Bulldogsworld.com presents

We welcome Judge Chris Neilson to the site for some "ask a judge questions". Chris is a licensed all breed judge and a Bulldog Breeder.. 

Among his accomplishments and under the kennel prefix Comepatabull Bulldogs, he has shown, bred and handled bulldogs to #1 in Canada,

1991,1992,1997,1998,1999,2000,2006.

He is also the President of The Confederation Bulldog Club in Ontario as well as President of The Ontario Breeders Association. He has agreed to generously offer to this site views for you all and can offer two opinions to bulldoggers,  one as an all breed judge, and one as a Bulldog breeder judge. Chris has judged The New Jersey Bulldog Specialty,  The Forth Worth Bulldog Club Specialty,  all breed shows in Dallas, Bloomsburg, PA,  Lansing, Michigan, Wisconsin, every province in Canada except Newfoundland,  Australia including a Bulldog Specialty,  and China. So please feel free to ask any serious question you may have. So ask your question as it relates to showing and a judges point of view.

Please feel free to click here and ask your question for the Judge to answer.  You will remain fully Anonymous. Check back at a later date to see if your question is posted.

Volume 13 -  July/August 2008

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Past (archive) issues link at bottom of this page

For this issue we decided to ask the Judge about himself and his best Bulldogs:

Question: To Judge Chris :Can you tell us how long you have had Bulldogs and some of your best dogs?

I bought my first bulldog in 1972 from a very respected breeder in North America called Albert Farrell.  His kennel prefix was 'nugget' and my dog was called Nugget Dandyman.  I nicknamed him Digger.  Although he was sold to me as a pet, I perservered in the ring and finished many other peoples dogs......lol, but eventually was able to finish him  He was with me until the age of almost 12 when he died of cancer.

During my 'first' show career I decided that Digger needed a companion and that this time I would by her with breeding an showing in mind.  I decided on a kennel from the Buffalo area, 'Greentree Bulldogs' run by Barb and Dave Weatherall who were in competition with Mr. Farrell. 

By this time I had established a kennel name of my own called 'priority' and my first bitch was named Priority's Magic Moment who finished quickly. 

From there I was introduced to Mr. Elmer Bredt and his cousin Hink down in Philadelphia.  I was really getting serious by this time about showing and breeding. 

It was the early 80's and Elmer and Hink had a dog called 'Jack', Bredt's Ace in the Hole who was almost unstoppable on the east coast, gathering many specialty shows and all breed bests as well.  Elmer, Hink, and I all became friends and even with the 10 hour drive between us, I was able to see them frequently.  They had such wonderful dogs like 'Chuck' and 'Squish' were among my favourites. 

I purchased a show bitch from the Bredt's and when she had babies, Elmer took a beautiful male called Bredt's Top Priority, called 'Eddy'.  He finished in both countries easily and had the widest jaw I still have ever seen on a bulldog. 

Gail and I got married in 1990 and decided that it better to have a new kennel name as Gail had her own as well 'Shadytree' and we decided on Comepatabull Bulldogs which we still have. 

Our best man was Elmer Bredt and he gave us a dog called Bredt's Contender on our wedding day. This was the first great dog I owned.

Always owner handled 'Reggie' as we called him finished in the states in 4 shows, was #1 Bulldog in Canada 2 years running and won specialties up in Canada too.  He was gorgeous and had the 'bredt' look, those of you who knew Bredt Bulldogs would know what this meant. 

After Reggie, I showed a couple of nice bitches, one being an English Import and did very well too, but couldn't get them to the top. 

Then he arrived.  Gail picked him out of the litter.  It was 'Rodney', we called him Comepatabull's Getting Respect (after the late Rodney Dangerfield) and it suited him 

From the puppy classes he won his first specialty in Montreal under Jim Cardello, followed by other specialties by the late Bob Gilham in Canada, and Elizabeth Hugo, Randy Miller, Jim Cardello and Bob Newcomb to name some. 

Rodney finished in 4 shows going bw bos at the Detroit Toledo shows for majors and winning the sweeepstakes both days. 

Gail took him the Wisconsin shows as well where again he won the sweeps and his class. 

Then as an adult, Rodney won the Milwaukee Bulldog Club with over 100 entered under Mr. Newcombe who had previously given a very favourable comment about him the year before when he saw him winning the sweeps in Wisconsin. 

Rodney went on to set all the Canadian Records for a Breeder/Owner Handler winning a record 13 all breed bests as well an being #1 Bulldog in Canada for 3 years running. 

Unfortunately we lost Rodney last year with lymphoma.  He was 12.

Following Rodney's footsteps we came right back out with Comepatabull's Direct Drive who finished #1 the following year and #2 the next only to be second to his own son!

We don't show anywhere as much now as we used to now that I am an all breed judge as assignments keep getting in the way....lol.... however, we still love to come out now and then and will continue to in the future.