Bullmastiff - Working

Although the mastiff is one of Britain's oldest breeds, his immediate descendant, the bullmastiff, is probably a fairly recent development. It is true that occasional references to the bullmastiff, or crosses of the mastiff and bulldog, can be found as early as 1791; however, no evidence exists that these strains were bred on. The documented history of the bullmastiff begins near the end of the 19th century, when poaching game from the large estates had become such a problem that the gamekeepers' lives were endangered. They needed a tough courageous dog that could wait silently as a poacher approached, attack on command and subdue but not maul the poacher. The mastiff was not fast enough, and the bulldog was not large enough, so they crossed the breeds in an attempt to create their perfect dog; the aptly named "gamekeeper's night dog." The preferred color was dark brindle, as he faded into the night. As the breed's reputation grew, however, many estate owners chose the dogs as estate sentries and preferred the lighter fawns, especially those with black masks, a coloration reminiscent of their mastiff ancestry. Breeders began to aim for a pure-breeding strain rather than relying upon repeating crosses between the mastiff and bulldog. They worked for an ideal animal that appeared to be 60 percent mastiff and 40 percent bulldog. By 1924, the breed was deemed to be pure and was recognized by the English Kennel Club. AKC recognition followed in 1933.