Gold Is the Outcome, Not the Aim

Phoebe becomes the 4th LaRoyal Breed Council Gold

​I’m pleased to share that Phoebe has now been awarded Bulldog Breed Council Gold status, making her the fourth LaRoyal to achieve this level of health testing.

While I’m not someone who becomes fixated on schemes for the sake of them, I am very much supportive of health testing. Much like showing, it’s a valuable sense check. A way of confirming that the decisions you’re making, and the direction you’re heading in, are still the right ones.

After nearly four decades in the breed, with deep, established female lines behind me, I already have a strong understanding of the health, soundness and consistency within my dogs. Generations tell their own story. Health testing doesn’t replace that knowledge, but it does sit alongside it, and when both align, it’s reassuring.

In Phoebe’s case, this really was low-hanging fruit.

She needed to retake her BOAS assessment for her Crufts entry.  While we were there, we also had her heart tested, which left just one box unticked. An eye test later, and the paperwork simply caught up with what we already knew.

What matters more to me is context, and Phoebe’s context is one I’m particularly proud of.

Our previous three Gold dogs, Dusty, Lewis and Luna, all came from the same litter. That was Aimee’s only litter, bred in 2017, and it quietly went on to become one of the most influential litters I’ve ever bred. Three Gold dogs from one litter is not something you plan for. It’s something that happens when structure, health, temperament and longevity are embedded long before a mating ever takes place.

Phoebe is Dusty’s granddaughter, which means this isn’t a one-off achievement or a lucky combination. It’s a continuation. It’s evidence of a female line doing exactly what it was designed to do, generation after generation.

The Bulldog Breed Council Gold award is a useful external marker, particularly for those newer to the breed who want reassurance or clear points of comparison. It also clearly and objectively demonstrates that Bulldogs bred with knowledge, restraint, and long-term planning can and do meet meaningful health standards.

For me, that’s the real value.

Phoebe’s Gold status doesn’t change how I view her. She was always a keeper. What it does is confirm that the LaRoyal female line remains on the right path, not just in type and temperament, but in health and functional soundness as well.

​And that, scheme or no scheme, is exactly where my focus has always been.