I would also like to interject here the history of the English Bull Dog. Originally it was of the Mastiff Breed with a little this/that and then greyhound. Now, these puppies were not bred to be someone's pet...they were bred to be ferocious and fight known at that time as "Bull-Baiting" (the English bloody sport of dog fighting). The winning dogs were held in high esteem for the fights were EXTREMELY vicious, gut wrenching and deadly. A famous story (see link below) of a dog that was blind, scarred and lame fought to the end (which I believe is the symbolism for this figurine). Even masters would cut their dogs paws off and the dog would still attack the bull. This was a wide spread pass time in England. In 1835 the "Cruelty to Animals Act" was passed which made dog fighting illegal and thus the decline in bull-baiting. This itself led to the decline and eventual extinction of the pure strain of the Old English Bulldog.
Although illegal, dog fighting continued with breeders trying to create a "superior" dog that was faster and still as vicious (cross between Old English Bulldog and Old English Terrier) and this dog was known as the Bull and Terrier - which eventually evolved into the Bull Terrier and what we know today as the Pit Bull Terrier.
So the term "After The Battle" most likely refers to the Bull-Baiting of the time. However, it was also adopted by many in England to represent England....small, compact, solid, vicious and most of all tenacious (Not readily letting go of, giving up, or separated from an object that one holds, a position, or a principle: "a tenacious grip" - Dictionary.com)
http://www.bulldoginformation.com/bull-baiting-2.html