Frances C. Fairman’s painting from the early 20th century of the well-known Bulldog, Eng. Ch. Silent Duchess. Note the broad chest and well-muscled body.

      Though his main opponent was usually a bull, the Bulldogge or “butcher’s dog” was also used against bears, lions and other ferocious carnivores. These staged fights were called “baits.” In England, the English Bulldogge evolved for the sole purpose of bull baiting. Bull baiting was a cruel sport in which a tethered bull, brought to market for slaughter, would be attacked by bulldogs with the notion that the meat would be tenderized by the bulldogs’ attacks prior to slaughter. The contention that the meat was tenderized during these brutal bouts was not based on any fact and, indeed, served no real purpose other than to line the pockets of the men who trained their dogs to participate in these sadistic blood matches. During these matches, the dog would assault the bull, avoid the stomping hooves and slashing horns, grab a nose or ear and hang on until the bull collapsed from exhaustion or lack of oxygen. Many of the dogs were crushed by stomping hooves, disemboweled by slashing horns and tossed through the air, causing broken legs, backs and skulls when they hit the ground. On the whole, both the dogs and the bulls suffered greatly. However, every class of person from commoner to royalty enjoyed these spectacles as a means to divert themselves from the violence and disease of their day-to-day lives.

      The Bulldogges used on bears and large meat-eaters were heavier than the ones used solely on livestock. Speed was not as important against the larger opponents and, because the fights would take place in enclosed areas, endurance was less of a factor. Whether large or small, the working English Bulldogge that survived this grueling gauntlet of animal combat became the greatest canine warrior ever.

       CANIS LUPUS

      “Grandma, what big teeth you have!” The gray wolf, a familiar figure in fairy tales and legends, has had its reputation tarnished and its population pummeled over the centuries. Yet it is the descendants of this much-feared creature to which we open our homes and hearts. Our beloved dog, Canis domesticus, derives directly from the gray wolf, a highly social canine that lives in elaborately structured packs. In the wild, the gray wolf can range from 60 to 175 pounds, standing between 25 and 40 inches in height.

       An old-style English Mastiff, Edgar Hanbury’s Rajah, drawn by R. H. Moore, bears quite a resemblance to the AmStaff.

      In 1835, animal baiting contests were made illegal in England. The only baiting that survived the ban was dog baiting or dog fighting. Once bull baiting was banned, dog breeders who appreciated the fierceness, courage and tenacity of the Bulldogges turned their attentions to breeding dogs for the purpose of dog fighting. Coal miners in Staffordshire crossed English Bulldogges with scrappy terriers and continued the gladiatorial tradition in clandestine matches that are still held today.

      From these Bulldogge-terrier crosses evolved the Bull and Terrier and the Staffordshire Terrier. These crosses were bred for aggression

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