Affiliated with the Canine Control Council, Queensland

The Bullmastiff breed, as its name suggests, is a combination of the English Mastiff and the old style Bulldog.  It was created in England in the mid-1800s and is the only guarding breed to originate in England.

At the time of the dog's creation, there were many large estates in England, where the owners frowned upon the game in their estates being poached.  Gamekeepers were employed to oversee and protect the game in the estates and they needed an able assistant as the poachers were a rather dangerous lot, and punishment for poaching was death. Flogging and mutilation were not uncommon as punishment and eventually shipment to Australia for 7 years. 

There were various breeds of dogs used but they were too meek, uncontrollable, large, clumsy, small or unable to be trained.  Mastiffs were tried but found to be somewhat slow and to not have the drive necessary to down and hold a man.  Bulldogs (a quite different type that we see today) were tried, but the bulldog of that era was very ferocious and tended to tear up the poacher too much.

Eventually the Gamekeepers crossed the Bulldog and Mastiff until a ratio of 60% Mastiff and 40% Bulldog was achieved.  This type of dog, eventually called the Bullmastiff, served the needs of the Gamekeeper very well.  The dog could track a man in the forest at night; work quietly; and, when close enough spring to a hard charge, knocking the man down and holding him there until the gamekeeper arrived.  This was no mean feat since the poachers used every trick and tool at their disposal to escape, knowing the punishment that they faced.  The Bullmastiff had to be very brave and tenacious and more than one suffered death at the hands of a desperate criminal.  But, the breed was exactly what the gamekeeper needed and they did their job well.

It was important for the Gamekeepers dog to have a stable temperament to fulfil his duties and also to live with his family, not wanting them to be savaged or hurt. They required a quiet nature so the dog did not alert the poacher and able to be easily trained so he could attack on command.  The dog needed to be easily controlled so it would also release the poacher on command.

The first dog shows that resemble the dogs shows we know today, took place in the early 1850s.  These shows were generally held in pubs.  The Bullmastiffs still being considered crossbred in those early days, was not offered a class at these early shows.  So the Gamekeepers organised their own shows the first one was held on 1st August 1900.

The growth and development of the breed in Britain were rapid after admission to the ranks of the purebred in 1924.  The number of registrations began quickly increasing from a start of 63 in 1925 to 584 registered in 1935.  The long climb toward consistency in breed type has begun.

In Australia the first Bullmastiff that is known to have been imported from the UK by Mr Ewing of Highett in Victoria in 1949.  Later that year two more Bullmastiffs were imported from England into NSW one was Brynmount Sampson and the other Wish of Harbex.

According to the Australian National Kennel Council the registration statistics of Bullmastiffs in this country are as follows...

2006 - 644