AS IT WAS SAID THE GOOD OLD BAD OLD DAYS !

History! And the origin of the Bull Terrier

Since earliest times its size, breadth of head, shortness of muzzle, strength of jaw and outstanding courage have especially identified one canine descendant of the wolf. Mainly used for hunting large game such as wild boar, this dog also had a role as a warrior dog. Just such a dog was to be found fighting along side the ancient Britons when the Romans invaded.

These greatly took a fancy of the Romans, so much so that they sent large numbers of them to Italy, from where their influence spread to many parts or Europe. The breed seems to have persisted in this country for many centuries without any marked variation and, shortly after the Norman Conquest, it was used for baiting bulls, lions and bears. A writer on sport in around the 1400 describe a dog of great size, strength and courage, with a large heavy head and short muzzle and baiting large animals and was from its description, a direct descendant of the Pugnaces.

This was with out a doubt a Crawl way of Earning a living, and for Sport for that matter. Not fare on both Animals, That’s what the mean by The Good Old Bad old Days !!

From the middle of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, Bull and Bear baiting were

Royal sports and very fashionable among highly placed people, which must have stimulated the production of suitable dogs, these however appear to have been of large Mastiff type. By the end of the seventeenth century the sport seemed to have declined a lot and as a result, the nature of the contest changed dramatically.

Previously the nature of the game was to throw the Bull that was unchained. Since the cost of this was to high for the lower class community at the time the regulations were gradually modified to suit a lighter and smaller type dog, more suited to the purse of his owner. The aim for the dog was to pin the tied up bull down by its noise. The sport was then made illegal in 1835.

The Bulldog is the first direct ancestor of our Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

As a bull baiting became less popular, dog fighting enjoyed a sudden surge of interest towards the end of the eighteenth century. Men who had been famous for the prowess of their bull baiting dogs began to gain recognition as owners of fine fighting dogs. Such a man was Ben White from London who fought his dogs in most of the pits in the city.

Some modification of the dog was necessary. The bulldog was a bred to pin and hang on at all costs – exciting enough when he was pitched against an animal of magnitude and ferocity of a bull but boring in the extreme when pitched against another dog. The muzzle needed to lose its lay back and the teeth to become larger – so that different grips could occur and plenty of blood could flow. All of which was to please the roaring the crowd, the more blood there was the happier they were. While these changes could have been successfully obtained by selective breeding form the existing bulldog stock, it seems more likely that some terrier blood was introduced. The name given to this type of dog - bull-and Terrier – supports this later theory.

THE RAT PIT

The bull and Terrier was a quick but strong dog with a longer muzzle that the earlier bulldog. Apart from bull baiting he was mainly used for ratting and badger baiting. With such a bloody history you might wonder how this dog could have become the very popular family pet that is undoubtedly is today.

The Family Tree!

The bulldog of 1800, the Old English Terrier and the White English Terrier, all of which are now extinct are then the principle ancestors of the three types of Bull Terrier living today, i.e. the Staffordshire, the Bull Terrier, and the Coloured Bull Terrier. The relationship is indicated in the chart, although its broadly correct is not necessarily the whole truth.

Bulldog -------------x------------------- Old English Terrier ¦ ¦ Staffordshire Or

White English Terrier ---------x-------------- (Bull and Terrier)

 Bull Terrier (white)-----------------x-----------------Staffordshire ¦ ¦ Coloured Bull Terrier

Some time about 1800/1820, the Bulldog was crossed with the Old English Terrier and produced the Staffordshire. Round about 1850 the Staffordshire was bred with the White English Terrier, and possible other breeds, form which by selection the Bull Terrier (White) was evolved. Some forty years ago breeders decided to produce a coloured shaped like a White, so they crossed the latter back to it ancestor, the Staffordshire, and by selection for the type required succeeded in perfecting the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Terriers

The name derives from the Latin 'terra' which means 'earth'. From primitive times man has hunted, and our earliest writers on the subject have acknowledged the terrier. This animal was so named because it was employed underground to force fox, badger and otter from their lairs. He was also kept for the purpose of killing rats, weasels and other vermin, which infested the countryside when it was less cultivated than is the case today

The first mention of the terrier is in the accounts of Edward I, in 1299-1300: "Paid to William de Foxhunte, the King's huntsman of foxes in divers forest and parks for his own wages and the wages of his two boys to take care of the dogs -£9 3s" "Paid to the same for the keep of twelve dogs belonging to the King"…."Paid to the same for the expense of a horse to carry the net…"

The next mention is by Edward, 2nd Duke of York, in his book The Mayster of the Game (1413). This was the first manuscript book of sport to be written in the English language, and in it he mentions "small curs that came to the terriers". One of the earliest pictorial representations of the terrier is given in Strutt's Sport and Pastimes. It consists of an engraving from a 14th century manuscript, which depicts a dog, assisted by three men with spades, engaged in unearthing a fox. There is no doubt that this terrier record given to us by Strutt is the oldest upon which any doubt that this terrier record given to us by Strutt is the oldest upon which any reliance can be placed.

Creation of the Breed

Probably the most important figure, who was accepted nationwide as the father of the 'new breed' of fighting dog, was the Duke of Hamilton. His Grace spent lots of time and money perfecting this breed, and he frequented all the known pits with his dogs, that were seldom beaten He was inundated with enquiries from titled folk keen to acquire some of his young stock, for to own one of the Duke of Hamilton's breed was a feather in the cap of anyone in the Fancy. The Duke was a well-known sporting gentleman, and his racehorses well well to the fore in all the big races. He often frequented th cellars in some well-known inns in Glasgow and the surrounding areas, like the Beehive in Kirkintilloch, the Zebra and the Zaracin's Head in Glasgow.

As a young man, the Duke took a great interest in fighting dogs about 1770, then developed his own fighting strain from a lighter and quicker bulldog of the day that he also kept. In H.B Chalon's painting of Wasp, Child and Billy, owned at the time by Mr. Henry Boynton, who acquired them after the death of the Duke of Hamilton in 1801, you can see that their likeness in type to the present day Stafford is remarkable.

The Show Ring!

The First club show for the breed was held in August 1935 in the Midlands at Cradley Heath, where sixty dogs and bitches were entered. In 1937 fanciers in the London area got together and started a club for the South of England and today there are breed clubs from the North of Scotland to the West Country, including Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. The fame of the breed has judges, ideas and animals occurring between them and the country origin. Championship status was granted to the breed in 1938 and the first challenge Certificates were awarded at the Birmingham National Dog Show in that year. The first champions of the breed, both born in the midlands, were Ch. Gentleman Jim and Ch. Lady Eve, who finished their championships at the Bath Show in 1939. To get championship show status, breeds of the day had to work hard to reach a total of 750 registered Stafford’s. Staffordshire Bull Terriers have come a long way in their short history, thanks to the efforts of their faithful admirers and their own excellent character they have now found a place for themselves in almost every sphere of the dog world. They are occasional winners of the coveted Best in show awards, beating longer established breeds. They have won Obedience Championships and have been accepted for training by charities such as Pets As Therapy to work as PAT dogs. Above all that and most of all they have proved themselves extremely suitable as a family pets, and are astonishing with children.

Staffordshire  And The Baiting Sports

For centuries, the men who  frequented Bull rings and Bear pits had enjoyed watching two dogs fight, but it  was only with the abolition of Bull baiting that dogs were bred and trained  specifically for the sport.

It had been found that  Bulldogs were the only dogs which possessed the requisite courage for the  dog-pit, but that they lacked the necessary agility. Various Bulldog crosses  were tried, mainly with Terriers, until eventually a specific breed of Bull and Terrier was produced which was fast, strong and utterly game.

From that time dog-fighting  increased in popularity. It was spectacular and as searching a test of gameness  and capacity to give and take punishment as ever a Bull-bait was. There was  little initial interference from the law, since it was possible to fight two  dogs in any hollow or shed without attracting too much attention, for fighting  dogs fight silently. They were easy to get away afterwards, as they could always  be carried off in a sack if their condition was likely to draw suspicion. And  dog-fighting had an advantage over Bull or Bear-baiting in that at least both  animals wanted to fight, instead of the victim having to be fastened with a rope  or chain

Early fighting dogs were of  all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours since their breeding was promiscuous. By  about 1860 they more or less fell into one of two groups, from one of which the  English Bull Terrier was developed and from the other the Staffordshire Bull  Terrier. Both breeds were initially very game, since nobody would keep one which  was not, but men soon bred the English variety for show, and looks were  "improved" at the expense of courage. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier  continued to be bred for the pit, and, though not very standardised even yet  (despite being shown for more than ten years) there is no living breed so game.

There is nothing very  complicated in the rules of dog-fighting. The important thing is not so much to  kill the other dog, as to be game enough to try.

In days when the sport was  still legal and at the height of its popularity, between 1820 and 1830,  dog-fights were a regular part of the sport at such famous centers of attraction  to "the fancy" as the Westminster Pit. The arena here was used  indiscriminately for dog-fights, rat-killing contests, cockfights and various  freak contests between dog and Raccoon or even Monkey.

The pit itself was roughly  12-18 feet across, with a boarded surround about 3 feet high, over which the  spectators could watch. Each dog was handled by its second and, after the  preliminary formalities concerning the stakes had been completed, each dog was  weighed in the pit. It is common for owners of Bull Terriers which develop a  taste for fighting, to boast that their dog will "kill anything" and  that this dog or that "killed an Alsatian" (or something equally big)  "in ten minutes". They would alter their tune if they met a real  fighting Terrier. So much does sheer weight count that matches were rarely made  at more than a maximum excess of one pound over the stipulated weight. If a  match were made to be fought at "38 lbs give or take a pound", a dog  coming to the pit so much as a few ounces over 39 lbs would be disqualified and  forfeit the stakes. And two good dogs would sometimes take as much as two hours  to decide which was the better and rarely less than than 25 or 30 minutes.  However good a dog was known to be, nobody but a fool would match him against  anything but a cur outside his weight class. And the man who kept fighting  Terriers considered all breeds to be curs which were not game in the pit.

There was often a good deal of  trickery, of the lowest sort, employed to ensure a particular dog winning. He  would be rubbed over with acid, pickle, pepper or anything to discourage his  opponent from biting him. To avoid this, a common butt of water was provided  from which both dogs had to be washed, or sometimes milk was used to  "kill" the acid. As an additional precaution, each setter was allowed  to "taste" (or lick) his opponent's dog both before and after fighting  to satisfy himself that nothing pernicious had been used.

When the preliminaries had  been completed a coin was tossed to decide which dog should "scratch  first" (* alternatively, it was customary in some parts to commence by  loosing both dogs simultaneously. The setters could not leave the pit until they  commenced fighting, and the first to "fault" had to scratch next time  when the battle continued, as described below)

They were taken to opposite  corners of the pit where each second held his dog between his knees so that the  other dog got a fair unobstructed view of his opponent's head. On a word from  the referee, the dog which had to "scratch" first was liberated and  had to across the pit to attack his opponent. A line was drawn across the centre  of the pit, which was known as the "scratch" and the opposing dog  could not be loosed until the attacker had crossed this line. When he had  crossed the scratch the other setter could loose his dog whenever he liked and  it was his judgement here that won or lost many battles.

If a setter thought that his  opponent was not "fast" (or aggressive) he might risk holding his dog  quite still and, if the other dog did not begin to fight him, he automatically  lost the battle. But if his judgement had been wrong and the other dog did fight  at once, the dog which had been held still, until his opponent caught hold of  him where he wanted to, was at an obvious disadvantage. If, on the other hand,  the setter thought that his opponent was pretty fast, his obvious tactics were  to loose his dog the moment the other dog crossed the scratch, so that they  could meet on equal terms. Sometimes a setter opposed to a fast dog would hold  his until the last possible moment and slip him to one side, so that the other  dog rushed harmlessly by. He then loosed him, in the hope that he could get a  hold before his adversary had recovered his balance. This was an obvious case of  "not showing his dog's head fair to scratch" and should have been  penalised by the referee.

When both dogs commenced to  fight, and not before, the setters could leave the pit and though they could  encourage their own dogs, they were forbidden to speak to their opponents dog.  Neither dog could be touched again until both stopped fighting, which would  eventually happen when they were short of wind or otherwise exhausted. When this  happened either setter would pick up his dog. If the opposing dog showed fight  he was obliged to put it down again and allow them to continue. If he could get  him away unmolested he could take him to his corner and the round had expired.  One minute was allowed for sponging down and making ready for the next round,  and the referee gave warning after 50 seconds so that both should be ready when  the minute was up.

This time, the dog which had  scratched first was held while his opponent came to the scratch and the battle  went on again for no set time, but until both dogs "faulted" again.  Sometimes, these rounds lasted for 20 minutes or more. Towards the end of a  battle, when both dogs were becoming weak or, short of breath, there might only  be a few minutes between scratches. A battle of an hour or more might have  twenty scratches, or one dog might be killed in the first scratch. It was like  the old Prize Ring rules where might didn't fight for a stipulated time, but  until one of them fell to the ground.

The battle was lost by the  first dog which failed to scratch in his turn. It was not necessarily the dog  which killed the other who won, but the dog which proved himself to be the most  game. If a dog was killed in the pit, his opponent had to stay at him for 10  minutes at least and he could still not be handled by his setter till he  faulted. Then he was taken to his corner. If it was the dead dog's turn to  scratch then the battle was automatically lost, but if it was the live dog's  turn and he did not scratch, then he lost even though he had killed his  opponent. Dog-fighting has become illegal since the days of the Westminster Pit  and by the middle of the last century it had to be carried out surreptitiously.  It was very popular in London until the beginning of this century and a little  has been carried on in the Midlands at intervals since then. Police interference  has increased until all organised dog-fighting in this country has now been  stamped out, but game Terriers are still bred and exported to America where the  sport is still perfectly legal in some States.

It is natural that a sport  demanding such gameness should produce some remarkable dogs. I saw a dog only  last year which refused to mate a bitch which was dead hot in season. Every time  he was loosed he went straight for her throat and we had to choke him off eight  times before he eventually mated her and he even tried to worry her when he was  knotted. No damage was done as it happened, since she was wearing her broad  leather collar. Puppies will fight to kill at three-months-old and bitches are as keen as dogs. Yet some strains are remarkably friendly to other dogs and will put up with unusual insults before being goaded into fighting, but once they got  a taste for it, they would rather fight than do anything else in the world.

If sheer love of fighting is  the prime necessity of the successful fighting dog, correct physique and  complete physical fitness are almost equally important. A dog fights with his  mouth, and the only place he can sweat are through his tongue and the pores of his feet. And no dog can do much damage with his tongue lolling out.

The first considerations in  getting a dog fighting fit are therefore his wind and the removal of all surplus  fat. He must be given constant hard exercise to get him muscled up and in dead  hard condition, which can be best achieved by giving small quantities of  extremely nutritious food with an absence of starchy food during training."

The jelly from cow's feet and  an adequate supply of fresh greens forms a good basis. Plenty of hard walking on  a lead with a wide collar so that he can lay himself down and pull helps to  strengthen his back and loin muscles. An old motor tyre or other piece of rubber  hung up so that he can jump up, catch and shake himself about is vital. The  damage a fighting dog can do, is not so much by the sheer force of his bite as  by the shaking when he has a hold. And his neck and back muscles are essential  for this. Plenty of running, jumping for a ball that bounces well strengthens  all the muscles he uses in turning and twisting and produces the required  agility.

When he is thoroughly fit, the  fighting dog is the very personification of energy. His coat glistens until it  seems to exude good health. His eye is bright and there is a rippling mass of  muscle from his cheeks, and down his neck and shoulders to his loins. He dances  like a boxer in the ring and once he has tried fighting he will attack anything  that moves, from a mouse to a mule. Although there is no definite type of  fighting dog, the breed which was developed for this specific purpose was the  Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Many successful dogs were shipped to America, where  they became known as "Pit Bull Terriers" and American periodicals  devoted to dog-fighting and cock-fighting regularly gave round-by-round  commentaries of the battles their dogs have, at what they call "Pit Bull  Terrier Conventions".

Despite the illegality of the  sport in this country it has always been carried on spasmodically to a small  extent. Periodically, the Press write of "orgies" of dog-fighting which are alleged to have been carried on for fabulous stakes, usually behind  locked doors in the presence of beautiful women gambling away their fortunes or  their honour on the gory result of some battle. In point of fact the reports are  usually an elaboration woven round scraps of conversation overheard through the  fumes of some bar-parlour.

The battle which may or may  not have been described will have taken place in some cellar or pig-sty or barn  in the presence of from three to five men, all of whom are intimately known to  one another. They never fight in the same place twice. They rarely even keep the  dogs they fight, usually collecting them for the occasion from the men who have  trained them and who will be busily engaged in securing a water-tight alibi  elsewhere. And the whole proceedings will be notable for their sordidness rather  than their glamour. Nobody but the people concerned know when or where the next  "job" is coming off and the sum total of battles fought is very small,  so that the chances of detection is negligible.

The dogs themselves take to  fighting like Spaniels to the gun and their absolute craziness to get at each  other has to be seen to be believed. The men who watch them are of an equally  unusual type. That they have little imagination goes without saying. But I find  it surprising what a low percentage appear to have taken any purely sadistic  delight. They almost worship the quality of aggressive gameness and they are  usually as willing to fight one another as to watch their dogs compete.

from "The Book Of The Dog

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