French Bulldog

It was during this period that the upper classes, through their coachmen and bordellos, began to discover and fall under the charm of this small dog with its persuasive and at times disturbing look. Immortalized by Toulouse Lautrec in his picture "Le Marchand des Marrons" (1897) the French Bulldog strode the Boulevards. Mistinguett, Colette, Mac Orland, King Edward VII with his dog Peter in England, were some of the more notable fans of the breed. When the remains of the Romanoff family were discovered some years ago in Russia, Princess Tatiana's remains were found together with the skeleton of her dog, Ortino. In Austria, Germany and of course the USA the breed began to acquire more and more popularity .
The French Bulldog's success really began in 1880 however, when a group of parisian Frenchy breeders and fans began to organise regular weekly meetings. In 1885 the first provisional register of the breed was established and the French Bulldog participated in an exhibition under its own name for the first time in 1887. The following year the club was formally consituted with Marcel Roger, a great admirer of the breed, as founding president .However it was to be another ten years before the French Canine Society began to take the breed seriously. This happened when the Central French Canine Society suggested that the society formed by Gordon Bennet ( the French Bulldog Lovers' Club) and Marcel Roger's aforementiond club join forces . Both parties saw the sense in this union and so the Bouledoge Club of France as we know it today came into being. The president was Menans de Corre and the vicepresident Gordon Bennett.