We got a dog a month ago! She's a Conti !
The Continental Bulldog is a recent breed.
In the 80's, Imelda Angehrn a Swiss breeder started cross-breeding Old English Bulldogs and English Bulldogs. I read somewhere that a third breed was also involved but could not find the source again.
She wanted to remove the health defects that the heavy selection inflicted on the English Bulldogs.
We had an English Bulldog named Jessie, we had to let her go too soon to the doggy paradise. We understood that she was suffering from her condition. We took her in after she was adandoned and just tried to offer her the best retirement years. But we could see that she was in pain.
When we discovered the Continental Bulldog (aka Conti), we realised that it would be the perfect dog for us!
They are known to have the general temperament of the English Bulldog, minus the health problems. Lilie is a kind, friendly and playful dog, always following us and looking for cuddles and our presence. Contrary to our previous Bulldog, she's not so fond of food and let us over sleep during the weekends.
Usually, the Conti are not shy dogs, but Lilie lived with a couple of breeder during 2.5 years and is not very confident with new people. We practice a lot with family and friends to make her more gregarious.
As most Bulldogs, she gets along with cats ! Our good old Jack took only 2 days to feel confident around her and a single "No" was enough for her to understand that she was not allowed to run after him ! We have a stray cat literally squating our garden and they've been a direct match. We were quite impressed as this cat only tolerate 3 humans: my wife, her sister and myself.
But man ! She has a lot of energy !
The Conti are known to be tireless, and yup ! She is !
Their face is mush less flat than English Bulldog and they can breath quite correctly. She's made to run, jump and bite (her toys, not us !). She did some "agility" with her previous owners and loves to jump on stuff in the forest !
We rediscovered the pleasure of long walks in the forest. Being "waterproof" she enjoys it whatever the weather be.
Be aware that the puppies of this breed are quite expensive. In France, they cost around 1800€. We were lucky to find a breeder that had to leave her and just had to pay for her sterilisation.
