tan are extremely undesirable colours.

Sizes:

The most desirable weight for the Bulldog is:
Dogs: 25 kgs (55 lbs)
Bitches: 23 kgs (50 lbs)

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 and its effect upon the health and welfare
of the dog.

Notes:

Male animals should have two apparently normal
testicles fully descended into the scrotum