The Bull Terrier

" Many of our smooth terriers are slightly crossed with the bulldog, in order to give courage to bear the bites of the vermin which they are meant to attack. When thus bred, the terrier shows no evidence of pain, even though half a dozen rats are hanging on to his lips, which are extremely tender parts of the body, and where the bite of a mouse even will make a badly bred dog yell with pain. In fact, for all the purposes to which a terrier can be applied, the half or quarter cross with the bull, commonly known as the "bull-terrier" or "half-bred dog", is of more value than either of the purely bred progenitors. Such a dog, however, to be useful, must be more than half terrier, or he will be too heavy and slow, too much under-jawed to hold well with his teeth, and too little under command to obey the orders of his master. Sometimes the result of the second cross, which is only one quarter bull, shows a great deal of the shape peculiar to that side ; and it is not till the third or fourth cross that the terrier shape comes out predominant : but this is all a matter of chance, and the exact reverse may just as probably happen, if the terrier was quite free from the stain of the bull, which is seldom the case ; and this may account for the great predominance of that side in most cases. The field fox-terrier, used for bolting the fox when gone to ground, was ofthis breed. So also is the fighting-dog par excellence, and, indeed, there is scarcely any task to which a dog of his size may be set that he will not execute as well as, or better than, most others. He will learn tricks with the poodle, fetch and carry with the Newfoundland - take water with that dog, though his coat will not suffer him to remain in so long, hunt with the spaniel, and fight "till all's blue." For thorough gameness, united with obedience, good temper, and intelligence, he surpasses any breed in existence. "

excerpt from "The Dog in Health and in Disease" By Wesley Mills, 1895