The bulldogs origins go back to Britain long before the Romans ever set foot on the island. The early people of Britain had bogs that were referred to as Pugnaces or "war dogs". They used these dogs to hunt wild boar, bears, and wild cattle. When the Romans attacked Britain they were very disturbed that these kelts had a type of warfare that the Romans were not used to. When the Romans attacked the Kelts would send there dogs into battle and they would jump up and grab the Roman horses by the nose, which would in turn caused the horse to rear up and through its rider. The kelts would then kill the Roman who had just been thrown. When the British Chieftain Caractacus was defeated by Emperor Claudine in 50 A.D. Rome started exporting these dogs back to Rome for use in the the amphitheater. The Romans referred to these dogs as "broad mouth dogs of Britain".  There is evidence that the breed of British war dogs were disseminated over the continent of Europe. There is little doubt the these dogs were the original ancestors of our modern Mastiff and Bulldog breeds.

 It was during the time of the Norman occupation which started in 1066 that the training of bulls, bears, horses, and other animals for the purpose of baiting them with dogs was introduced. During the reigns of Mary, Elizabeth, James I and Charles I(1553-1649), bull baiting and bear batting was the sport of Kings. It was during the reign of Charles the I (in 1631) that the bulldog was first specifically mentioned by name.There was a letter written in 1631 from St. Sabastian, in Spain, by an Englishman called Prestwich Eaton to his friend George Wellingham in St, Swithin's Lane, London, asking for a good "Mastive" dog and two good "Bulldoggs" to be sent out to him. This is definite proof that the Bulldog and the mastiff were becoming separate breeds.

At the end of 1685 James II came to the throne, and from that day onwards bull-baiting declined as a fashionable and courtly amusement, though it continued exceedingly popular with the lower classes for another 150 years. The rules for bull-bating from 1686 till 1835, the dog was only required to "pin" the bull, not throw him, as in the early days of the sport. The new system of bull-baiting, as practice from 1686 onward, favored an active dog of moderately low stature and of only moderate size, with the nose well laid back and a protruding underjaw. The great dog of 90 to 120lbs. in weight which had been the norm when bull-baiting was the sport of Kings, was no longer wanted. The common folk who now had the sport in hand could not afford to rear and keep such huge dogs. Much can happen to change any breed of dog in 50 years and by in breeding and breeding for a fixed purpose in view between the years 1686 and 1735, a dog of definite type and of average weight of 50 lbs. was produced. Though finally more than 40 per cent lighter than his ancestors  he had all of the determination and zeal of his ancestors, and was not only the bravest dog but actually the bravest creature on earth. 

In 1835, all animal baiting contest were made illegal in England. The only baiting contest that survived the ban was dog baiting or dog fighting. Coal miners in the Staffordshire region crossed the Bulldog with scrappy terriers. From these Bulldog terrier crosses we get the American Pit Bull Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terriers and the Bull Terrier. Because of the anti-baiting laws, purebred Bulldogs were very rare in England by the middle of the 19th century. They were being exported to America where they joined and improved the working Bulldogs already in the former colonies. You see English immigrants who came to America in search of a better life in the 1600, 1700 and the 1800's brought there beloved Bulldogs with them to work as catch dogs and to help protect the family and farm. Back in England in order to make a less fierce and more docile Bulldog, it was crossed with the Chinese Pug to create a blocky mild mannered little show dog. Today the dog the world calls the English Bulldog is really a Pug Bulldog cross, a fine animal in its own right but not a true working Bulldog. In fact the working English Bulldog became extinct in his native land at the turn of the 19th century. Fortunately he survived in America, especially in the mountainous regions of the rural south. There he was saved from extinction because he still had work to do. Hogs and cattle were allowed to free range in this rugged terrain where fences were impossible and could only be caught with hardy Bulldogs.