HISTORY: The story of how the Bull Terrier came into existence begins in the middle ages, with the sport of baiting. This is a blood sport in which a game dog is pitted against a confined animal in order to attack and subdue or even kill it. Baiting was rather popular in England during this time and all classes of people would frequent the gaming pits for entertainment and gambling. Members of society, from the very rich to the very poor could be found at the gaming pits, and it was common for large amounts of money to change hands in wagers on the outcome of these contests.
So popular was the sport that nearly every town and village in England had its own gaming pit, where dogs would come up against trained bulls, bears, and other large and fierce animals in contests that were often not concluded until one of the animals was dead or incapacitated. In the bull-baiting contests, the object was for the dog to stay low and strike at the bull’s nose in order to render the larger animal helpless. These dogs were well trained and extremely determined in the fight. Often the dog would hold onto the nose of the bull even when being violently swung in the air. Rather than let go or get tossed off by the animal, the dogs would hold onto the nose of the beast until its teeth broke off, its limbs were broken, or in some cases until the dog was dead.
These fighting breeds of dog became fierce, determined, and brave throughout their long careers in the gaming arena. The first bull runs that took place in England were believed to have been held in Stamford in 1209, during the reign of King John. It is thought however, that baiting began much earlier than that in the shops of butchers who would use dogs to bait the bulls in order to tenderize the meat for consumption. Later writings suggest that the sport of baiting became highly popular as a form of diversion and entertainment. Baiting continued to increase in fame with the passing years, and a demand arose for dogs that were highly skilled and qualified at the sport.
Dogs were selectively bred for the sport based on valor, viciousness, and power. So popular were these fights, that bull baiting was considered to be a national sport in England from the 13th to the 18th centuries. It was during these centuries that breeders and owners would begin to attempt to alter their current fighting stock in order to enhance future generations of fighting dogs coming out of their kennels.
Size, structure, and temperament of the current fighting breeds would be experimented with in order to produce a dog that was better able to compete in the gaming ring. At this time in history, dogs were being bred for what was needed in the fighting arena, not based on pedigree or bloodline.
Over the centuries, dogs were cross-bred to produce the best fighters, and the sport of Bull Baiting would continue until the practice was eventually banned with the establishment of the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835.
This would, however, do very little to stave the need for aggressive fighting dogs, as breeders simply shifted their interest from creating bull fighting dogs, to creating dog fighting dogs. Dog fights being a smaller event that required considerably less space were much easier to conceal than a bull baiting event.
This would also lead to the creation of smaller fighting dogs that could easily be hidden inside ones coat if the police arrived to break up an illegal dog fight. Additionally, as dog fights often lasted much longer than bull fights, these smaller dogs would also need to be light and agile, displaying impeccable endurance and a determined attitude. To address these new needs, breeders began crossing the old English type Bull Dog with differing Terrier breeds.
These Bull and Terrier crosses produced dogs that possessed the alertness and agility of the Terrier with the addition of power, tenacity, and a high pain threshold which were common traits of the Bull Dog. This new Bull and Terrier type quickly gained a reputation for being a fierce “canine gladiator”, willing to fight to the death to please their master.
In 1850, a man named James Hinks of Birmingham, England, standardized this new breed by selectively breeding these Bull and Terrier mixes with other breeds, like the now extinct White English Terrier. Hinks’ breeding efforts produced an all white Bull Terrier with a longer head, a more symmetrical body, and straighter legs than were common in the older style breed. The entire time Hinks was breeding dogs, he only bred white dogs, which he called “Bull Terriers” to distinguish them from the original Bull and Terrier breed.
This new breed was called the “Hinks’ breed”, and was often referred to as “The White Cavalier” as the dog was bred to defend itself and its family, but never to initiate hostility. In 1862, Hinks entered one of his dogs into the Cremorne Gardens dog show held in Chelsea.
The breed was an instant success and breeding would continue using a number of different breeds to include the Dalmatian, Greyhound, Spanish Pointer, Foxhound and Whippet in an effort to increase elegance and agility. Hinks would also ad in some Borzoi and Collie to reduce the stop. Generally, however, the primary goal of his breeding effort was to increase sturdiness.
The Bull Terrier must be strongly built, muscular, symmetrical and active, with a keen determined and intelligent expression, full of fire but of sweet disposition and amenable to discipline. Head: Should be long, strong and deep right to the end of the muzzle, but not coarse.
Full face it should be oval in outline and be filled completely up giving the impression of fullness with a surface devoid of hollows or indentations, i.e., egg shaped. In profile it should curve gently downwards from the top of the skull to the tip of the nose.
The forehead should be flat across from ear to ear. The distance from the tip of the nose to the eyes should be perceptibly greater than that from the eyes to the top of the skull. The underjaw should be deep and well defined.
Lips: Should be clean and tight.
Teeth: Should meet in either a level or in a scissors bite. In the scissors bite the upper teeth should fit in front of and closely against the lower teeth, and they should be sound, strong and perfectly regular.
Ears: Should be small, thin and placed close together. They should be capable of being held stiffly erect, when they should point upwards.
Eyes: Should be well sunken and as dark as possible, with a piercing glint and they should be small, triangular and obliquely placed; set near together and high up on the dog's head. Blue eyes are a disqualification.
Nose: Should be black, with well-developed nostrils bent downward at the tip.
Neck: Should be very muscular, long, arched and clean, tapering from the shoulders to the head and it should be free from loose skin.
Chest: Should be broad when viewed from in front, and there should be great depth from withers to brisket, so that the latter is nearer the ground than the belly.
Body: Should be well rounded with marked spring of rib, the back should be short and strong. The back ribs deep. Slightly arched over the loin. The shoulders should be strong and muscular but without heaviness. The shoulder blades should be wide and flat and there should be a very pronounced backward slope from the bottom edge of the blade to the top edge. Behind the shoulders there should be no slackness or dip at the withers. The underline from the brisket to the belly should form a graceful upward curve.
Legs: Should be big boned but not to the point of coarseness; the forelegs should be of moderate length, perfectly straight, and the dog must stand firmly upon them. The elbows must turn neither in nor out, and the pasterns should be strong and upright. The hind legs should be parallel viewed from behind. The thighs very muscular with hocks well let down. Hind pasterns short and upright. The stifle joint should be well bent with a well-developed second thigh.
Feet: Round and compact with well-arched toes like a cat. Tail: Should be short, set on low, fine, and ideally should be carried horizontally. It should be thick where it joins the body, and should taper to a fine point.
Coat: Should be short, flat, harsh to the touch and with a fine gloss. The dog's skin should fit tightly.
Color: Is white though markings on the head are permissible. Any markings elsewhere on the coat are to be severely faulted. Skin pigmentation is not to be penalized.
Movement: The dog shall move smoothly, covering the ground with free, easy strides, fore and hind legs should move parallel each to each when viewed from in front or behind. The forelegs reaching out well and the hind legs moving smoothly at the hip and flexing well at the stifle and hock. The dog should move compactly and in one piece but with a typical jaunty air that suggests agility and power.
Faults: Any departure from the foregoing points shall be considered a fault and the seriousness of the fault shall be in exact proportion to its degree, i.e. a very crooked front is a very bad fault; a rather crooked front is a rather bad fault; and a slightly crooked front is a slight fault.
Disqualification: Blue, Gray, Merle. Any Crazy Color eyes. COLORED The Standard for the Colored Variety is the same as for the White except for the sub head "Color" which reads: Color. Any color other than white, or any color with white markings.
Other things being equal, the preferred color is brindle. A dog which is predominantly white shall be disqualified.
Disqualifications: Blue eyes. Any dog which is predominantly white.