Stout’s |
HISTORY
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I must separate the history of this breed of dogs into two issues: first, the naming & registering of these dogs, and second, the actual history of this type of bulldog. I had purchased an American Bulldog from Texas who was a great dog in his own right. I eventually decided I wanted to find a female and breed a couple litters of pups. I determined that rather than buy a female from some breeder with a colorful history about hog dogs, I would journey through the south and find a dog who was really doing it for a living. South Carolina seemed like a good place to start, as the maternal side of my family were farmers and stock men in the coastal region of the state. For as long as I can remember, I have considered this part of the country my real home. I had heard of a man who ran a hog hunting lodge in the piedmont region of the state named Jay Dorsey and set off to see him. I found a bitch there that, although she had been bred by an American Bulldog breeder, came directly off of a line of "white bulldogs" used by Dorsey for years. After seeing this 9 month old female slam several hogs, I made Jay an offer he couldn't refuse. I also saw a male dog there that was unlike any dog I had seen in any magazine or at any show. This dog had a body that looked like it was carved out of stone and was already covered with scars at 2 years of age. He also had the biggest head I have ever seen on a dog. This dog hit a hog like a freight train and I knew one day he would end up on my yard. His name was "Bosshog". Eventually, after badgering Jay for about a year and a half and after Boss had broken off most of his holding teeth, I and quite a bit of money convinced Jay to retire Bosshog. Knowing that I would need to register these dogs to sell any pups, I contacted the National Kennel Club and asked if I could register them as American Bulldogs. The NKC told me I could since I knew the lineage of the dogs. This was not done to deceive anyone; I just needed to be able to register the dogs. However, something just didn't seem right. After my wife talked me into attending several American Bulldog shows, I realized what I was breeding was not an American Bulldog. While attending one of these shows I met a man from south Georgia named Denny Alvarez. Denny, like myself, was attending the show more out of curiosity than anything. When he saw the dogs I had, he said, "Now that is the type of dogs we have used for years in my area to catch hogs and cattle and guard our homes." Denny also told me that he had in fact seen a clip of one of Jay Dorsey's videos featuring Bosshog and Ouija and had wondered where the dogs had ended up. After visiting Alvarez many times and talking to some of the old timers in the swamp in his area as well as many people (both friends and family) in the Carolinas, I decided it was time to start calling these dogs something a little more accurate. Most of the people I spoke to referred to these dogs as white Bulldogs, English, or Old time Bulldogs. I decided not to use the white Bulldog name because although a large percentage of these dogs were predominantly white, many were different colors, and I am not about to exclude any good dog because of a paint job. I didn't want to use the English name for a couple of reasons. First of all, I didn't want to cause confusion with the AKC English Bulldog. The second reason is that some American Bulldog breeders have started to refer to some of their stock as English, and I did not want to cause confusion there. I decided to go with the "Old- Time Bulldog," but added the "Southern" to give credit to the very special part of the country in which these dogs played such an important role in daily life. I and a few other people have registered our dogs under this breed name with the National Kennel Club so we can keep track of the breeding of the dogs that are as special to us as the place from which they came. Enough about my small contributions to this breed. I have only come up with a name and registered them under this name. I am trying to produce the best possible dogs, but the fact is I did not create this breed. They were around a long time before God put me on this earth. This brings me to the more important topic of the history of the dogs themselves.
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