It is certainly a collection with a lot of bite.

Eiffion Ashdown, who lives in Kemp Town in Brighton, has amassed around 4,000 pieces of bulldog paraphernalia.

He started his venture, Collectibulldogs.com, ten years ago.

Since then, the collection has grown and grown.

There is now even a website devoted to the bulldogs, which take up 15 cabinets.

Mr Ashdown said: “I am not sure as to the true value of the collection so far.

“I started collecting so that I can afford to put my daughter through university and give her the same opportunity as her friends.

“I was a benefits baby and never had that chance.”

Mr Ashdown is currently out of work, but volunteers at the museum one day a week, and runs an art group as well.

The rest of the time, he manages his website and social media pages.

Despite suffering from mental health issues, he has grown the channels from strength to strength.

The Collectibulldogs Twitter page has gathered over 160,000 followers.

He said: “The website and collection are all my own work, and I exhibited some of my bulldogs at the Brighton Museum last year in the first bulldog exhibition of its kind.”

“I am proud I have achieved all of this and am running it myself while suffering with mental illness.

“I suffer from anxiety, unstable emotional personality disorder, OCD and PTSD from when I was stabbed at the age of 24.

“I feel like the collection has given me something to focus on.

“It is a positive form of obsession, and pushes the mental health issues to one side.”

The bulldog-themed items in Mr Ashdown’s cabinets include brass and porcelain figurines, vintage photographs, silver jewellery and books.

The inspiration behind the collection was his late bulldog, Scruffy Louise, who he adopted when she was nine months old.

But now the face of the venture is Wiggles, the dog he rescued after Scruffy Louise died.

“I feel like bulldogs are like me, they are the underdog.

“My favourite pieces are the ones my daughter made, a bottle opener and a pencil holder.

“I would like to get the collection appraised soon, and I need specialist insurance.

“My ultimate dream is to open the UK’s first ever bulldog museum, as they have been a national symbol for a long time.”