Founding Meeting

For quite some time the well-known breeder of English Bulldogs, Imelda Angehrn, was not satisfied anymore with the direction towards which the English Bulldog was developing. At the same time discussions with the authorities in Switzerland on stricter animal protection laws and breeding regulations began. After in-depth discussions with renowned dog experts Imelda Angehrn decided to seek approval for cross breeding the English Bulldog with another breed.

On December 6, 2000 the Swiss Club for English Bulldogs and the Breed Council of the Swiss Kennel Club gave Imelda Angehrn their permission for the trial cross breeds English Bulldog x Old English Bulldogs and in Summer 2001 the first litter of these Pickwick Crossbreeds fell which as a result she named PICKWICK BULLDOGS OLD TYPE (PBOT). The aim of this experiment was to achieve increased natural whelping, noiseless breathing, improved agility and resilience of the dogs.

The initial goal was to infuse the genes of these crossbreeds later on into the English Bulldog. This proved to be impossible for various reasons. However, it soon became evident that the new breeding program was a great success because the dogs emanating from it were very popular with all their owners indeed enthusiastic about the unique temperament, the flexibility and resilience of the PBOT’s.

So, quite soon a project group was formed with representatives of the Working Committee for Breeding Development and Support of The Swiss Kennel Club (SKC) in close cooperation with Imelda Angehrn, as she was working towards the recognition of a new Bulldog breed. At that time about 70 of these dogs were evaluated by a veterinarian and a show judge and their registration in the Annex of the Swiss Stud Book (SHSB) was applied for.

As a result, the Board of the SKC decided on September 15, 2004 to give the green light for the creation of a new breed under the name CONTINENTAL BULLDOG based on the application of the aforementioned Committee and with the stipulation of various rules and regulations.

Thus on Sunday, December 5, 2004 the Founding Meeting took place in the presence of 41 of the then registered 105 members. In a pleasant and friendly atmosphere the CONTINENTAL BULLDOG CLUB SWITZERLAND – CBCS was born.

Messrs. Peter Rub, President of the SKC, Dr. h.c. Hans Räber, Honorary Member of the SKC and Dr. Peter Lauper, Chairman of the Working Committee of the Breeding Council of the SKC honoured this memorable occasion by their participation. Mr. Rub warmly welcomed the newly formed Club to the SKC family and extended his best wishes for a successful future of the Club and the new Continental Bulldog breed.

The Standard, the Breeding- and Selection Regulations as well as the By-Laws of the newly founded breed club were approved by the Central Committee of the SKC in February 2005.

This was a great achievement, especially for Imelda Angehrn as her huge commitment and all the work she had so far put into this venture was finally rewarded by this recognition as during the course of time she had to face an untold amount of hostilities.

The first hurdle was taken with this recognition by the SKC and after the provisional recognition by the Fédération Cynologique International (FCI) will come through, the country of origin of the Conti, as the Continental Bulldog was soon lovingly designated by its owners, will be Switzerland..

In any case it was exciting and made great pleasure to be able to participate and assist in the creation of a new breed and the Committee of the CBCS as well as a whole range of New Breeders were and still are enthusiastic about this challenge. The many positive reactions to the official recognition by the SKC was of course a great help to all involved to undertake the future work with confidence

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Pickwick Xira (PBOT) from
the first litter at the age
five weeks…

xira

…and with 2 years.

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Founding assembly

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On December 5, 2004 the
founding assembly took
place with the participation
of a good number of
founding members.