The Bull Terrier in Sport And Show - History & Anecdote

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The Bull Terrier as a Rat Killer

By James Rodwell (1863)

The well bred Bull Terrier dog is a remorseless destroyer of rats when he can get at them. He will protect his master night and day from thieves of every denomination. Nothing can shake his fidelity; and all he requires in return, is a crust and a friendly pat. With these he feels amply rewarded and will exert every faculty with which nature has endowed him to serve and amuse his master.

I say the bull terrier, because the thorough bred terrier, though an active, sagacious animal, and very fond of hunting, is nevertheless a very careful one, and kills a rat more by cunning than courage. He likes to wait his opportunity, and catch the rat while running, so as to give him a nip without catching a bite in return.

This you may say is sound generalmanship. So far, so good. But if there happens to be thirty rats present, twenty-nine will make their escape while he is dodging and fretting over one. Still I am satisfied, that if you take dogs in general you will not find more than one in fifty that will kill a rat; and if you lump all kinds of terriers together, both rough and smooth, I am equally satisfied, that, where you will find one that will kill ten rats offhand, you will find ten that will not kill one each without the assistance of their master.

They will do all the fretting and barking, if the master will do all the thumping and kicking; and thus kill the rat between them. But often. when the rat is dead, to the great delight of the master, the dog will give it a most unmerciful shaking, and thereby earn for himself not only a host of caresses, but a wonderful reputation.

When I was about nine years of age, my father bought me one of these highly reputed terrier champions. Toby was his name; and fifteen shillings was the sum paid for him. His exploits among rats were so startling and numerous, that I expected nothing else but that he would eat them alive. However, he had not been home long before all his powers were put to the test.

Into the back premises we went, Rat, rat! Toby, rat! Out dashed an old fellow from behind some tubs, and hearing the dog’s squeals, in his haste he popped into the wrong hole, one that was only about a foot and a half long, and closed at the other end. Toby screamed, and tore like a raving, mad lion, and set to work most furiously to tear up the very foundation of the place. Down came all the workmen, and cheered him on. Up came the bricks and stone one after the other, which he removed with his mouth, till in his eagerness and excitement I verily thought he would have swallowed some of them.

At last, on removing a brick, out sprang the rat. Heels over head went the men, one after another. Away went Toby, ready to break his neck, out at the door, and never stopped to see if the rat was after him, till he reached the other end of the street. Then finding all was safe, he quietly sat himself on end in the middle of the road, and not all the whistlings and enticings possible could induce him to come back, till he was satisfied that the rat had gone.

However, his courage returned again, and he went through the same fury on the morrow. But when my father came to see the place, he sent master Toby about his business. At the same time he sent for the bricklayer to put the place in repair, declaring that the dog had done more mischief in a few hours than the rats had in as many years. And thus I lost my hero!

Since then I have, at various time, had at least half a hundred terriers of one sort or another, but there was only one out of the whole that would kill a full grown rat single handed; but even he was very soon satisfied, since he mostly declined killing a second till another day; and this I have found to be the case with the great majority of thorough bred terriers.

The truth is, they are too cunning and too soft for such hard work. But when they are bred in with the bulldog, then you have the most active, resolute, and hardy dog that can be produced; and all those dogs that have performed such wonderful feats in the art of rat-killing are of this breed.

The great object, among the various breeders of these dogs for rat-killing, is to have them as nearly thoroughbred bull as possible, but at the same time preserving all the outward appearance of the terrier as to size, shape, and colour. Black and tan are considered the essence of perfection. The head, neck, body, and tail must be jet black, and not the shadow of a white hair about them. The legs, feet, chest, under jaws, and glottis must be the colour of a deep, ripe chestnut, with a full round spot over each eye.

The hair on every part must be very short, fine, close, and glossy; the feet long and extremely narrow, with long black claws, and a pencil mark or black streak up each toe; the head round, and firmly fixed on an arched or longish strong Roman neck, well set in the shoulders; thin, transparent ears, cut clean out at the bur, and brought to a graceful point; eyes black, bright, prominent, and well set; jaws full and firm, but rounding smoothly off to a muzzle of sufficient length, strength, and substance; small thin lips; nose flat at the point, with inflating nostrils; fangs long, strong and straight; chest deep and full, but not too broad; body rather short than long; loins firm, but gracefully working off to well-rounded haunches, rather light than heavy; and the whole must terminate with a thin tapering tail, about the length, shape, and substance of a highly bred young lady’s delicate little finger.

His action must be bold, yet graceful as an Arab steed’s. At the same time he must be agile as a kitten; and as springy and elastic as an India rubber ball; but in his every movement, look, and expression there must be an air of whining, restless, dauntless defiance. His weight should be from ten to fourteen pounds, not in starved, but trained muscular condition. With these requisites you will have a dog that may be pronounced a perfect specimen of a black-tan bull terrier.

The Royal Rat-catcher dog, is certainly one of the most beautiful, and at the same time the most serviceable and interesting creatures in the whole animal creation, and well worthy the attention and caresses of a right royal master. He is fit to be sent as a royal present from monarch to monarch, or to grace the refulgent equipage of hereditary sovereignty. For as we have the grand falconer, and masters of the horse and hounds, why should there not be the royal rat-catcher, dressed in top-boots or patent leather leggings, buckskin breeches, a silver-mounted green velvet coat, with a gold-embroidered rat in front of his hat, a silver rat-cage at his back, and three or four such dogs in the leash, secured with silver mounted muzzles? Pray, would this not form an interesting addition to the royal procession? or would it not give as great an impetus to the downfall of vermin, as was given, on the contrary, to the red herring trade by His Gracious Majesty, George111, having a dish of those fish brought daily to the table?

I will leave this matter for the consideration of persons of rank and influence. But if such a man was chosen, he should be one well qualified to deliver interesting lectures through the country upon the evil effects of vermin, not only to individuals, but to the nation at large.

Some have asserted that there never was such a perfect specimen of a dog as the one I have described; but that is a mistake, for the model I chose was a dog by the name of Pincher, and the property of a gentleman who bought it off a dyer, in Oxford. Pincher had been my property; but he had been ill-used and shyed when a puppy. Still, for exquisite symmetry and brilliancy of colour, he was the most perfect specimen of a black-tan bull-terrier of any man in England.

Thus we perceive that the dog-fancier is not of that low, ignoble character that some people would wish to rate it; since we find among them, not only humble artisans, but kings, queens, princes and princesses, in every period. Ladies of all ages and degrees, lords of every grade, and priests, parsons, and poets. Indeed, show me if you can, a fancy that embodies such a host of talent of all ages, ranks, and nations, as the dog fancy. Still, I admit that all do not select black-tan bull-terriers for parlour boarders or nursery companions; yet each has his fancy, and let him enjoy it, so long as he does not abuse it. At the same time bear in mind that there is a vast difference between dog-fanciers and dog-stealers, just about as much as there is between the man robbing and the man robbed.

The scoundrel dog-stealers spoil the appearance of nearly all the best dogs in London, because to prevent their being stolen, their masters are compelled to keep them constantly chained up, from their puppy-hood upwards; and by their being continually set on their haunches, their fore-legs become bowed, and their hind ones contracted, which entirely spoils their grace and action.

Again, many breed these dogs as small as possible, and then stint their growth by constant starvation. Herein there is great barbarity practiced for the sake of fancy and fashion. But many of these little black-tan pigmies, known as toy dogs, are not bull-terriers at all, but greyhound terriers, having been bred from the Italian greyhound; and for any service in defending their owners from rats, they are not worth a pinch of salt. So much for fashion and fancy.

True sportsmen and rat-catchers tell us that a good dog cannot be of a bad colour; that is to say, it matters little what colour the dog may be, so long as the animal is a good one. A dog for sound service should be any weight between eight and eighteen pounds. But one from ten to twelve pounds is a most serviceable creature, and if well trained, will work its way through almost any number of rats.

A well trained dog never shakes a rat, or bites it twice, but seizing it across the neck and shoulders, pins it to the ground till it is dead. In this way many of them will kill from ten to twenty rats in one minute, if in close quarters. Nor do they ever bark or scratch at a hole, unless urged to do so, but patiently wait where you place them till the ferret is put in, and the rats bolt; then they do their work as quickly as possible, and quietly wait for more.

Bull-terriers also vary much both as to courage and quality. Even puppies of the same litter, though all taught alike, will often differ as much as so many dogs of different breeds; and sometimes not one among them will turn out worth a rush for rat-killing. Still there is this to be said, that if you have a well bred puppy, you stand a good chance, by careful training, of having a decent killer, perhaps a good one; while, on the contrary, a mongrel, with all the training possible, never can make a good dog. But I must tell you, that an ill tempered, surly, vicious man never yet brought up a good dog. You may give him the best puppies in the world, and his coarse, morose temper will spoil every one that he has to do with. So you may take my word for it that a kind, gentle, cheerful disposition is the first and principal qualification for a good sportsman, or trainer of young dogs.

Few of the best rat-killing dogs of London understand anything about rat-hunting, and would as soon kill the ferret as look at it, never having been trained to them; consequently, though some of them would kill any number of rats in a pit or parlour, if properly secured from escape, yet at the same time. they would kill scarcely a rat a month of their own catching.

Perhaps the most extra-ordinary animals for rat-killing that the world ever saw, were two celebrated dogs, named Tiny and Jem. A small account of these most wonderful creatures may not be wholly uninteresting.

Tiny was a very slender, pretty black-tan bull-terrier, about the size of an ordinary cat, and weighed only five pounds and a half in trained condition. he was a most excitable little creature, and could