Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Non-Sporting Group · No. 10 in 2025

How to identify a Bulldog

The Bulldog is a heavy, low-slung companion with a rolling gait, ranked No. 10 by the AKC in 2025. The face is extremely short, with an undershot jaw and heavy wrinkles. The small, thin rose ears fold inward at the back.

Photo of a Bulldog
Photo: Pleple2000 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Bulldog standard.

  1. “Heavy, thick-set, low-swung” body with wide shoulders and a rolling gait
  2. Extremely short face, undershot jaw, and heavy wrinkles
  3. Small, thin “rose” ears folding inward at the back
  4. Short, low tail, straight or “screwed,” carried down

Tell them apart

Bulldog or French Bulldog?

Check the ears. A French Bulldog’s bat ears stand up, while a Bulldog’s small rose ears fold over. The Bulldog is also heavier, lower and wider at the shoulder, with an undershot jaw and deeper wrinkles.

Bulldog

Bulldog

  1. “Heavy, thick-set, low-swung” body with wide shoulders and a rolling gait
  2. Extremely short face, undershot jaw, and heavy wrinkles
  3. Small, thin “rose” ears folding inward at the back
  4. Short, low tail, straight or “screwed,” carried down
French Bulldog

French Bulldog

  1. “Bat ear, broad at the base, elongated, with round top,” carried erect
  2. Large, square head with a soft roll of wrinkles over an “extremely short nose”
  3. “Roach back,” with the loin higher than the shoulder
  4. White, cream, or fawn, with brindle or piebald patterns; never black, blue, or merle

Bulldog or Boston Terrier?

A Boston is lighter and square-built, with small erect ears, a flat-topped skull and required white on the face and chest. A Bulldog is low-slung and heavy, with folded rose ears, heavy wrinkles and an undershot jaw.

Bulldog

Bulldog

  1. “Heavy, thick-set, low-swung” body with wide shoulders and a rolling gait
  2. Extremely short face, undershot jaw, and heavy wrinkles
  3. Small, thin “rose” ears folding inward at the back
  4. Short, low tail, straight or “screwed,” carried down
Boston Terrier

Boston Terrier

  1. Brindle, seal, or black, “evenly marked with white”
  2. Required white muzzle band, white blaze between the eyes, and white forechest
  3. Square, flat-topped skull; short, square muzzle; small, erect ears
  4. Tail “short, fine and tapering,” straight or screw, never docked

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