Buldogue Campeiro
(Brasilian Bulldog, Campeiro Bulldog)
History and Origin
The Buldogue Campeiro descends from the ancient English Bulldogs brought to the Rio Grande del Sur and Santa Catarina in Brasil by the European immigrants since the 16th Century.  This ancient Bulldog was further bred in order to adapt to the brasilian rustic country life style and working tasks.
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Until recently, the Buldogue Campeiro was only used on farms and around abattoirs until Mr. Ralf Schein started a breeding program in order to rescue this rustic breed from extinction.  He started looking for the last specimen of these bulldogs in the mountainous regions, in the hinterland of the Rio Grande do Sul, in the border regions and the nearby state of Santa Catarina.  These rescued bulldogs were selected and submitted to an intensive and responsible breeding program in order to maintain those original bulldog features from their ancestors alive.
In his search Mr. Bender talked to many people that had first hand knowledge about the Bulldog, and he was told many stories from old people who could still remember the Buldogue Campeiro.

These included not only the external morphological characteristics but also temperament and physical aptitude to resist exhaustion when travelling long journeys controlling bulls in the field.
After collecting the few original remaining Campeiro Bulldogs still alive, Mr. Bender saw the necessity to introduce blood of the modern English Bulldog, with the purpose to reinforce the ideal features of the Campeiro and to save the breed.
In his breeding program Mr. Bender always only selected for further breeding those specimens that had most of the characteristics from the Campeiro.
The result of this obstinated and competent work dedicated to the Campeiro Bulldog can be seen today by the high level of studs and bitches from Kennel Cãodomínio, the main kennel dedicated to this breed. Other kennels, like Molosso de Jerivà, have been further selecting this breed taking into account both phenotype (very typical and having good structure), and genotype (independent and distant blood lines).
They continue to breed from descendents of some male icons of the breed such as Alfredo, Tigrão and Rambo and from female icons of the breed such as Betão, Tubiana, Titan and Sarrafo.
Now, after nearly 30 years of work to preserve the breed for the future, the Buldogue Campeiro has been nationally recognized by the CBKC (Confederação Brasileira de Cinofilia), the Brazilian Canine Organization.  The Classification on the CBKC: Group 11, breeds not recognized by FCI.  The next step would be international recognition by FCI.
In southern Brazil, bulldogs were frequently used to capture "wild" cattle, extensively raised in the hostile field environment nearby native forests, were they were used as shepherd dogs as well as bull controllers throwing and holding any escaping cattle.
These dogs participated in long journeys to capture lost cattle and were mainly maintained in slaughterhouses where they were especially used to hold furious bulls whenever necessary or when cattle, but also pigs, were to be led from the fields and to the slaughterhouse.  These very versatile dogs were characterized by a very well balanced nature between the aptitude to act as a guard and a natural prey instinct. They used to live and work together in packs of five Bulldogs or more.
Working Bulldogs developped through natural selection, as the very low-sized animals were disadvantaged when traveling long distances and when immobilizing bulls by pulling and holding them.

On the other hand, the excessively tall ones resulting from crossing with other breeds often lost their natural prey instinct and their precision of movements, which made them especially vulnerable to horn and backward kicks.
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More information:

photo courtesy:  Márcia Gulart, Cãodomínio ,
Fernando Starling, Kennel Molosso di Jerivà,  and Canil Cãogaceiro
Buldogue Campeiro of the early 1900s of the Amaral family  from São Francisco de Paula
Campeiro bulldog of the early 1900s
Typical habitat of Campeiro Bulldogs in Taquara
photo courtesy : Kennel Molosso di Jerivà
An original Buldogue Campeiro
from the Rio Grande do Sul
photo courtesy: Molosso di Jerivà
"Branquinha"
own.: Molosso de Jerivá
"Luma"
own.: Molosso de Jerivá

For more information, please contact :
Fernando Starling, Kennel Molosso di Jerivà
Ralf Schein Bender and Marcia Gulart, Kennel Cãodomínio
Jutay Medeiros, Canil Cãogaceiro
a Buldogue Campeiro of
the early 1900s
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Through the decades, the name, derived from the english "bulldog", was adapted to the portugese language, which brought up words like "burdogue", "bordoga" or "buldogue pampeano".
See Also:
Buldogue Campeiro temperament and characteristics
Fila Brasileiro or Brazilian Mastiff