Bulldog EDITION - Richard F. Stratton

Bulldog EDITION


Bulldog is a magical name. It means different things to different people, but it is deep in our lexicon. There is the old saying that “such and such (like “sorry” or some excuse) is okay, but it doesn’t feed the bulldog.” Then there is the “Bulldog Edition” of the newspapers. This is normally the early morning edition, usually sent out on special occasions or for areas outside the municipality of the paper. Then there is “bulldog” used as an adjective, such as “Bulldog determination” and “Bulldog courage.” All of these are aspects of the breed we all know and love. Thomas Huxley was known as “Darwin’s Bulldog” because he was a fighter for Darwin’s then controversial theory of evolution, way back in the middle of the 19th century.

I occasionally peruse books on the APBT online, and I must confess I occasionally cannot resist looking at readers’ review of my books. One that I particularly liked was one by Erica because she made these comments about my Truth about the American Pit Bull Terrier, “I have around 65 dog books and I have loved reading since I was a little girl. This book is my favorite of all the books I’ve ever had (or borrowed from a library) in my entire life. I am ordering the three other books in the Stratton series because I am so happy with this one “One reason liked what she said was that this was merely a dog book, but it was her favorite book of all time. I should mention here parenthetically that many years ago two experts on dog books told me that mine were the best on any breed. I beamed. But one reason that the comment so tickled me was that these were books on the poor beleaguered APBT that were being called the best. It was that which made me so happy, although I am not so humble as to not take pride that my creations were being praised.

But back to Erica, she later breaks my heart by saying, “The only thing I don’t agree with in this book is that Stratton claims the APBT is the original Bulldog, when it is, in fact, a cross between the old time fighting Bulldog and local terriers.” And she seemed like such a lovely girl! But that is okay. She is allowed to disagree with me. Anyone is. Truth to tell, no one really knows whether the story is true or whether the APBT is basically the best representative of the Bulldog. But the fact is that I have studied the problem more than anyone. A possible exception might have been John P. Gordon. He was an authority on the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and as I recall, he was a British citizen. He was a great connoisseur of old art and artifacts of the breed. He was struck that the original Bulldog appeared to be very much like the modern APBT (or Staffordshire Bull Terrier). The only that kept him from pronouncing the breed the direct descendent of the Bulldog was the modern name of the breed. I wonder what he would have thought if he had known that the term “bulldog” was used as an informal name for the modern dogs, too, in this country and in places around the world.

There have been many people who pondered the idea of the modern APBT being a direct descendent and the best representative of the old time Bulldog. Long before the now recognized breed American Bulldog came about, one authority wanted to call our breed the American Pit Bulldog. Now, of course, there was already a rift among the fanciers, as some wanted the “pit” part out of our breed name, even with the Bull Terrier name. I should mention here that a very well known American Bulldog fancier once confided privately to me that we both knew which was the original Bulldog. And you can be sure that he didn’t mean the American Bulldog. But here I am not trying to stir up controversy. It is just that I have been around a long time, and I have seen many new breeds come. They are basically manufactured according to looks, and most of them end up as show dogs. I don’t mind that, but please spare me the ridiculous history about the breed having been the lap dogs of the ancient Pharaohs! (This is often the stock in the trade of the show dog histories, with very little evidence provided.) The idea that the original Bulldog was somehow hidden away all these years is on all fours with the typical fanciful history of so many show dogs.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first use of the word “bolddogge” as being used in a description of a butcher and his dog, used for capturing the bulls. The comments were not very complimentary about either the dog or the butcher, but I smile about the cultured city people of the time being judgmental about the people and the dogs who provided them with their meat. I was struck when I saw the word, and I wondered if the original term was not meant to mean “bull dog” but “bold dog.” After all, the dogs must have seemed very much unlike other dogs of the time, being unafraid of large and dangerous animals, such as bears and bulls, not to mention boars.

I recently watched a movie on DVD that I had seen many years ago, “A Man for all Seasons.” This was a story about a man of principle, Thomas More, who was executed in the end because he would not bend to the will of the interpretation desired by King Henry the Eighth. More was a man of culture and intellect, and he castigates one of his friends for not spending more time in the study of the principles of religion and government, rather than studying the pedigrees of his Bulldogs. That got my attention! Unfortunately, it was only a movie, so I could not use it for reference. But I am sure that there were Bulldogs back before the Elizabethan Era. But were they called “Bulldogs” or “Bold Dogs”? That is something else we can never know, but it’s fun to speculate about.

A mystery is how the name “bulldog” has stuck to our breed. It has been used for at least two centuries for our breed even if only in a very informal way. The great breeder William J. Lightner told me that his father had these dogs before the Civil War. It surprised me that the dogs were in the country so early, as that fact went against common written accounts. It surprised me even more that they were casually called “bulldogs,” even back in those times. I recall visitors to Bob Wallace’s residents being surprised about his “bulldogs,” commenting that they didn’t have the pushed-in noses of the Bulldogs with which they were familiar. Scholar though he was, Bob never questioned the common account of the origin of the Bull Terrier as being a cross between the old type Bulldog with some terrier. I suggest that the story is true but only for the Bull Terrier. If we go back and look at drawings that were done around 1890, we will see that the original Bull Terriers had the pushed-in (brachycephalic) noses, so the likelihood is that whatever terrier was used for the cross was mated with that type of Bulldog, the “fancy” type which was bred for appearance.

 

A comment that has stayed with me was made by a terrier breeder. He told me that all the crosses to the Bulldog (APBT) that he was aware of in this modern age were made to improve the Gameness of the terrier. Hence, it is very likely that there is a little Bulldog blood in many terrier breeds, but I think that it is quite unlikely that a cross between the old fighting Bulldog and a terrier produced our breed. I suspect that the old Bulldog is pretty much what our breed is. Obviously, there were two Bulldog breeds for a long time. Perhaps that is the reason that the names “fighting bulldog” and “Pit bulldog” were used to clarify what a breed was. Those terms, too, have persisted down through the years. The term “Bulldog revolver” was used for snub-nosed pistols that were popular among law enforcement (and gangsters) during the early part of the 20th century. Obviously, that term was inspired by snub-nosed bulldog.

As for terriers, they are ill defined. Although the Boston Terrier is called by that name, it is not included in the Terrier Group in show circles. The Boston people originally wanted to call their breed the “Boston Bull Terrier,” and it looked very similar to the show Bull Terriers of that time, but that name was forbidden to them. It is interesting to note, historically, that small Bulldogs were often called Terriers, for the Bulldog itself was considered a “hound,” a hunting dog that was forbidden to peasants. Terriers were generally small dogs that were used for ratting and other small vermin, and so they were not forbidden to the poor class of people.

In any case, it is our breed today that does all the work that the old-time Bulldog did, from hunting wild boar to catching rough stock for ranchers. And yes, they are the ones once used for fighting too, but such things are only whispered about these days. One reason the two Bulldogs were confused in the public mind in the middle of the 19th century was probably because the brachycephalic type still retained some fighting propensities. England made the breed the symbol of its country, even if they usually displayed the show type. But it had to be the original type that the public had in mind when Huxley was dubbed “Darwin’s Bulldog.”

The funny thing is, from my perspective, the show Bulldog, sometimes called the English Bulldog, is probably just as direct a descendant of the old original hunting and fighting Bulldogs as ours are. (If they are! Of course, my presumption is quite strong here!) The only difference is Selective Breeding. Ours, at least some of them, are still bred for performance, (hog hunting, cattle herding, weight pulling and the like) while the show Bulldog was and is bred for its odd, almost human appearance. The consequence is that the modern show Bulldog cannot do ANY of the work or sport of his ancient progenitors. Because of this difference, I had once hoped to reclaim the name “bulldog” for our breed. But perhaps it is more fitting that it be a little known fact and that it remain in controversy. The breed has always been controversial, and come to think of it, the best things in life usually seem to be!

Richard F. Stratton

 

should put a link to this in that thread a few weeks back where someone was asking why we call "APBT's" bulldogs...

 

good read. and I do agree with Screamin'Eagle...this shouldve been in that thread

 

Great read. One thing, they mixed some Pug into the dogs that became the English show Bulldog.

 

nice read!

 

i met a person who tole me that the american bully is a result of removing the terrrier blood and retain bulldog blood. sorry to be frank but thats one of the most stupid things i've heeard. the apbt is in my opinion the closest you'll ever get to a real bulldog. kudos to stratton for having written this article

 

How is that a good read ? He once met an unnamed of breeder of terriers who said that the bull dog was crossed into terriers to make them (terriers) Gamer ? Which ones exactly, and which breeder ? Stratton should quote his sources better. Like saying I once met a bloke down the pub who said blah blah blah

Jack Russels ? Fox terriers ? I'd like specific examples ? So the original dogs that cockney Charlie brought over looked like Bull dogs ? Really ? I'd say more like terriers. Very simple, get your APBT DNA tested. Find out what it is closely related to. And you have your answer. No more arguments required. You'd need a sample size of course of about 200 dogs. But you'd get a good idea after half a dozen famous dogs and been tested.

No-disrespect to you there Red Cocaine I have a lot of respect for your views. Just not impressed with that article. A lot of assumptions. If Statton wishes to over turn the generally accepted view of the origin of the APBT then he needs hard facts. Nothing in there really sheds any new light on anything. Stratton is a wealthy man he could carry out genetic testings on terriers stb apbt and various other breeds. They can establish closeness of relationships between those breeds. Why doesn't he do it ?

 

Off topic. I saw this little pug the other day having a fight with an Akita down the park. The pug had a good hold on the Akita's nose and would not leg go despite the Akita's bawling and shaking. Eventually I had to go and break the fight up, cause the cute lady who owned the pug was screaming so much. When i broke them up the male Akita tuned on its male master and attacked him lol That was probably cause the Akita's owner was beating on his own dog with a dog chain.



Crazy day that was

 

bro , all of us know why they're called bulldogs no need for dna testing just my honest opinion

 

No we don't know that: this is why there is a discussion going on. What we are trying to establish is if there is terrier in them, general consensus and dog history says yes. Many say no but they are not in the majority. If you want to find the answer then why not do the science rather than speculate.

Also ratting in a rat pit was even more popular than dog fighting. Rat pit contests were going on in public for a long time, in fact there is even a photograph of one! Gambling was huge based on how many rats were killed in the pit. The best two records were for two "bull and terrier" dogs. There is even a painting by Alken of one of those dogs. Why anyone would think that a dog used for pinning bulls and baiting bears would also be the best at killing rats under time trials is surprising. So we are saying that the dog Alken painted was not a bull and terrier or and ancestor of the APBT ? You are saying that these redundant bull dogs (ancestor to APBT) were a separate breed to Jocko etc ? What evidence ?

If we want to use the term bulldawgs for any dog that has a verified pit record that is fine with me. Then don't even bother with the name American Pit Bull Terrier.

Stratton was good in his day but people are more informed now than when he wrote his books. According to Stratton only three generations have any genetic relevance to your dogs make up anyway! So not sure why he is trying to justify some direct link between the modern APBT and the original bull dogs of Westminster pit and the bear gardens (before the infusion of terrier blood). So Stratton is saying that the bulldawgs not crossed with terrier and nothing to do with ratting, were separated and this pure line was sent to the USA ? I guess this discounts all the Irish influence as well right ? Bull baiting, bear baiting etc was primarily as English sport (with relevance to the breed in question) practiced at such places as the Bear Gardens and Westminster pit. If the American pit bull terrier are the same dogs as these dogs, then please throw away the American label and call them English bulldawgs. Right ?


p.s.

Jack Russells\ terriers are very game in fact I had a couple as game as anyone's APBT on here.
That I know as I work every dog I have. Jack Russels come from Fox terriers is there any evidence to suggest these dogs were infused with bull dawg then let me have it. I genuinely would like to know! (real evidence not Stratton mentioning that he once met a guy (un-named) that was a breeder of terriers who said terriers had bulldawg infused into the to make them gamer). I mean evidence that we can send to the kennel clubs all over the world, the fox terrier club. the Jack Russel club, the Sealyham club, the Cairn club and on an on an on. We can tell them 'hey all your terriers worked against badgers and foxes for so long were actually all curs until they had bulldawg blood infused into them"

 

i get your drift bro, but until it happens, i'm happy with this article

 

This is my veiw no evidence to prove or dis prove just how I look at it.

I think 95% of today's ApBT's are true Bull Terriers

Now there are examples of "pure" bulldogs (as far as we know) that were between 45 to 65 lbs in the mid 1800's (refer to the article I posted about the lions fights in england)...

75 years ago there might have been "pure" strains of true bull dogs, but with the infuestion of irish dogs (that I believe were more terrier than bulldog) into every line of pit dogs that now 75 years down the line eash strand has been crossed with one another thus 95% of what we have are true bull terriers.

JMHO

 

Where and when was this published?

 

I think in of of R.S. Books I think in the late 70's maybe.... Not sure

 

I agree with you here. Also the general consensus is that they are a mix of bulldog and terrier. So until that time that is what will be the "official" line. To over-turn that would require hard evidence. The world is believed by most people to be a sphere, some make think it is square. It is up to those that think it is square to provide the evidence. Changing the official name of APBT and omitting the terrier would require evidence. So far apart from Stratton and his "I once met a guy who bred terriers and said" it isn't really there. Anyone that believes that no terriers were in there obviously dearly wants to believe that and evidence would have no value anyway.

The lion fight article was good I read that before and remember it. They said "three bulldogs=1 lion".

For me I will go with the official line but am open minded to think that it may be wrong. This would of course discount the Irish influence. That wouldn't bother the English at all of course lol

 

my opinion with pictoral evidence...

We have, in ths debate, both written evidence (historical record) as well as contextual artist depictions of what the original bull dog/bull and terriers looked like. I think that it is ridiculous to assert that the APBT has had not terrier influence in my research, BUT there is evidence that some lines develop with little or no terrier influence. The first thing that we have to consider is the fact that dogs were first called by their jobs as opposed to their breed characteristics. So...a mix of this and that that participated in X activity would be called X type of dog. If, for example we did this today, a maltese that was a herding dog it would be called a shepherd dog. If a rottweiler was used for therapy work it would be called simply a therapy dog. Now I beleive that the word bull dog was first used to describe a bold dog. Bold dog because of its bull running (first function working with butchers) dangers. These dogs were not lumped together as a breed, but by functionality and would have been cross bred amongst each other in order to continually make better bull running dogs. Some hunted, some guarded, some faught, and later we get into bull baiting, etc and the debate at hand.

Now for the issue at hand, and the development of the American Pit Bull terrier. I will first deal with the issue of importing Irish dogs. Dogs came with immigrants. For this example I am going to use some early Colby dogs. Prior to the turn of the century (1896) I believe Colby's Pincher was whelped. We all know that his chain weight was in the 70's. I believe that dogs like Pincher (and his littermate sister Mage) were (with imported parents) dogs that were down from purer bull dog strains. This is not to say that no bull terrier mix took place, but...characteristics there are bull dogs IMO...

Colby's Pincher


Colby's Mage


Also consider Colby's Galtie. Some 10ish after Pincher (and Im taking these dates from Lou Colby's website) looking like this...


IMO More terrier influence. This is because noone knows the % of bull and terrier mix creating the bull and terrier dogs.

Now consider this...

This is from a 16th century (pre dating Cockney Lloyd's imported dogs of course) depicting of a bull dog on a hunt. He also looks very similiar to the modern APBT. I will juxtapose a photo of well bred modern dog to compare characteristics.



Caines Fargo a son of Turtlebuster
http://www.apbt.online-pedigrees.com/modules.php?name=Public&file=printPedigree&dog_id=5273


nearly identical IMO.

also...
look at the following artwork done in Germany.





Those are moden looking bull dogs complete with cropped ears that will look very similiar to many red red nosed dogs you will see today. My point is...they existed, and also existed well before and developed along side of the dogs that were forged at staffordshire.

I will aso show a few more for the heck of it...

This is a famous artist depiction of a bull and terrier



this pic is nearly identical, but is an artist depiction of a bull dog.



Now of course the terriers looked like this...





and the bull dogs like this...








My hypothesis is that some lines (specifically the dogs called bull terriers by James Hinks) developed heavily along this cross. Some dogs that would become APBT were heavily influenced by both bloods as well. There are others that went relatively unmixed, or not mixed at all. This along with best to best breedings that our breed was forged with accounts for the discrepencies in size, shape, and appearance of our working breed. You also have to consider that the dogs that would become boston terriers, and several other breeds in America drew from and contributed to the same gene pool.

Just my opinion...

 

The dog (black and white one) in the German picture looks more like a Great Dane. The other one looks more like a bull dog I agree although difficult to say.

Nympenburg started manufacturing in 1747. That is mid eighteenth century. They make lots of dog porcelain and statues etc today. You need to know when that piece was made exactly.

 

I agree. I suppose you're thoughts along that first dog potentially being a great dane aren't that far off. The artist is Peter Paul Reubens
(1577-1640)a flemish artist of the baroque era. The issue there is how the Great Dane developed. Of the theories out there the bottom line is that they eventaully descended from an aluant, on onr hand and a mastiff (mollos) on the other...just like the bull dogs. I don't know when breeding for excessive height became an issue, but it may or may not have been used when they were used heavily as danish boar hounds...IMO that dog looks very similiar to Fargo though.


My point remains, as was stated in Colby's book of the American Pit Bull Terrier:

“There will always be discussion on just how much true Bulldog blood remains in today’s dogs. Obviously there was terrier blood crossed in, how else to reconcile with 19 pound fighting dogs? Whatever the percentage of bulldog to terrier, there are dogs in today’s breed that show marked tendencies toward both families”

This is the perspective I take...

 

Billy the rat killing Bull And Terrier one of the two most famous bull and terriers of his era