Indigenous pit dogs of the British Isles and Southern Ireland.

Indigenous pit dogs of the British Isles and Southern Ireland.

(Edited and re-written by Doug Link from either my own work, historical
Game dog papers or first hand from bona fide dog men).

Forward.

Indigenous Pit Fighting Dogs of the Isles was written for a generalized
introductory reading for foreign dog men or canine historians unfamiliar with
fighting dogs of the British Isles, this paper was not Intended for specialized
discussion by well qualified British, Ulster or Irish dog men (who are already
familiar with this information). Not all information can be 100% accurate, but is true to the best of my knowledge at time of writing, in the of winter 2004.

Terminology.

STB = Staffordshire bull terrier (Staffordshire pit dogs such as Dock*s Grand
Champion Duke).

EBT= English bull terrier (often wrongly referred to as the Hink*s bull terrier. The Hink*s strain no longer exists, except perhaps in the far flung reaches of the British commonwealth, the later post Ted Lyons bull terrier being a much more effective fighter than the original Hink*s dogs; after being bred back into the Gamest Staffordshire pit bull dawgs by Lyons. This makes the present day EBT a different dog almost altogether to the original Hink*s EBT and a very decent badger dog and sporting terrier.

APBT = American pit bull terrier. This refers to the strains of British bulldawgs
that have diverged from the original British pit bulldawgs (mainly in respect to a bigger size of dog being needed on the frontier; the old American adage of
“bigger is always better” coming into play).

ISTB = Irish Staffordshire bull terrier. This either refers to the old Irish working
strains of Staffordshire bull terrier (like the famous and hard to get Dublin Red
strain) that were kept separate from the British kennel club show staffordshire bull terrier. These were mainly used for either the sport of badger trials, or badger versus dog and dog versus dog fighting. Or this strain refers to the more modern and highly successful Psycho lines that were originally developed from the English bull terrier and Staffordshire bull terrier working bloodlines (mainly badger dogs). Famous breeders of these lines include those such as the “farmers boys” and of course Ricky B (arguably the greatest dog man of the British isles).


It is often argued that the American pit bull terrier is just an upsized version of the old British Staffordshire bull terrier (author also agrees with this). Most of the genetic stock (if not all) that make up the present-day American pit bull terrier originated from either Ireland, Britain or both (discussing this topic would of course require another article). In this article I will compare the Staffordshire bull terriers and to a lesser extent the EBT*s as fighting dogs to the American pit bull terrier, as well as discussing some of the great indigenous dogs to come out of the Isles in their own right.

Many fanciers, who are not “in the know”, wrongly assume that the American pit bull terrier is always superior to the STB or EBT when it comes to pit fighting. Or that the very inbred APBT will always be better than a battle cross between different breeds of bull breed, most notably the famous and often used EBT * STB battle cross. The Psycho line of Irish staffordshire bull terriers of course being the most famous line of fighting Stafford*s created from the mixing of the EBT with the working lines of ISTB (although the EBT part being more and more diluted as time went on).

The pure English STB or ISTB by itself (without being battle crossed with its
close “cousin” the EBT) has also at the lower weights proved to be an extremely effective fighter; in fact many dog men say even better at the lighter weights than its cousin the APBT. The list of the victories over the American Pit bull terrier if a complete one were made, would not be a short one. There have been some impressive and very noteworthy victories over the internationally and better known fast lane American pit bull terriers.

Some of those better known victories are listed below, and should only serve to illustrate that the English and Irish Stafford*s still retain those honorable Pit bulldawgs genes that the APBT gains its reputation from. Most of these dogs mentioned below are from the 1980*s and 1990*s, as I have not included present active dogs (for obvious reasons) that are winning at the lower weights, against their cousins the American pit bull terrier.

Brief incomplete list:

Neal*s Josh bred from Pied Piper (T Lee*s Dublin Red Strain. The Dublin red
strain being one of the oldest Irish Staffordshire strains).

When fought defeated two APBT*s of very good breeding indeed.
He beat moonshine easily and decisively (Pat Patrick dog) in 50 minutes when
Moonshine wouldn*t go back for more punishment.
He then beat another Pat Patrick dog-called “nigger” in one hour and 27 minutes.

Charlie Geoffrey*s CH Rocky a pied Stafford a grandson of J Bryant*s
“Dillinger”
He beat 3 APBT*s at less than 35 pounds.
He beat Dock*s Tyson a snooty/Reid cross; and Jordan*s jimmy a Reid dog.
He also beat Dennis K*s fever that was from a pure Wise bloodline.
Ch Rocky lost his fourth match to a dog called M Brennans Duke junior a
Staffordshire bull terrier (not an American pit bull terrier) and son of the only
staffordshire bull terrier to enter the SDJ Dock*s GR CH DUKE.

B.Clark*s Cleo (daughter of Grand champion Duke) also beat Quinn*s blondy
from a Reid/Wise breeding.

Dock*s Ch Tasha won her 3rd match over Deane and Joe Wolfe*s “patches” was from a Pat Patrick bloodline and niece to CH BILLY BROKEN TAIL in one hour and seventeen minutes.

Dock*s Missy another daughter of Dock*s GR CH Duke beat Richardson*s
“crazy Sarah” at 30 pounds. Indian Sonny refereed the match “Sarah” was from Boston Blacky*s “Black Jack and Mayfield” cross.

Roger*s Molly beat Northern Boy*s TEENA. Molly was another one of those big
red Stafford*s that the pied pier bred from dogs he got from T.Lee. “TEENA” was from Mayfield bloodline. Molly won easily and decisively in 39 minutes.

The list above is not nearly finished (it only includes the most famous dogs such as Dock*s Grand champion duke etc) and can be added to (not the purpose of the article as there are even longer lists in various game dog journals.

Other famous dogs of the Isles.

There have been many others such as Grand Champion Ned and of course
some other good dogs to mention are the EBT* STB battle crosses such as
Champion Stormer, and the EBT Pilot and Champion Ben (English bull terrier
than won 4 straight matches in Northern Ireland)

Champion Nellie English bull terrier.
(The picture below is a fairly rare picture of champion Nellie. I have decided to release it for clarity that Nell was not a Staffordshire bull terrier or a pit bull terrier but was in fact an English bull terrier, as can be clearly seen from the picture with the famous Roman nose). *(Go to article to see pictures)*

CH Nellie was of unknown breeding but certainly was predominantly an English
bull terrier from badger trial stock. Gary Griffin got her from cork and she passed the game test matched at 31 pounds against Murphy*s “queenine” Ricky D conditioned Nellie with Gary*s handling “Nellie won in 1hr and 38 minutes. F.Howe refereed.
Boneyard kennels then bought her and matched her into a good two times
winner Rodgers Squaw a red daughter of Rodgers Oscar. G.Griffin refereed and
“squaw” was picked up at 29 minutes.
Nellie*s 3rd win was over B.McC*s Lynn at 30lb*s top. Masarren Neil refereed
and she won in 31 minutes.
Her fourth win was over Molly Maguire Kennel “sherry” at 29lb in 43 minutes.
Aldo was the referee.

Ch Stormer
Stormer was probably one of the best English match dogs ever fought and in his day was totally untouchable. Stormer was an English Bull terrier and
Staffordshire bull terrier battle cross (yes correct, a hybrid mongrel). Stormer's record is impressive. The only criticism that people make is that he didn't produce anything. Not surprising for a hybrid! Stormer is particularly famous for beating Ricky B's infamous champion Psycho (a great producer).
Stormer's first outing was into an English bull terrier Stormer was around 46lb & going 17lb up hill, this wasn't regarded as a match, but Stormer won in 17
mins. First bona fide match was against "jingles" Stormer (another dog having
the name Stormer) at 46lb, going 7lb up hill, wins in 58 mins. Rematch "jingles"
dies in 17 mins.

Stormer then fights "Spock" weight wins in 2hrs 26mins. Then beat "josh" in
1hr27mins (44lb) then beat "ch psycho" in 1hr 3mins. (43lb) Then final match
beat "buzz" in 1 min52secs.

Ricky B*s champion psycho.
Psycho was Ireland's first official Ch recognized by the p.b.a. & the s.d.j. He was owned by Ricky Bernard. He won four good matches and then was famously picked up against the inter-breed battle cross Ch Stormer. The Stormer versus psycho match at the time courted the highest amount of money ever wagered on an English dogfight.

Scotsman*s prince (previously very unknown and low profile dog, and this
picture is almost until now never been seen before. I am releasing it in this
article for purposes of historical records; it is old but clearly shows an in-condition great looking English bull terrier)

The Scotsman is famous primarily for Champion Max. Champion Max being
arguably one of the best American pit bull terriers of the British Isles and certainly the best in Scotland. The Scotsman also wrote to me about “Prince” his English bull terrier (shown above). Prince according to the Scotsman*s own words was “an Ace badger dog” and one of his favorite dogs.

Grand champion Duke UK

(Staffordshire bull terrier possibly the best dog the Isles has ever produced)
The picture above shows Duke in fighting condition and ready for action.
Dock's Gr. Ch Duke was the result of a mother and son mating, both parents
being owned by Dock. Out of a litter of four, two pregnant doges were sold up north and Duke and Duchess were kept by Dock.

Both pups showed great promise, but with age Duke started to become very
dominant and so they were separated, leaving Duke to run the yard and Duchess in the kennel with the rest. Duke showed great temperament and if kenneled he was a quiet dog. In the house he was no trouble and was great with children, he could however be an expensive dog; when he was on the loose as he was hell on four legs and as they say “didn't take no prisoners”.

Duke's first official roll came when he was two years old and was into a hard
biting dog called Sam, a previous winner at 48 lbs. For 6 minutes Duke rolled out like a pro and after 2 months of rest he was given a 20-minute roll with 56 lbs APBT. He went into the other dog*s chest making it look like a 26 pounder. This Dog later went on to win a match before unfortunately being allowed to die of neglect in his owners yard.

A few months later Duke was again rolled into Sam, this time for 30 minutes.
Giving away a lot of weight, Duke demonstrated his gameness, making scratches when in a weakened condition and in the eye of his owner he was now ready for the arena and his first match was arranged.

Dock's Duke - vs.- Gerry O' B's Bullet M 38 lbs. Ref M.M
Even at the start, duke taking stick to get to the chest.

After 20 minutes Duke comes on strong. Bullet looks like he is going into shock
and can't make his seventh. Duke gives courtesy.
Winner Dock's Duke 58 Minutes.

Dock's Duke -vs.- Ricky B's Charcoal M 38 lbs. Ref T.L
Duke a lot stronger all the way, biting hard into chest and throat. A turn is called
On Charcoal at the 3-minute mark. Charcoal got back into it at about the 12-
Minute mark, but Duke worked well into chest and throat and had Charcoal
smashed up by the 30-minute mark. On Charcoal's second scratch he came out
fast, fell half way across, got up and hit Duke hard, but at 47 minutes it was
charcoal to go on his third. He looked at Duke, then the crowd, and walked to the
pit wall and fell helpless. Duke ready to go another hour. Winner Dock's Duke 47
Minutes.
Dock's Duke -vs.- Paddy C's Nero M 35 lbs Ref F.H
Nero, a red and white is a bigger dog and looks strong. He takes an early lead.
Duke goes in for the chest and has the lead by 30 minutes. Duke switches to a
stifle and a turn is called on him. One each, Nero can't at 57 minutes.
Winner Dock's Ch. Duke 57 Minutes

Conclusion.

In conclusion there have been and still are many good staffordshire bull terriers; both Irish and English strains as well as some English bull terriers (as well as battle crosses of the above two breeds). These have been used very
successfully in the dog-fighting pit; as well pitted against the ferocious badger.

These dogs can beat and have beaten top quality American pit bull terriers for contract matches with large sums of money involved (under Cajun rules; often with recognized American referees especially flown in for the purpose).

These APBT*s came from such notable breeders and conditioners as Pat Patrick. There are always so many unanswered questions around the topic of the bull and terrier pit dogs and it always stirs up the emotions like non other. However One thing is known for sure, if you are looking for bravery honor and pluck then the bull and terrier fixed hybrid, should stir up feelings of those admirable traits.

Now almost lost in our modern “progressive nanny state”. For those three
words ‘bravery, honor and pluck” sum up the champion English and Irish pit
Dogs.