Ch Oglivie | mastiffassociation

The Belgian Reverend HKE Van Doorne , KC Agricultural Hall April 1890 , reported about son Ogilvie ~ ‘Ogilvie is not yet thirteen months old , and is one of the best young dogs I have ever come across . He loses a wee bit behind , has a bad light eye , is more undershot than even I would dare to advocate and shows a tendency towards the Dish face defect , but that is all that one can pick out against him . He has lots of bone , a grand growing skull , small soft ear, which he carries well, and is gifted with a really god foreface , a rare quality in brindles nowadays . ‘ Ogilvie was sired by Reverend Van Doorne’ Orlando II , inbred to Dr Turner’ champion Orlando .

TW Allen , Birmingham December 1890 ~ ‘Ogilvie , a grand brindled dog who had he been shown in better condition , would have pressed Lord Stafford very hard . He possesses a better proportioned muzzle as regards substance and length ; in fact , so good is it that a casual observer is deceived as to his girth of skull until he assures himself by measurement . He has also great height and size , but he has a trick of sometimes standing with his forefeet too close together , which gives him an appearance of being below par , having little life and ‘go’ about him . These are drawbacks which are merely temporary , and with more age he will doubtless develop a greater amount of facial muscle , and when really fit and well will be a hard dog to beat .’

Mark Beaufoy , Manchester March 1891 ~ ‘Ogilvie won easily . He is a fine , active dog but struck me as being rather low in condition . Had he been 10 lbs heavier, I think he would have looked all the better . His head is very good , and quite what a Mastiff’s should be ; legs and feet are excellent and he is all round, a first class specimen of a typical Mastiff .’ Dr JS Turner , KC Agricultural Hall April 1891 ~ ‘Ogilvie is a fine upstanding dog of very symmetrical proportions with good skull , muzzle , ears , forelegs , loin and colour . He is a little lacking in spring of ribs , and second thighs , and is too light in eye . ‘

Richard Cook of Ilford , Crystal Palace October 1891 ~ ‘Tom Bowling [Ogilvie’ son] , only seven months , in my opinion , develops in a very fine dog . He has a grand head , and stands upon good legs ; his chief fault is a somewhat short barrel .’ WN Higgs , Crufts March 1892 reported about the Puppy Class as following ~ ‘ Brampton Bess [by Ogilvie] , although very small , easily beat her brother Iron Duke , who is not quite , perhaps so bad but nearly as Lord Clive behind and very light in the eye.’

At Gloucester November 1892 , Dr JS Turner says ~ ‘Iron Duke [18 months] is a dog of great size with good skull but too retroussé in muzzle . In forelegs he is very weak and down on his pasterns , whilst in hindquarters he is cow-hocked and stands and moves very badly .’ His sis Brampton Beauty is just as good as he is faulty in legs and feet . Her head is of excellent ype , and had she been as long in body and as good in loin as Frigga Secunda , she would have won the Challenge Cup . That they should both be of one litter , and reared at the same place , only shows how pups can and do differ , and it also is an example of transmission of deformity in the male line which is more common than in the female .’

Ch Ogilvie’ most successful daughter , ch Brampton Beauty [Tom Bowling’ sis b March 13 1891] , was described at the Birmingham Show , December 1892 by TW Allen as ~ ‘The Bitch Class provided the gem of the show in Brampton Beauty . She was shown a trifle fat , and might be heavier in muzzle and fuller in cheeks , with smaller ears but having regard to her age , the head proportions have time for further development , and if they improve , the size of her ears will not be so apparent . Taken all round , she is a magnificent bitch , good body well ribbed up with first rate legs and feet , her quarters are marvellously good , and her tail is well put on , with massive butt , tapering beautifully to the end . In size and height too , she would make many dogs look small .’ TW Allen judged her dam , ch Jubilee Beauty , as ~ ‘small but full of quality & Mastiff character’and TW Allen completes as ‘A most typical bitch , showing all the rare quality of her dam , ch Toozie , she would do with more size and bone, but with these exceptions it is hard to find a fault in her .’

C Court Rice’ report regarding the Crystal Palace Show April 1894 , mentions ~ ‘The Limit Class for brindled dogs gave us at least a new face of some excellence. Unfortunately one cannot award a dog without being accused of considering the recipient a wonder . This Jonathan [champion Ogilvie’ grandson ~ born January 15 1893 Tom Bowling ex Maggie May , owned by A Barnes of London] is certainly not . His head is absolutely the very squarest I ever saw, nor have I ever seen a skull quite so flat ; his muzzle heavy , short , blunt and deep . His ears are well shaped and carried , but his eyes although dark , are much too large [as distinct from full] . In body he is very undeveloped, and he appears as though he had not a moment’s exercise in his life , so guiltness is he in muscular development . He is very light in bone , but straight on his legs and has grand feet , and although he does not move well he at least moves freely . Regarding his tail I hardly know to say . He has one or more stiff joints in it , and whilst this in itself is , perhaps no very serious matter , a Bulldog twist being absent , I cannot shut my eyes to the fact that the deformity is very prevalent in dogs of this particular strain , the blood of the inbred Orlando II [champion Ogilvie’ sire], having apparently drawn it into a narrower channel .

I do not say we get Bulldog tails actually from Orlando II , but I know we see more of them in those specimens containing that dog’s blood than in any others whatever , and the time may come when a heavy penalty will have to be imposed on such a disfiguring appendage to a Mastiff .’

Before Jonathan (see above) was exported to Australia he was sold to the Dutch gentleman Louis Dobbelmann ; another Dutch breeder G Deetman bred from him the well known champion Holland’ Black Boy , reported in November 1898 as ~ ‘A very good head & muzzle , is straight but not strong on his legs and was somewhat low in condition , which made his body appear too shelly ; he has not size enough at any time ; ~ report December 1898 by AJ Thorpe ‘A good coloured brindle , on the small side , owes his position to his grand head , which is well nigh perfection ; he has good bone , but is very light in body and weak on his front legs .’