| Garden City Bulldogges |
| The Olde English Bulldogge Kennel Club (O.E.B.K.C.) is the National Breed Club for the Olde English Bulldogge. The mission of the O.E.B.K.C. is first and foremost to assist its breeder organization in continually improving the breed through disciplined breeding programs that emphasize health, temperament, athleticism, and consistent conformation within the breed standard. The Olde English Bulldogge was developed by David Leavitt, of Coatesville, PA. back in 1971. Mr. Leavitt used a line breeding scheme that was designed and developed by Ohio State University for breeding cattle. The goal was to recreate a specific breed of Bulldogge with the look, health and athleticism of the original bull baiting dogs, but without the extreme tenacity. The foundation crosses consisted of ½ English Bulldog, 1/6 Bullmastiff, 1/6 Pit-bull, and 1/6 American Bulldog. After many carefully planned crosses, the Olde English Bulldogge emerged and began to breed true. In the early 1980's Ben and Karen Campetti from Sandisfield Massachusetts became deeply involved with Mr. Leavitt in breeding Olde English Bulldogges. By 1985 Mr. Leavitt had developed two true lines and was satisfied that the breed was sound, stable, and well suited for modern life. At this time, the Campetti's began showing the breed in Mollosser shows. Through the Campetti's efforts, the Olde English Bulldogge achieved much success in the Conformation ring, and a lot of recognition by rare breed fanciers. Due to this success, many breeders became interested in producing this dog. It was at this point that the Olde English Bulldogge Association (O.E.B.A.) was formed to maintain proper records and implement a breeder code of ethics and standards. Mr. Leavitt was diligent in maintaining detailed records of the foundation stock, and this information was converted into the OEBA registry. One unwelcome by-product of the Olde English Bulldogges success in the Conformation ring, obedience trials, and in therapy work, was a rise in the use of the dog in Personal Protection training. Most of this training was being conducted by people that were unqualified to do so. The popularity of this breed in PP work can only be attributed to the breed's excellent health, agility, temperament, and it's classification as a Working Breed. Thus, creating much controversy over the breeds intended function. This controversy regarding the breeds intended function overwhelmed Mr. Leavitt and in 1995 he chose to discontinue his work with the breed and pursue other interests. At this point, Mr. Leavitt turned the OEBA registry and his personal breeding stock over to Michael Walz of Working Dog Inc. Over time, this decision turned out to be a bad one. Due to the inefficiency of the Registrar and the organization, Olde English Bulldogge owners and breeders could not get necessary information and registration papers. In 2001, recognizing that the needs of the breed, the owners, and the breeders were not being met by the OEBA, The Olde English Bulldogge Kennel Club was formed by Tim Kelly, Karen Campetti, Louis Colon, Ray Schneider and several others. The American Rare Breed Association quickly adopted the OEBKC as the National Breed Club of the Olde English Bulldogge and continues to recognize it as such today. With the continued support of ARBA, the Campetti's and several of the breed's original breeders, the OEBKC maintains a registry database of over 375 dogs that are traceable to the original foundation stock. The enthusiasm and interest that the breed and club are attracting is exciting. The Club is attracting more and more Olde English Bulldogge fanciers that are interested in not only showing the breed in the Conformation ring but getting the breed involved in Obedience trials, Tracking and Agility trials. |