| | In the beginning | A man named David Leavitt had a dream. Mr. Leavitt wanted to recreate the ancient Bullbaiter. He wanted the health and vitality of that bulldog without the extreme viciousness the old bulldog was known for. Mr. Leavitt said: "I do not want the temperament of the original Bulldog. My dogs must be very loving. They must have courage and determination without being overly aggressive." And again: "I wanted breeds with old Bulldog in their genotype, when I chose my foundation stock. This was just my personal preference. Next I was guided by reproducing the phenotype of the working Bulldog. "Like produces like" was my method of molding a dog that matched the period artwork. I searched long and hard for hidden remnants of old blood, ie. Spanish Bulldog, Majorcan, rumors of Bulldogs in Nova Scotia and the American south, but none of these panned out. I considered the Boxer and Dogue d’ Bordeaux, but didn’t use them due to health concerns. I chose 50% English Bulldog and 16.66% Pit Bull, Bull Mastiff and American Bulldog. I used a Dr. Fechimer’s cattle line breeding scheme and started multiple ones so I could outcross when necessary. The dog was shaped by picking examples to breed, that most closely matched the "old dog" and I eliminated lines that displayed demodex and epilepsy, even once." Below is David and one of his early bulldogs. 
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Here are a couple of links to some Leavitt Bulldog sites.
http://www.leavittbulldogassociation.com/
http://www.leavittbulldog.org/