Just a bit of dog history

the american staffordshire terrier and the american pit bull terrier trace thier ancestry to the bulldogs of the l9th century. They were large,80-100lbs, and slow, they were used for bullbaiting in England and a little in the U.S. The bull was tethered on a long lead, his horns were covered with wax. Two or three dogs would be released on the tethered bull, the dogs would then be aggitated with sticks by the spectators until the dogs were enraged, biting the bull on the nose and ears and other unprotected areas. Prizes were awarded to the dog(s) that showed the greatest gameness or enthusiasum, endurance and tenacity in their attacks.
Bullbaiting was outlawed in England in the early 1800's, organized dogfights became popular, particularly in the Staffordshire coal mining areas. Pits were dug near the mines for the dogs to fight. Dogfighting owners and gamblers wanted a smaller and faster dog, the english bulldog was mixed with a variety of other breeds, including a fox terrier, a smaller version was produced by crossing the bulldog with a smaller native terrier similar to today's manchester terrier to produce the staffordshire terrier. In civil war time was when a much larger breed was produced, here they were known as the pit dog, pit bull terrier, american bull terrier and yankee terrier, another breed listed in the lineage is the bullmastiff. In the 19th century the bullmastiff was used to attack humans that were poaching, later they were used to fight men while being muzzled and the men had clubs.
In 1898 the UKC was organized to specifically register pit bull terriers, which were not recognized by the AKC. This registry also sought to standardize the rules by which dogs were fought. In 1935 AKC agreed to recognize pit bulls, but only the staffordshire terriers. Pete from the little rascals was able to achieve AKC registration. In 1972, AKC renamed the registration of the american and english staffordshire terrier and renamed them the american staffordshire terrier, there are many dogs today who could acquire multiple AKC,UKC,OrADBA registration as American staffordshire terriers or American pit bull terriers.

 

LOL that was one funny read. Pokin with sticks??? Why didnt i think of that one.