THE FRENCH BULLDOG
LUIS & PATTY SOSA
Patty handled in the late 1980s showing mostly Working, Toys and Non-Sporting breeds. Patty is currently Treasurer of the Louisiana Kennel Club, and is a member of the French Bull Dog Club of America, the American Bullmastiff Association and the Morris & Essex KC. She had the honor of judging the ABA 2009 Top Twenty, the 2009 French Bulldog National Specialty, the 2010 French Bulldog Club shows in Sweden and Moscow, the 2014 French Bulldog Club of Gr. Victoria Show, American Bullmastiff Asso- ciation 2017 Independent Specialty in conjunction with the National Specialty. 1. When did you get involved in the sport? How many years breeding? Exhibiting? Judging? I’ve been involved in the Sport since around 1973, and have had and bred Dachshunds, Afghans, Frenchies, Bullmastiffs and other breeds, having bred Frenchies for some 35+ years and judging the breed for 12 years. Patty has bred Bullmastiffs and Rottweilers in addition to Frenchies and has shown a number of Working, Toy and Non-Sporting Breeds. Both of us are Group judges. 2. Your opinion of the current quality of the breed? Probably not as good as it was 30 years ago, many dogs today are not balanced. While you can find good attri- butes in different dogs it’s hard to find them in a single dog. On the other hand, we probably had some longer backed dogs in the past, as opposed to the overly short backed dogs that we may see today. We see more of a variety of head styles today compared to 30 years ago when the Hampton-Terrett type dominated. Tempera- ments have improved, as we see very few dog aggressive Frenchies today. Movement is probably worse than it was with more dogs swinging their fronts when they move. Gait is described in the new Standard revision as a four tracking foot pattern. We do have very good dogs, but they are few and far between in comparison to the large numbers of entries seen.
Luis Sosa grew up with Stan- dard Smooth Dachshunds, which his father worked in tracking and field in Cuba in the 1950s. Luis obtained his first Miniature Long- haired Dachshund in 1972 out of English bloodlines. He met Paul Tolliver (Taunuswald) in the mid 1970s and co-bred with Paul until his death in 1992.
Luis obtained his first French Bulldog in 1975, and for the past 26 years, he has bred French Bulldogs, with his wife Patty under the Bandog prefix. Bandog Reg. has bred over 100 AKC Champions including dogs that have won over 400 Non-Sporting Group1’s, 41 All-Breed Best in Show and Best of Breed at 5 National Specialties. In addition to Frenchies and Dachshunds, Luis has also co-bred Champion Bullmas- tiffs, Afghan Hounds and a Multiple Best in Show winning Standard Poodle (20 BIS). He is a former President of the Bayou Dachshund Club of New Orleans, a member and former Vice-President, and Judge’s Education Committee of the French Bulldog Club of America, and Secretary and AKC Delegate of the Louisiana Kennel Club. He is also a member of the Morris & Essex KC, the Dachshund Club of America, the Bulldog Club of America and the American Bullmastiff Association. Luis has judged the Morris & Essex Kennel Club, Inc. in 2010 and 2015, the Xoloitzquintli Club of America National Specialty 2015, the French Bulldog Club of America National Specialty 2014, the- Boston Terrier Club de Alemania 2012, theDachshund Club of America Host Club shows in 2006 (smooths), 2010 (longs), 2018 (wires). Patty Sosa obtained her first Bullmastiff at age seven as a pet in New York. Since that time, she has bred, owned and showed Bullmastiffs under the Bandog prefix. Bandog under Patty’s breeding produced around 30 AKC Bullmas- tiff Champions. Patty has also bred Rottweilers and French Bulldogs, having bred over 100 AKC Frenchie Champions including several Best in Show and National Specialty Win- ners. Bandog Frenchies have won 41 Best in Shows and the breed at five National Specialties. Four of the BIS and three National Specialties were Breeder/Owner/Handled.
4. Any shift in the balance of popularity among breeds? Why do you think this happened?
Frenchies have become more popular than they were because they are comical, have great personalities and make great pets, so they are popular with the “pet breed- ers.” They are a fun breed. Anyone who owns a bitch considers themselves a “breeder.”
274 • S how S ight M agazine , M ay 2018
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