The Dublin Red Strain

The background to the Dublin Red Strain is made up of descendants of Ch. Gentleman Jim, both Brindle Devil and Bankhead Bullfighter, were from his lines and were exported to Ireland from England.

In the middle of the 1950's, Harry Payne from Yorkshire, England mated his bitch "Chelmont Grand Duchess" with the show champion Pal of Aveth and in that litter there was a dog who was named Brindle Devil. Mr. Payne certainly did the Irish Stafford scene a great favor when he sent Brindle Devil to Ireland, the dogs excellent qualities carried on into his sons and daughters and into their sons and daughters and so on. The most common of his linage were the Battling prefix dogs. These appear a great many times in modern Red strain dogs pedigrees.

Brindle Devil was owned by Willie Delaney from Dublin, Ireland who with Bob Watt from Dublin was the founder of the Dublin Red Strain of dogs. At that time Bob Watts owned a bitch named Battling Beauty, a daughter of Fearless Cavalier and Spring Beauty, and after she was mated to Brindle Devil she gave birth to two great dogs, Battling Duchess, and Battling Devil.Both Duchess and Devil were show winners, but they were also great badger dogs.
Shamus McNutt a well known Stafford fancier in Ireland bought her from Bob Watt in 1962 when she was 3 years old and he later claimed that she was one of the best bitches he ever owned. She was also was used in the Badger trials of Ireland which she passed with Honors.

Brindle Devil was also mated to a bitch called Brindle Bonny, and in that litter there was two exceptional dogs, Great Roger and his famous brother Satan's son. When Battling Duchess was mated to her half brother Satan's Son she produced both Battling Dolly and the Red Commando. Tony Lee, another well known Stafford fancier in Ireland was the owner of the Red Commando. This dog was regarded as one of the best dogs in Ireland in the 60's. When Tony Lee bred the Red Commando with Matador Maid they produced two great dogs. One was a bitch named Granitefields Reba's Beauty and the other was the immortal Wolf Island boy.

Wolf Island Boy was renowed for his ability at the Badger and he won the best dog award at the trials twice, once in 1975 and then in 1977. He was also known as Lord Rommel, and his sister Wolf Island Girl and offspring's went under both prefixes. Despite his great ability at the trails it was said that he would not fight other dogs.

Wolf Island Boy also had a famous half sister called Cardonagia Red, which was out of Red Duchess and the Red Commando. When the Red Commando was put across Cardonagia Red she produced Mandy of Rommel and this bitch in turn was put across another of Brindle Devils sons the Great Caesar, producing the well known Frazer of Ireland.

Frazer of Ireland was brought over to England by Maurice Dann and it was said that Frazer was one of the gamest Stafford's Maurice ever owned. Maurice also imported a bitch named Mandy of Dublin, another game dog of this line and with both Frazer and Mandy he had his foundation dogs for his Strain of Stafford's.

Red Warrior was a result of Frazer and Mandy and was regarded as a very game dog, winning many battles. Nearly all off the Dublin Red strain have this dog in their pedigrees and he was the sire to many game dogs like, Ch Red Joe, Ginger, Leo, and Rocky Ch. Red Warrior was also known as Dann's Choice and it is said that he died of parvo in 1983, but nevertheless he sired many great Red Strain dogs, which in their turn passed on the genes and the result is the Red Strains we see today.

When bred to the Red Dart of Asquith he produced Russell's Ch. Red Joe, a 3x winner. Out of all Ch. Red Warriors sons Ch. Red Joe is probably the most known and probably most frequent used as a stud dog. It is claimed that he has sired over 75 pups, some going to Sweden, Holland, the U.S.A and even Israel and that shows how sought after his blood was. He has had 4 contracted matches and won 3,but lost one against John's Dillenger in 1 hour and 3 minutes. He has however fought more than this unrecorded.

Matches:
Red Joe Vs Dann's Rocky Winner: Red Joe 20 minutes.
Red Joe Vs Ben (EBT) Winner: Red Joe 40 minutes.
Red Joe Vs Paddy Winner: Red Joe 48 minutes.
Ch.RedJoe Vs John's Dillenger Winner: Dillenger 1 hour 3m.

Dann's Ginger was out of Ch. Red Warrior and the Young Mandy of Dublin and when bred to her half brother Ch. Red Joe she produced Ch. Jim. Even though Ginger was game she was lacking in ability and had a weak bite. But she was tested and showed that even under a great deal of pressure she would not quit.

Ch. Jim must have made a great impression on Shamus McNutt, because he would praise the breeding of him and his offspring in every letter we got. Many considered this dog a 6x winner even though he lost to Gr. Ch. Sam due to a fault and a bad referee.

When Ch. Jim was bred to Ruby she produced Ch. Jess. Her matches were reported to the Sporting Dog Journal in the U.S.A.

Springview's Sinbad was out of Ch. Jim and Ch. Jess and was by Shamus McNutt claimed to be the greatest purebred Stafford that ever lived. That statement should say a lot about this dog since Shamus basically had seen them all since the 60's. He also quoted this dog as a Gr. Ch. since he had beaten 4 APBT's and a good staff, all winning dogs until they met Sinbad in the early 90's. In his first match he faced a APBT and won in 2 hours and 42 minutes, which is a great achievement and makes you understand why Shamus thought so highly of this dog.

When bred to his Dam, Ch. Jess he produced another claimed Gr. Ch named Red, a 6x winner over Stafford's and half-breeds. He also had a litter brother named Morris, which ended up as a pet in Derry,Ireland. Leo the litter brother of Ch. Red Joe was matched at 48lbs into an APBT named Heather's Zac, which was weighing much more than him. Rocky was scheduled for this match, but had to withdraw and Leo took his place. The APBT was a good dog and unfortunally Leo lost the match and also his life. Dann's Rocky was out of Ch. Red Warrior and Dann's Tasha. Hard biting like his Sire, but unfortunally rated as a cur by many. It was claimed that he was always overweight when he was matched and that he was also very lazy. Some claim that he was a 2x winner and some say he was a 3x winner, but one thing that is for certain is that he lost 3 times. He lost to his half brothers, Ch. Red Joe and Leo and to an APBT named Reon. Despite his strange career he sired dogs like, Josh, Buzz, Dillenger and Albert. When Rocky was bred to the Red Dart of Asquith she produced Josh and Buzz. Josh was a very well respected dog, game, intelligent and strong and with a bite like his father. According to Shamus McNutt, Josh fought and won over a imported APBT from Pat Patrick named Moonshine in 40 odd minutes, killing him in the pit. Then on his second outing he lost game to Stormer in 1 hour and 27 minutes. Then on his third outing he lost to Cooper, a Patrick dog born in quarantine in England. Josh lost in 1 hour and 35 minutes, but Cooper could not be matched again after that and never could make a third match to become a Champion. Then Josh came out again to face Nigger, a son of Cooper, and won in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then he lost to Ch. Smuggler an APBT in 54 minutes.

Buzz was a strange dog that would only fight when he felt for it. When he did decide to fight he was said to be devastating, but he lost to Ch. Jim and Ch. Stormer in less than 4 minutes and he lost in his match with Ch. Ben after 1 hour and 38 minutes. He did however win over a EBT called Governor in 1 hour and 38 minutes.

Dillenger was a result of Dann's Rocky and Hey's Mitzy. He was matched against Cox's Billy, a son of Buzz and he lost in 1 hour and 1 minute. Dillenger's Dam was also matched once, but the other dog got a hold of her tongue and she had to be picked up. Billy went on to face Gr. Ch. Jack after his match with Dillenger, but lost in 25 minutes.

Albert was out of Dann's Rocky and a bitch named Mad Mariah. He was rolled out and showed that he had a hard bite like his Sire Rocky. He was the brother to Brindle Dina and Red Rose, which was the Dam of the famous Gr. Ch. Big Red.

Gr. Ch. Big Red was a son of Ch. Red Joe and got his title at Ed Reid's Intercontinental Kennel Clubs confirmation shows. He has also proved himself in weight pulling events, pulling well over 30 times his body weight, approx 1500 Lbs.

There is no doubt that the Red strain is a very highly regarded strain even today nearly 50 years after it was founded. With dogs like this, being the back bone of what we see today who wouldn't be impressed?

Eastford

From the Bull Terrier Times Magazine