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Like most breeds the Bull Terrier has a sporting past in the days when mans needs were ‘Blood Sports.’
The Bull Terrier was developed from a variety of breeds into something which is possibly greater than was first thought of. Their courage was proverbial, endurance and resistance to pain unbelievable, and their |
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intelligence was almost uncanny, these virtues which we admire in
both humans and animals made them great fighters, so much so it is for this quality that they
are remembered by most people rather than their other numerous qualities. There were two attributes which the Bull Terrier possessed above all rivals, which not only added to their quality as a fighting dog, but remains today, making them an ideal family dog. 1. The ability to solve new problems and to think for themselves in an emergency, once in a fighting pit, the one who could not solve the problem died! 2. Under pain and excitement they would not lose their head and bite the master when being separated in the pit. Add to this a craving for human companionship, and a friendly love of humans especially their own family. These qualities make them not only reliable with children, (under supervision of course) but also a companion and protector who can be depended on in an emergency. What of the gory history? As the name implies, the Bull Terrier is a descendent of the Bull Dog, not I must add, the type we know today, but a long legged great athlete, who earned his living baiting bulls, a great sport that was supposed to improve the quality of meat if the bull was baited before it was slaughtered – that was the excuse. Around 1810 some Terriers were crossed with Bulldogs in order to gain greater agility and intelligence and what appeared was a rather ugly, stout hearted fellow, known as the Bull and Terrier. By this time public baits were outlawed so other forms of ‘entertainment’ were sought after, i.e. rat killing and dog fighting. Dog pits when the fights took pace, were constructed to definite specifications and very strict rules covered the fights, as a great deal of money was wagered. Skullduggery was rampant. A Taster was employed at a shilling per dog, to run his tongue over the whole of each dog, to make sure that there was no pepper, pickle or even acid on the dogs coat. So great were these dogs at fighting that the weight difference was seldom more than two pounds. The fights lasted up to six hours, so much so that sometimes even the winner died, not surprisingly from wounds but lung collapse or pneumonia because of lack of care and attention. Where does the Bull Terrier fit in? From the Bull and Terrier, the Terrier characteristics became most noticeable. Heads sharpened, and legs strengthened. White as a colour became more frequent and was much admired. When James Hinks introduced his pure white strain at a show in 1862 the coloured dog fell into disrepute. There is no doubt that it is to James Hinks that we are indebted for the more elegant dog who graced the latter part of the nineteenth century. The Birmingham dogs - Birmingham being the home of Hinks – showed a refinement and grace. The absence of crooked legs and coloured patches betrayed that Hinks had been using an outcross with the now extinct white English Terrier. Many people objected to this new blood, saying the pugnacity had been eliminated. Hinks proved that this was not so. He matched his 40lb bitch, ‘Puss’ against one of the old bull faced type, a 60lb bitch for a £5 note and a case of champagne – the fight took place at Tuffers in Longacre. In half an hour Puss had killed her opponent, her own injuries being so slight that the next morning she appeared at a dog show, and took a prize for her good looks and condition. So this was the possible start. In those days pedigrees were a most mixed up affair, it is impossible to tell exactly what breeds were mixed up together to form the Bull Terrier. However, it is quite well established that the old fashioned Bull Dog, the White English Terrier and the Dalmatian furnished the basic crosses used by Hink, it is probable that the Greyhound, Spanish Pointer and Fox Hound were also used. This led to the occasional Hound eared Bull Terrier being whelped even as late as 1930. There is also slight evidence that perhaps either the Borzoi or Smooth Coated Collie was used to help get length of head and a greater arc. As an example of the difficulty of tracing any of the early pedigrees with any degree of accuracy, in the Kennel Club Stud Book for 1874, there are no less than a dozen Bull Terriers with the same name of Hink’s famous sire ‘Trademark’. Pictures of these early Bull Terriers of the late 1800’s reveal a dog different from today’s show specimen, they looked high in the leg, heads mostly had a stop, eyes were rounder and larger, and the ears were generally cropped. In 1895 ear cropping was forbidden in England, and Bull Terriers lost their smart appearance, and the breed lost favour, fortunately the dedicated fanciers stuck to the breed and within 5 or 6 years bred some good dogs with naturally erect ears. The Standard was revised in 1930 making any ear other than erect a fault. A breeding problem much more serious than ear carriage occurred – deafness . As early as 1909 Bull Terrier breeders in England were disturbed at the increasing number of deaf dogs, and so petitioned the Kennel Club to make deafness a disqualification at dog shows. Deafness in Bull Terriers and in other breeds where it occurs seems linked in some way with the white coat, coloured Bull Terriers were seldom if ever deaf. To side track for a moment, while the White Bull Terrier continued to improve in type and popularity, the old Bull and Terrier faded into the background, but thank God did not disappear. The devotees of these brave hardy dogs continued to breed them and in 1930 the Bull and Terrier emerged with the status and respectability of a pure bred, being given the name Staffordshire Bull Terriers. In addition to the major role the Staffordshire played in the founding of the White Bull Terrier, there was a second vital role played and that was in the production of the Coloured Bull Terrier. In the early 1900’s various Bull Terrier fanciers decided that it would be desirable to have coloured dogs with the same conformation as the Whites, so Whites were crossed with Staffordshires, thus regaining the brindle factor, but many traits reappeared – broad heads with stops – bowed legs etc., the devotees of the Whites were violently opposed to the coloureds fearing in breeding would cause the loss of the pure white coat and general deterioration of the white stock, although requested by the Bull Terrier Club, which incidentally was founded in 1988, to classify coloureds as a separate breed. The Kennel Club of England refused, insisting Coloureds and Whites be shown together as one breed. The fist coloured Champion was Lady Winnifred in 1919. Gradually by making use of the best whites the breeders of coloured Bull Terriers improved conformation and produced some great headed dogs such as Romany Reliance in 1946. For breeders of whites, there were strict sanctions against using coloured dogs or whites with coloured ancestry in a white breeding program. Finally in 1950, some of the more liberal and far sighted breeders, who recognised that fear of ‘contamination’ by coloureds was groundless and that the inability to use splendid coloured dogs or their white progeny was stifling breed progress, managed to have the restrictions voted out. Progress of the breed as a whole, has been nothing less than phenomenal since that enlightened decision, the breed was revitalised by restoring substance, pigmentation and overall sturdiness, also the brindle factor returned, having been lost from the pure white strain. Few breeds have such a gory history than our loveable clownish Bull Terrier. It is hard to believe that from the strains of dogs that used to torment and kill other animals, emerged such a great pet and companion. Unfortunately, a large part of the general public is still prejudiced against the breed because of its heritage. It is worth reminding people that dogs of the past fought and killed because MAN wanted them to be fighters and killers. The history of the breed is an indictment of the Human Species, not of the Bull Terrier.
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There are not all that many books available on the Bull Terrier breed and what books you can get are mostly expensive and have to be ordered in by your book store.
However, a book for a newcomer to the breed and one that is readily available is called.
‘Bull Terriers’ by Martin Weil - a t.f.h. Publication Other books are :
‘A New Owners Guide to Bull Terriers ‘ by Betty Desmond
t.f.h. Publication
‘Bull Terriers – an owner’s Companion’ by Robin Salyn
Published by Crowood Press
‘The New Bull Terrier’ by John H Remer Jnr.
Published by Howell Books
‘Bull Terriers Today’ by David Harris
Published by Ringpress Books
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