The Pit Bull Dog

'Top' Bulldog owned by C. Stockton, as published in the English Gentlemen's magazine, Shepherds' Bush, during the 19th century.

Pit bull dog history

The English Pit Bulldog of old was the result of several hundred years of development in finding the ideal dog for the baiting of animals. The baiting of bulls was first conducted using the Bulldog Proper, a mastiff used by butcher's and farmers for controlling and protecting cattle, known as the butcher's alaunt or shepherds' mastiff. "Our Mastiffs, especially the ones we call Bulldogs, are of unmatchable courage." Guy Miege. "The Bulldog has been described as stupidly ferocious, and showing little preference for his master over strangers; but this is untrue, he being an excellent watch, and as a guard unequalled, except perhaps by the Bull-mastiff a direct cross from him. Indeed he is far from being quarrelsome by nature, though the Bull-Terrier, (the Bulldog and terrier crosses), in many cases undoubtedly is so, and I fancy that some writers have taken their description from this dog rather than the pure Bulldog, which has been at all times rather a scarce animal." J. H. Walsh The pure Bulldog referenced here is the Bulldog Proper i.e. Shepherds' Mastiff, i.e. butcher's alaunt, "Our Mastiffs, especially the ones we call Bulldogs." By 1603, "the difference between bulldogs and mastiffs was only just becoming distinct, and many commentators used the breed names to describe what was, to all intents and purposes, the same dog." The Story of the Real Bulldog  By 1631, we have evidence of a clear distinction between the mastiff / butcher's alaunt and the bulldog in Prestwich Eaton's letter requesting 'a good mastive dog and two good bulldogs". 

The resurgence of animal baiting was introduced by the Normans of France, who invaded England in 1066. This was in the very beginning of bull-baiting before the pit bulldog had been developed, when the Bulldog Proper was being used in the bait. The pit bulldog, this "newly developed breed ...which was very similar to the American Pit Bull of today"  differs greatly from the Bulldog Proper in form and in function, in-fact being a separate breed developed from the BP. "It is fair to surmise that the dog would need to be a middle weight and not a full mastiff, nor a light terrier type dog. For bull-baiting in the middle ages and after, taking place in a fixed arena, a bulldog would not require the stamina or fleet-footedness of the dogs used in the earlier bull running, and the greater emphasis fell on developing a dog that was less leggy and more powerful." The Story of the Real Bulldog  To create this dog and thus be the most successful at the match, people began experimenting by crossing the Bulldog Proper with various other breeds. An ideal type emerged from the crossing of the bulldog with terriers. This new type of dog developed for baiting was the pit bulldog, often simply called bulldog in reference to their function. 'Pit Bull'; "The term derives from the Pit Bulldog of the 19th century, those dogs of bull-and-terrier blood which were used in the sport of bull-baiting." Canine Lexicon  This practice of mixing bulldog's and terriers began as early as the 17th century, during the heyday of bull-baiting. "The great Bulldog of 90 lbs in weight which had been in vogue when bull-baiting was the sport of kings, was no longer wanted. Whilst the common folk who now had the sport in hand could not afford to keep such huge animals. Much can happen to change a breed of a dog in fifty years and by inbreeding and breeding with a fixed purpose in view, between the years of 1686 and 1735, a dog of definite type and of an average weight of 50 to 60 lbs, was produced. The dog which was produced in the years 1686 - 1735, was the dog for the bull, and it was during those years and not before then, that the Bulldog was taught and trained to pen the bull by the nose and never to attack him in any other place. As early as 1710 this method of attack became an inherited tendency and even today, though bull-bating was abolished 98 years ago, or around 1835...But by 1840 there were probably less Bulldogs in England than at any period during the breed's existence. The bulk of Bulldogs at that time were 45 to 50 pound dogs upon the lines which they had been bred for that type and purpose had emerged about 1735, that is to say they were extremely active, powerful, game and tenacious dogs."  R. H. Voss 1933 "Our Dogs".  The pit bulldog for the bait was a smaller, much more aggressive dog, possessing the strength and heart of the BP combined with the tenacity and smaller size of the terriers. Continued terrier infusions produced smaller and smaller dogs fully capable of baiting and pinning bulls. "By the time of the early 1800's due to selective breeding, a dog had emerged which was very similar to the American Pit Bull of today. Due to the agility and gameness of this newly developed breed many began to also fight dogs with each other. As colonization of America and Canada began growing, immigrants and explorers also brought their dogs. These dogs soon became known by the current name of "Pit Bull Terriers."  American Pit Bull Registry Lest we forget, the American Bulldog was originally registered as the "American Pit Bulldog". (Compare the APBT history to that of the AB). By this time however, the Bulldog Proper had long been extinct in England, having been bred out of existence and developed into the new baiting type bulldog / pit bulldog. see Vanguard Bulldog

The American 'Pit' Bull Dog

A well accepted belief, and according to JDJ, is that the English introduced their bulldogs into America through Savannah, Georgia starting in 1733. This is very plausible history as the English certainly brought bulldogs into Savannah for defending the settlements on the border of Spanish held Florida, as well as many of the same reasons the Spanish brought the Alaunt type dogs 200 years prior. The dog's duties were broad and functioned as part of the culture offered by their owners: these duties consisted of farm hand, hunter, and protector from man or beast, as well as entertainer in the fighting and baiting pit. By this time, (1733), the bulldogs in England were weighing an average of 50-60 pounds. "Between the years of 1686 and 1735, a dog of definite type and of an average weight of 50 to 60 lbs, was produced." R. H. Voss 1933 "Our Dogs"

The American Pit Bulldog was developed from the English baiting and pit stock imported into America, just as the ABPT and Boston Terrier was. They were in fact direct descendents of the English baiting and pit bulldogs, only larger. The English stock, at the time of the English colonization of America, weighed no more than 60 pounds, while American Pit Bulldogs such as Dick the Bruiser, weighed on average 75-80 pounds. "He informed me that a large male would often weigh as much as 85 lbs., females to about 70 or 75 lbs." Dr. Carl Semencic  The smaller imported English pit bulldog stock was crossed in the south with larger cattle and war dog stock of alaunt type derived from traditional European Alaunt / Bulldog Proper stock, primarily Spanish with percentages of Italian, French, and English butcher's type alaunts first brought by the Spanish. These dogs were the progenitors of the WEB, which were most certainly called by another name by the Spanish, very likely they were simply called Alanos, as they were of this phenotype and genotype. This crossing of the early WEB stock and the recently imported English stock resulted in the "American" pit bulldogs, a larger form of the English stock, thus the larger size of the American Pit Bulldogs differs from the smaller baiting bulldogs of England. 

The Shepherds' Mastiff / Bulldog Proper is where the WEB got it's name; it was a reference to this old dog of England given to the dogs by the English settlers in the southeast. When the English invaded the southeastern region of North America in 1733, they were faced with old type Alaunts, (like their own Shepherds' Mastiff), working cattle and protecting the Spanish forts and missions. Hence, they referred to these old type dogs as White English or Old English Whites, (referring to their own old type Shepherds' Mastiff of England).

The popularity of the breed known as the American Bulldog seems to have done more harm than good in many cases. The reality is that an amalgamation of several bull breeds both old and new are now defining this breed. Only a few seem to remember the real “Pit Bulldog” i.e. "American Pit Bulldog", (Lest we forget, the American Bulldog was originally registered as the "American Pit Bulldog). The old American Pit Bulldogs, such as JDJ Dick the Bruiser, were nearly identical in all respects to the old English pit bulldog, even in name, and rightfully so, being direct descendants of them. Now, no longer being the American Pit Bulldog, and having been cross-bred for alternative functions, size and ''bulliness' for decades, they have become a new breed, the American Bulldog. JDJ chose to drop the 'pit' from the name in an effort to distance them from the APBT just as the English had done with their modifications of their bulldogs to distance them from the bloody history of their dogs. The reality is that 'Pit' Bulldogs were also used for fighting other dogs. "These dogs were originally called American Pit Bulldogs because they were used in the pit to fight other dogs and also especially other large animals." JDJ  Alan Scott, in speaking of these dogs, specifically the catch dogs bred by Cells Ashley said, 'They were rough, god almighty were they rough." The simple fact is that the first APBDs that were registered were not the same breed known today as the AB, as evidenced above in the two quotes by JDJ and Scott. Very little if any of the original function of just 40 years ago remains today, nor does any consistency in type. These breeds, an important part of our history, are slowly fading into the melting pot as ethnic dog lines are crossed and, just as much of our history, they too are forgotten. 

JDJ claimed that the American Pit Bulldog differed from the APBT in that they had no terrier, thus their larger size. He claimed that the American Pit Bulldog, or American Bulldog, was and is in-fact The original English Bulldog, (or English aluant of the butcher), in an original, unaltered, and pure form as it was before it had been modified for baiting or fighting. "You have to remember that the English Bulldog and the American Bulldog were exactly the same dog 200 years ago." JDJ  The English bulldog he is claiming as one and the same as the AB was in fact the English baiting dogs and not the Bulldog Proper. The baiting dogs as brought to America, the direct ancestors of the AB, were already of bull and terrier blood, having been bred for centuries for blood sports. It was the Bulldog Proper / butcher's alaunt which contained no terrier and that was bred out of existence in favor of the baiting bulldogs in England long before the English colonization of America. During the mid- 1800's, the baiting bulldogs of England would also be bred out of existence in favor of the modern EB. 

While we agree that 200 years ago the EB and the APB were nearly identical, we do not agree that these EBs of 200 years ago that he speaks of contained no terrier. By the year 1800, approximately 200 years ago and when he claims they were one in the same, baiting had already been practiced in England for nearly 700 years, with blood-sports in England involving dogs beginning as early as the 11th - 12th centuries and continuing until the 19th century. 

The infusions of terriers into the old butcher's alaunt / Bulldog Proper to produce a baiting bulldog began, according to written history, as early as the 1500's. This crossing of breeds and breed types, to better the dogs for the task, was not a concept that suddenly occurred after 600-700 years. Simple math, written history and some common sense tells us that the bulldogs of England were already the product of terrier crossings before they were first brought to America by the English settlers. They were in-fact 'pit bull dogs', no longer resembling their progenitors, the butcher's alaunt / shepherds' mastiff, as seen in the detail below right. In the thumbnail to the right, (from The New Bulldog by Col. Bailey C. Hanes), in the image on the top, the proper genotype and phenotype of the butcher's alaunt are clearly shown. The bottom image shows the genotype and phenotype of the baiting bulldog. Please take note of the captions of each image as they explain the history well. The dogs in the top image and detail below, are chasing down a bull that has escaped the farmyard, showing the ability of the Bulldog Proper to work as a team; this is not a bating scene. Notice the master standing in the gate. They display the long alaunt tail, unlike that of the short tailed terrier crossed baiting dogs; as well they show a very characteristic trait of the alaunt, which was uncharacteristic of the pit bulldog; that of coming alongside of the the bull as a team as opposed to charging the bull from the front and biting the nose. The two images clearly show the different methods of attack of the butcher's alaunt as compared to the baiting dog. "My dogs always caught by the nose." JDJ  The alaunts employed this method of assault, as do the White English Proper. This trait was highly uncharacteristic of the newer pit bulldogs bred for baiting and would have classified them as non bulldog and unsuitable for the bait. "The dog which was produced in the years 1686 - 1735, was the dog for the bull, and it was during those years and not before then, that the Bulldog was taught and trained to pen the bull by the nose and never to attack him in any other place. As early as 1710 this method of attack became an inherited tendency...But by 1840 there were probably less Bulldogs in England than at any period during the breed's existence. The bulk of Bulldogs at that time were 45 to 50 pound dogs upon the lines which they had been bred for that type and purpose had emerged about 1735, that is to say they were extremely active, powerful, game and tenacious dogs."  R. H. Voss 1933 "Our Dogs". These were the English bulldogs that were imported into America by English settlers. These dogs would become the American Pit Bulldog and eventually the American Bulldog, among others.

All breeds are a mixture of breeds, including the White English, which is the result of crossing alaunt type cattle and war dogs of Spain, Italy, France, and England, as brought by the Spanish into Florida and Georgia during the Spanish conquest and settlement of the New World, which began in 1513. These Spanish conquests and settlements of Florida and Georgia predate the English arrival in America by nearly 200 years, well before the butcher's alaunt / shepherds' mastiff of England had been bred out of existence by the baiting dogs. Of course, a breed is a breed when it breeds true to type. Here, we compare the English baiting bulldog as imported into America, the WEB as developed in America by the Spanish prior to English colonization, and the American Pit Bulldog, as developed in the south by the crossing of the two. 

JDJ’s Dick the Bruiser was used by Mr. Johnson to protect and even herd his cattle. "Throwing a big bull that was one thing they were needed for, they also needed them for protection of the family and home. They were useful in killing wild predators or wild dogs that may be after any animal that you owned. My father also told me that a lot of men pit fought them in his day."  JDJ  The son of Dick was Scott’s Dixieman and he naturally heeled and caught cattle as well as protected the family and farm. JDJ and Alan Scott were against the use of bulldogs in Schutzhund, PP, or any form of man work, as it was unnecessary in a dog that naturally possessed these abilities. "I strongly advise against protection training these dogs because I f eel that they are aggressive and protection oriented enough. The majority of dogs that I have had returned to me over the years have been returned following protection training. I feel that these dogs can be trained from a protection or Schutzund type standpoint, but I think that the dog trainer must be very highly skilled. These dogs can be extremely ferocious towards any animal and to direct this degree of fury towards a human being is dangerous. I know of no quicker way to ruin one of these dogs than to Place him in the hands of a less-than-expert dog trainer who trains him to attack human beings." Tragically, this is no longer the case with the majority of ABs.  See JDJ Interview  

We know Dixieman fought a stray bull, and caught it by the ear, which is an old Alaunt trait and not of baiting bulldogs, which caught by the nose. Moreover, Dixieman released the bull on voice command. Dixieman was said to be so serious as to come over the top of the truck on you, if given the command to defend it. He was never trained. These dogs never required formal protection training. These traits are inherent to the alaunt type and not of the baiting dogs of England. These traits are throwbacks to the alaunt type WEB used in the development of the American Pit Bulldog, which often produced both types in one litter, what JDJ referred to as "long-faced ones or short-faced ones." The American Pit Bulldog regularly produced offspring of both types with some showing obvious traits, in genotype and or phenotype, of both types, such as Dixieman, who had the physical traits of the baiting dog yet the working abilities and temperament of the alaunt type WEB. Occasionally today, ABs heavily bred off of this old American Pit Bulldog blood will still show these throwbacks. As well, many modern WEB strains are the result of the same crossings that produced the APB, along with infusions of the APB itself. 

So how is any distinction drawn to separate American Bulldogs from WEB? There is today a very loose translation and prerequisite by many as to what is or is not a WEB. We implement a very strict prerequisite and standard in determining such separation, that is based on phenotype as well as genotype. There exists the WEB, and there exists the White English Proper, those possessing the PROPER phenotype and genotype of the old alaunt type cattle and war dogs of Spanish Florida, 1513-1819. This proper type is exceedingly rare to find much less, to reproduce consistently. If a 'WEB' does not fit the proper phenotype and genotype of the old alaunt type cattle and war dogs of Spanish Florida, then by definition, they are American Bulldogs. 

Given this history, it is fair to surmise, the original name for the American Bulldog, the American Pit Bulldog, is in fact a very descriptive name. And thus, one can say, the American Bulldog, in it's traditional form, still represents the old Pit Bulldog of England. Has anyone since bred a better American 'Pit' Bulldog than DTB or Dixieman?!  

Separation of breeds: The Bulldog Proper and The Pit Bulldog

It is well known that a number of breeders of American Bulldogs have long used White English Bulldogs as an outcross. Many have even added the pre fix OSW / WEB and claim they are now the same breed. However, in the southern US, various known breeds of bulldogs exist among mostly the working class. The Brindle Bulldog, the Big Red Bulldog, the Pit Bulldog, and the White English Bulldog have always been known as separate breeds long before JDJ and AS first registered the American Pit Bulldog. And even though the American Pit Bulldog, much like the original Pit Bulldogs of England, are made from various out-crosses, this does not imply that The Brindle Bulldog, the Big Red Bulldog, the Pit Bulldog, and the White English Bulldog are all now American Bulldogs, for these breeds have been in the south long before the English brought their Pit Bulldogs. One, however, can not claim each of these breeds have not included out-crosses either, however, it is the position of the WEBPS to preserve the WEB in it's proper form. Since traditional breeders of WEB like the Carr family have kept pedigrees and bred their lines of WEB long before the advent of the 'American Bulldog' or breed registries, it is in fact true that the WEB have been their own breed, long before American Bulldogs, and long before their ancestors, the pit bulldogs of England, ever set foot on American soil.

Unlike the WEB proper, the Pit Bulldog had a much more aggressive nature, primarily towards other dogs. "The Bulldog has been described as stupidly ferocious, and showing little preference for his master over strangers; but this is untrue, he being an excellent watch, and as a guard unequalled, except perhaps by the Bull-mastiff a direct cross from him. Indeed he is far from being quarrelsome by nature, though the Bull-Terrier, (the Bulldog and terrier crosses), in many cases undoubtedly is so, and I fancy that some writers have taken their description from this dog rather than the pure Bulldog, which has been at all times rather a scarce animal." J. H. Walsh  Johnson describes the American 'Pit' Bulldog as such: "These dogs are very dog-aggressive and do not live together well. Even when bulldogs were more plentiful, almost everyone that had one only had one or occasionally a pair, male and female. Almost no one had two males or two females because they could not get along with each other." JDJ  Those used for livestock work, instead of the box, did in fact take their own direction, and were never registered as they were simply used as working dogs for livestock in the New Frontier, (America). The Pit Bulldog in the south wasn't bred specifically for the fight in the US as was the APBT, or as it was in England. This dog was often used in backyard brawls as it was always eager to fight another dog. These dogs often had to be chained to prevent them from killing neighboring dogs. They were and are notorious as dog killers, tough, brutish, fearsome and fearless dogs requiring a firm hand and dominant master. The fighting style is very unlike that of the WEB. The Pit Bulldog, (old English or American), goes head on, oblivious to injury or pain, taking no measure to prevent injury to himself. He is tireless and tenacious and a choice dog for boar hunting as well as the fight. "All those old dogs he had would catch, they were rough, oh God Almighty were they rough." Alan Scott  These were the dogs found around the Sand Valley area of Alabama where Dick the Bruiser was bred. The Sand Valley area is within a matter of miles of Summerville, Georgia. 

"The first bitch I got was obtained from J.M. Ashley who John D refers to as Sales Ashley. But he was Mr. J. M. Cell Ashley. I got my first one from him and I got a lot of these others from him. And he was an old CATCH MAN! That's what he did. He farmed and he caught wild cattle for a living. Mac the Masher came from him. Big Dixie Belle and Little Dixie Belle came from him. Bailey's Gigantic Jim came from him." - Alan Scott  When Alan Scott or JDJ referred to catch dogs in those days in speaking of bulldogs, their reference was primarily of catching bulls. Today, the term catch dog, in speaking of ABs, is in reference to wild hogs? From old school APBT breeders, we learn that "curs" were born in APBT litters. "Curs" being non-bulldogs. And they were culled as such. But of course, culling did not always mean killing, as it was common for Pit breeders to give away the larger sized culls for catch work, thus the term, "catch weight Pit" became common. And now the AB is a catch dog?

The separation of bully and standard types of ABs follows the same separation of the APBT and the Boston Terrier. The Pug genes, those interbred in Pit Bulldogs of England allowed for hard bites that did not require the Bulldog to breath easily, as penning the bull was the name of the game. This is a complete difference in ABs and WEBs. For this reason alone, we are in fact speaking of two different breeds developed in two different regions of the south, just as the APBT and the Boston Terrier in the north.

Some Comparisons in Type

Above: Notice the proliferation of color of the pit bulldogs; the shorter, rounded skulls. These changes were "due to selective breeding," based on the function they were intended for.  "By the time of the early 1800's due to selective breeding, a dog had emerged which was very similar to the American Pit Bull of today." American Pit Bull Registry

Left:  "Bull Dog and Pomeranian Dog" 1805   Left Center: The "Bulldog" 1837    Right Center:  The Pit Bull Terrier 1908    Right: An early Boston Terrier  

The first three dogs could easily be mistaken for early examples of the Boston Terrier. The early Boston is pictured on the far right. All of these dogs are great examples of the English baiting type pit bulldog. The Boston was developed as a pit fighting dog, (dog on dog), by Robert Hooper of Boston, Massachusetts in 1865; by breeding his male English Bulldog and White English Terrier cross to an English Bulldog female. These are the same breeds used in the development of the baiting type bulldog; Thus the extreme similarities in type. This consistency in type, although being different breeds, is due to the fact that all were originally being bred for fighting, whether it be bulls or other dogs. The common function, even in separate breeds, produced dogs of remarkable similarities in type. When a breed is no longer being bred for function and simply for fancy, the breed itself is lost. Very few modern breeds are even a shadow of their progenitors, and realistically, and in following with the definition of the word 'breed', should be considered new breeds.

Below are a few of the very first Boston Terriers. These images show a heavy terrier influence and represent the 'standard' type.

When the Boston was still early in it's development, breeders of the dogs deemed them the American Bullterrier. "By 1891, the Boston Terrier was an established breed of dog.  By this we mean that the Boston Terrier was reproducing true to it's form. Offspring were consistently looking like their sire and dam." reference  By this time, the breed had taken on it's modern type, looking nothing like a Bull Terrier, and was thus given it's own unique name of Boston Terrier. The modern Boston shows much of the influence of the Pug through the English Bulldog used in it's development. (The EB had long been in development away from the bull-baiting type dog and into the modern type EB by 1865, when Hooper first imported his foundation stud from England.) The Boston is often referred to as "round heads", a perfect description of the head type of the Pug. 

The separation of bully and standard types of ABs follows the same separation of the APBT and the Boston Terrier.

          Standard type representative (APBT)    Bully type representative (Boston)

Standard type representative (Scott)      Bully type representative  (Johnson)

©All Right Reserved