some things to read

The Bull Terrier Times compilation booklets contains 32 of the very best articles and 90 + images which have featured in past issues of the Bull Terrier Times magazine, which was published during the late 1990's and the early years of the 21st century. Produced in 2 X A4 print format booklets the cost of BOTH is £10.00 GBP (ie £5 per booklet) and includes mainland UK pack & post.

The featured articles cover a variety of subjects which are particularly relevant to the bull terrier breeds and inevitably include aspects which relate to the much darker sides of the breed history, which some people might find disturbing and unsuitable for their own personal tastes.

For those students and enthusiasts that have a realistic understanding of both the history and nature of the bull terrier breeds, then this compilation booklet may be of interest to you. Many of the articles have been sourced from foreign and domestic publications that are no longer in existence and are generally unavailable in the public domain. A number of these features have been written by notable figures within the bull terrier fraternity and who have first hand experience of the dogs, whether they're at peace or at war. The articles featured include;

1. Alternative Exercising:

It's probably true to say, that not everyone who owns a Bull Terrier wants their dog to be crushingly destructive fighter. But then again, not every owner wants their dog to be a permanent fireside attachment either, only raising themselves from slumber when the prospect of food is on offer or someone new comes to visit.....(continued)

2. A brief history of the American Pit Bull Terrier:

In order to give a full history of this breed we must first go back to the early 19th century, prior to the existence of the cross bred bulldog and terrier. It was the cross between the Bulldog and the terrier that resulted in the Staffordshire Terrier, which was originally called the Bull-and-Terrier Dog, Half, and Half, and also the Pit Dog or Pit Bullterrier. Later, it became known in England as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and is the dog breed that ultimately started the American Staffordshire and American Pit Bull Terrier breeds.....(continued)

3. Breeding Bullish Terriers:

These are difficult times for those who favour the distinctive breeds of Terrier with Bulldog blood. The threat of action, under the now discredited Dangerous Dogs Act, is a constant worry. The implementation of this shabby Act by ill advised animal welfare officers, misguided police forces and a couple of strangely motivated vets, shames a nation once famous for its judicial system, sense of fair play and love of dogs.....(continued)

4. Colour Type in Breeding:

Many times colour type selection has been overlooked in breeding game dogs, especially in the USA where I went to visit big yards of dogs from 35 up to 250 dogs at a time. It surprised me that only one or two men did this and they are legends in the breeding of game dogs, these men are Floyd Boudreaux and Jerry Clemments. Over the years we have done the same and with great success, to say the least. If you have lack of space or have a small genetic pool, then you can actually tighten up your blood/family by selecting on type and colour.....(continued)

5. Dog fighting as a Sport:

Dog-fighting as a sport is not much in vogue nowadays. To begin with it's illegal. Not that that matters much, for Sunday drinking is also illegal. But dog-fighting is one of the cruel sports, which the community has decided to put down with all the force of public opinion. Nevertheless, a certain amount of it is still carried on near Sidney, and very neatly and scientifically carried on too, principally by gentlemen who live out Botany way and do not care for public opinion.....(continued)

6. Dog fight on the Western Front:

BRUSSELS--Germany, France, Italy, and Britain are battling again in Belgium, and invading bloody Americans are again ensnarled in the thick of it. That’s American pit bull terriers this time. Like the doughboys of World War I and the G.I.s of World War II, they are said to be over-large, overdosed on testosterone, and over here, looking for a fight....(continued)

7. Dog men of Choice:

I've been asked to write about a dogman of my choice, which is a hard thing to do, as I know a couple of good ones (bad ones too), But the names B V Hooten - Floyd Boudreaux and J. Zalesky are the first to come to mind right now. Also Ben of (STB), Ben is one of the best, if not the best breeder over here, and although he is out of the bulldogs he still has some very old stock around him. Dogs with exceptional blood, dogs that have Boyles Bobby + Dirty Mary in their second generation, which means their mommy was out of that famous breeding.....(continued)

8. Don Mayfield:

He is considered by the fraternity, to have one of the best records and to be one of the best conditioner/handlers the game has seen. The famous dogs and dogs made famous, though his hands, are far too numerous to mention and his accomplishments in other areas such as training, methodology, breeding and writing still carry on, through the internet. His writings have always been a popular topic, as he likes to write the way he sees it and always with a southern accent. He writes "between the lines", and by his use of familiar names, handles and mental images, he draws the reader into the story and then, usually ends with a "surprise" truth.....and surprise it did, a lot of people who would have preferred, "a white lie to truth pie.....(continued)

9. Stories of Forgotten Dogs:

This story is about a dog called Sunny Boys "Choko" and his parents. "Choko" was bred by JB from stock he acquired from Limey Kennels at the time. JB had a male out of "Spike" x "Tug" called "Chester", and bred him to a triple inbred "Nelis" bitch called "Flakey", also Limey stock. "Chester" was litter brother to Ch."Alligator", "Preudens", "Dillinger", "Miss Fox" and others. "Flakey" was litter sister to Springviews "Beauty". "Chester" was put on contract by JB into a dog called Ch."Blinky" (from the book Legacy Of Gameness from Rocca). In the book, a mistake is put on paper, as it says that "Chester" quit in that show? Nothing could be further from the truth, as the story was told by a man who never saw this show, but bought "Blinky" later. "Chester" was a troublemaker stirring up the whole yard of JB all of the time, and got a serious shoulder problem in the second week of the pre-keep.....(continued)

10. Gameness:

In 1978, shortly before I moved to Georgia from New York, the late Andre Giroux called me to report a match he had just won with a son of Davis' GR CH Boomerang that he called Paddy. This was Paddy's third win and Andre also wanted to register him as a Champion. During the course of our conversation Andre was bemoaning the fact he didn't have a thing to breed Paddy too that is nothing that he thought would cross well with Paddy. I reminded Andre that he did have a bitch that would look real good bred to Paddy. The bitch was called Black Pinky and was one of the 30 or so odd dogs that were registered as being sired by Bullyson out of Art's Missy.....(continued)

11. He's not a cur:

Have you ever seen a dog that would whip the hell out of anything that was put in front of him, but when handled wouldn't scratch? Or, a dog that would perform with remarkable ability until his opponent was left prone and defenceless, then he would let up and walk away? One of the best dogs I ever saw was Tudor's "Spike". He was an out and out destroyer, but once he had his opponent down and stretched out, he would stop his assault and lick his adversary...If the other dog moved at all "Spike" went back to his murderous ways and if he was handled he would not, in the least, hesitate to scratch. Of course, since the other dog had also been handled, "Spike" was aware that the other dog had moved, even if only by his handler.....(continued)

12. How it looks to me:

Many dog men you meet start by telling you how many years they have had Bull Terriers. I got my first one when I was 9 years old, and all of 31 years ago. All this proves to my way of thinking is that I like dogs, and mostly that I’m getting older. The hottest dog man around Arizona now is Charlie Spencer, who started about 4 years ago. He’s won 3 or 4 good ones with his 48 pound Toby dog, and the one man to beat him so far was Ken Barney, at 36 pounds. Ken has had Pit Bulls about 2 ¢ years now, and will match one at the drop of a hat. Both Spencer’s Toby and Kenny’s 36 pound dog were bred by Ed Ritcheson; Ed lost three in a row trying to beat dogs of his own breeding with dogs he would buy around the country. From here on Ed tells me he’s using his own......(continued)

13. In Search of the Truth Part I:

The basic ingredient to achieve success in the game dog game is honesty or the understanding of truth. A dogman must first research the game through books and magazines, talking to competent dog men and listening and learning. The first ten years are spent serving your apprenticeship, then when you think you have learned enough to get by, you realise that most of what you've learned is bullshit......(continued)

14. In Search of the Truth Part II:

The magazine arrived and it was read several times before I even got around to my usual morning chores of cleaning out the dogs and feeding the livestock, then I eat my breakfast and think "Hell, I'll read it again"

I sure enjoyed the story on "Kilwilkie Lad", even though I had read it before. It was just as interesting second time round, and why shouldn't it be. I myself could read about dogs of such quality every day. However, when I first read the article I pointed out an error to Barry Ligget, and he checked out what I had said and verified it as being true, that the dog "Kilwilkie Lad" actually did sire a litter of pups. In the early 60's Tom Haughey of Lurgan, Ireland owned a very game English/Stafford bitch called "Rowdy". Having seen "Kilwilkie Lad" at work and seeing the superior game dog that he was, he took "Rowdy" to him and bred her......(continued)

15. Indian Bolio:

Bolio was bred by Maurice Carver and Eddie Klaus in 1969. His sire was the famous pit ace Klaus’ Zeke and his dam was Klaus’ Goldie. Bolio’s pedigree is very heavy in the blood of a bitch named Carver’s Judy and her sister the great Carver’s Black Widow. In fact he carried fifty percent of this blood in his breeding.....(continued)

16. James Hinks and the EBT:

Although born of humble stock, James Hinks is widely credited with and accepted as, being the man responsible for the foundation of the White English Bull Terrier breed that we know today.

Hinks began his working life as an apprentice carpenter in the bustling city of Birmingham. After serving his traineeship, he very quickly established himself in business, at which he proved himself to be both shrewd and successful. He diversified into many kinds of businesses, but was perhaps best known for his pet dealership, which offered those that were interested, the opportunity to buy "game" dogs and birds that were tried and tested......(continued)

17. Kilwilkie Lad:

This is a tale from the 1960's when life was much different and far less complicated for working dogs and their owners. In those not-so-far-off days the Irish Kennel Club organised working trials for Terriers in two distinct categories, "Strong Dogs" and "Sounders". Both were tests against live quarry - the Badger. Both were well organised in a sportsmanlike manner and both took place with very strict rules and under public scrutiny......(continued)

18. "Kristelnacht" for Bull Terriers:

OWNERS OF Bull breeds of dog in Germany were literally fearing for their safety and their dogs’ lives last weekend as the Regional and Federal Governments enacted emergency ‘dangerous dogs’ laws after two dogs - alleged to be an American Pit Bull Terrier and an American Staffordshire Bull Terrier attacked and killed a six year-old schoolboy. As reported previously in OUR DOGS, the regional States assemblies in Germany had been enacting draconian dog control legislation after a series of well publicised - and massively hyped - dog attacks over the previous few months......(continued)

19. Limey Kennels "Nelis" ROM:

"Nelis" was born around 1980-1981 and was sired by Mr Bulldog's Champion "Spike" (Hammond's Ch. "Jo"). His dam was Hammond's (Mr. Bulldog's) "Jessy". "Nelis" was one of six pups from the litter, his brother J. B. "Spike Jnr." won one and another "Klinker" lost dead game to a son of Pieter's "Pilot" who outweighed him by six pounds.....(continued)

20. Limey Kennels "Tug" ROM:

"Tug" was born on the 26th February 1980, at Eddie Curtis' yard in Boston, Mass. She was one of a litter of six, the others being "Bunny", "Bugsy", "Toby", "Blaithe" and "Lochen". This final pup "Lochen" was destined to earn his Championship in very short order, with none of his opponents lasting more than the 25 minute mark. He had an extremely 'hard' mouth and many of those who saw him work believed him to be one of the best dogs that they had ever seen.....(continued)

21. Maurice Carver - What A Guy:

It was always an honour to write about someone as diverse as Maurice Carver. Much has been said about this "bigger than life' Texan, and almost everyone that knew him either strongly liked or disliked him. While I knew Maurice, the dog man I was never really close to him. By the time I first met Maurice I had heard so much Pro and Con I figured the best policy was just to watch him. I'd be at a very private get-together miles from Texas at a most secretive site and he would show up in his cowboy boots, Stetson hat and usually dressed to kill. The crowd would generally gather around to hear some tall tales, most of which were made very believable by the master story teller. If you would listen real close and asked just the right questions and caught Maurice in just the right mood, he would share some real jewels of knowledge with you, not just about the dogs, but about all aspects of "Life"......(continued)

22. Norsemans Citique of SBT Article:

It's true to say that the dog 'Rosa' shown in the painting bears more than a passing resemblance to some modern Stafford's. People should not be surprised at this, because despite many writings to the contrary, there exists no evidence that a cross was ever made to Terriers to create our breed. It may at first seem madness to suggest such a thing, but when examined in depth, Stafford history shows the events and reasons generally given to be nothing more than assumptions and guesswork. Indeed, it becomes clear that the breed we call the Staffordshire Bull Terrier received a name first, and then the history was created.....(continued)

23. Patrick's ROM Yard:

Boyle's "Dirty Mary" is one of six dogs that have achieved R. O. M. status which have come from the yard of Pat Patrick. "Dirty Mary" has been detailed separately in the "Boyles Line" article contained in this publication; brief details of the remaining five are shown below.....(continued)

24. Performance Title Blindness:

Too many young and or ignorant dogman look to much at the Ch./Gr.Ch./ROM titles, or ask you who was your last Champion and how long ago was he bred!

I must admit that I was like that too, when I was a greenhorn. But the older and wiser you get, you will find out that titles do not impress you all that much anymore. When I was in the breeding game only a couple of years I quickly skipped over the breeding in the SDJ that didn't had familiar names or lots of titles in there. Today, lots of years later I try to stay away from the big names or popular bloodlines as far as I can. Of course I am interested in very well-bred blood on paper, but you will be surprised about the quality you can find in a yard of a small time dogger who has some old well-bred stuff that the original breeders don't carry anymore, or are 2/3 generations further down the road with their breeding program simply because of the demand for pups......(continued)

25. Plumbers Champion "Alligator":

I am constantly being asked questions about the Alligator dog and the family of dogs that has come about from this great old warrior. It seems the more that’s said the more is left unsaid. Or at least is overlooked and not purposely so.

Alligator came about as almost an afterthought. Mr. Williams of Ft. Worth had obtained the Satin Lady b###h from Maurice Carver. She was a big, black pretty b###h that I never cared much about as an individual. She was one of these scatter-bred dogs Maurice was famous for.....(continued)

26. Breeders and Bloodlines:

I first became interested in the dogs in the late 1950’s. At that time there weren’t as many participants in the sport as there are today. In the late 50’s Louis and Mike Colby were carrying on the famous breeding of their late father, John P Colby, who had passed away in 1941. John P Colby had been breeding the “Colby” bloodline since 1888. He started, like everyone else when they first get into the dogs, by breeding a variety of bloodlines that looked good to him at the time. In John P Colby’s case he started with the Gashouse stock from Boston along with Teddy Racine’s bloodline and stock that he imported from Galtie in Ireland. All this blood went into establishing the greatest bloodline of American Pit-bull Terrier......(continued)

27. Police fear resurgence of Dog fighting:

The inspectors did not take long to find the evidence. Prowling in a garden on a Cornish housing estate was a large fawn dog with a jagged wound red, raw and crudely stitched with fishing line. The animal was a Staffordshire bull terrier and, judging from the foul-mouthed protests of its owner, it had been involved in a rapidly growing spectator sport dog fighting.....(continued)

28. Staffordshire Bull Terrier Modern History:

Although in the context of Kennel Club recognition the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a relatively 'new breed', on the basis of the many drawings available, a Stafford-like animal existed at the turn of the 19th Century. A classic example is "Crib and Rosa", a painting by Abraham Cooper, circa 1816. For almost seventy years "Rosa" was taken as the model bulldog, but the modern bulldog bears little resemblance to her.....(continued)

29. Scotsman's Champion "Max":

The first time I ever saw Max was probably in 1983, he was about six months old and he used to sit on the street at the door way of a furniture store on the North side of town. He was never tied up or anything, he just sat there 41 day watching the world go by. At this time I owned a Staffordshire Bull terrier and when I walked past the shop I would look down at Max thinking that he must be one of those mongrel American fighting dogs, the same ones the daft yanks thought could beat our Staffordshire terriers, when of course anyone in their right mind could tell you that the Staffordshire was truly the genuine article. Everyday I walked past him just to see my Staff strain on the lead to get into that dopey looking pup with legs too big for his body and ears too big for his head.....(continued)

30. Stafford's and the Baiting Sports:

For centuries, the men who frequented Bull rings and Bear pits had enjoyed watching two dogs fight, but it was only with the abolition of Bull baiting that dogs were bred and trained specifically for the sport.

It had been found that Bulldogs were the only dogs which possessed the requisite courage for the dog-pit, but that they lacked the necessary agility. Various Bulldog crosses were tried, mainly with Terriers, until eventually a specific breed of Bull and Terrier was produced which was fast, strong and utterly game......(continued)

31. The Pelican Brief:

This story is based on half-facts, half-truths and is wishful thinking in a certain direction that could be close to the truth, but is by no means the whole truth. It is just a hint for the readers to think in a certain direction when breeding bulldogs and why some of the legendary old-timers are still on the top of the mountain after all these decades of breeding their family, because they carry a big hidden secret about the truth of one of the greatest clicks in history to produce awesome bulldogs. Some time ago I was studying the roots and background off my bulldogs again and of other major bulldogs from the past with the help of pedigrees on line. It went pretty good and fast I came across the Eli/Boudreaux dogs and especially the Eli dog himself and the dogs before him. To my surprise I saw that he came from light coloured dogs who where red bred and/or white buckskin and white brindle dogs traits from the Colby bloodline The Eli family turned from these colours black almost overnight he's heavy Dibo inbred bred and since Dibo was one of if not the most important and potent producer of his days it kind of looked odd that the Eli family turned black overnight.....(continued)

32. Treadmill Conditioning:

For the owners of sporting dogs the treadmill can be an invaluable piece of equipment, largely misunderstood by the general dog owning public, who feel that it is only used by dog fighters or dog owners of the more seedier type.

The treadmill has been used for well over a century to exercise dogs and its general design has changed little over the time. Of course the invention of ball bearing wheels have made them far smoother and easier to run, some have been motorised, but the basic design has remained the same. In the present day the mill is used to exercise not just dogs, but many of the top racehorse stables use them, and of course many gymnasiums are equipped with human versions, all used for the same purpose, to condition a person or animal despite the weather or space available......(continued)

Very good read, Thanks Mike