Pride & Dignity
Pride & Dignity
The founder of the breed is James Hincks from British town Birmingham, family Hinks precisely, cause it took several generations for rigorous selection and crossing.
In the year of 1862, on the dog show in London, Hinks showed out his white bitch "Pussy" and that was first written proof about Bull Terrier's existence. There is an anecdote about that event, but for reason of understanding of what had really happened, we must get back to the very beginning of 19th century. During that period very popular aspect of entertainment throughout Europe were dog fights against bear, bull and mutual dog fights. Only rich people had privilege to own a bear or a bull so dog versus dog fights were organized at most.British were the leaders in breeding quality specimens and the most desirable attribute was courage. They crossed various specimens and got the conclusion that combination of bulldog and terrier attained greatest success.
At that time every dog which had success in rat, mice and other pest hunting was considered as a terrier. There were competitions in which dog got in enclosed ring with rats. Goal of the game was for terrier to strangle as many rats as it can in specified time. Main attribute which Bull Terrier should derive from terrier beside courage was agility and well coordinated movement. Bulldog in James Hinks time also had not much likeness with its actual couterpart. It had big, heavy head and strong front part, wide chests and compact, well balanced, muscular body. We can tell that it was similar to present day Staffordshire Bullterrier. Main quality required for a bulldog were strong head with extremely strong jaws and determined, relentless jaw pinch. Mental structure of these two "breeds" had crucial significance for Bull Terrier's character developing. Proficient breeders know that character, not the head is what differs Bull Terriers from other dogs.
When in the year 1835. dog fights were finally banned in England, large kennels like Hinks' had to begin with dog breeding (and selling of course) so the word spread about the dog who is a friend, a nanny and a bodyguard in the same time.
