...

[cúagusgiorraí 57]

..

Edited April 9, 2010 by cúagusgiorraí

[poacher3161 1,766]

It could well mean a contest in the rat pits.atb dell

[kiz 0]

Hi lads,

NOT THAT I CONDONE DOG FIGHTING

 

just our of historical interest, here is something that I found in an old newspaper

 

 

Sunday, November 2, 1845

 

CANINE RING

 

On Monday last the renowned lurcher dog, Tommy, had a contest

with the celebrated Bow Lee dog, Spring (22lb), for 10 sovs a-side

The betting was 6 to 4 and 2 to 1 on the lurcher, with few takers. It was

soon seen that Spring had not a shadow of a chance, except as a cour-

ageous dog to receive, and after contending for one hour and ten

minutes, the lurcher was declared the winner, without any perceptible

punishment. The lurcher was excellently well trained, and handled

in first-rate style by Young Simons, of the Gipsy King, and Spring

by Jud, of Bow Lee. It was fought near Manchester.

 

 

Was this the "old newspaper" ?

http://snakemouth.blogspot.com/2009/11/canine-ring.html

[lurchergrrl 1,441]

Beat me to it Kiz ... that blog is the only thing I could find - I wonder what type of dog Spring was.

 

Interesting ....

[kiz 0]

Beat me to it Kiz ... that blog is the only thing I could find - I wonder what type of dog Spring was.

 

Interesting ....

Don't know, but if you look at http://snakemouth.blogspot.com/2009/11/challenge.html

talks about rat challenge.

[lurchergrrl 1,441]

I did think the other one was worded so that it didn't necessarily mean fighting - there's no mention of any quarry in it, as there is in the one you posted.

 

I can't really see lurchers being suitable for fighting. They've skin like bloody paper!

[kiz 0]

Some interesting stuff on the site

Scroll down the page at http://snakemouth.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html

The Bull Terrier

and

Northern English Greyhound (Lancashire and Cheshire)

and

Master McGrath

and

Dog Breed Historical Pictures

[cúagusgiorraí 57]

no it's dog fighting.

[kiz 0]

I stand corrected

Edited November 17, 2009 by kiz

[CAcountry_boy 0]

Do ya think Spring was a Bull & Grey cross or something?

Edited November 19, 2009 by CAcountry_boy

[lawrence 657]

i don't know how long the term Lurcher has been used to discribe running dogs, maybe it was used in a different context in the 1800's. if it was a dog fight, you can bet the dogs were bull bred, plenty of small bulls in that weight class in them days.

[Catcher 1 639]

i don't know how long the term Lurcher has been used to discribe running dogs, maybe it was used in a different context in the 1800's. if it was a dog fight, you can bet the dogs were bull bred, plenty of small bulls in that weight class in them days.

 

 

Hi mate.As far as i know the lurcher was first bred by the Irish Gypses in the 17th Century.and it was collie grey.atb.Catcher

[cumbrian-whippet 1]

Peasants bred them as poaching dogs in the middle ages when it was illegal to own a pure bred sight hound as these were kept by the nobility and anyone who owned a pure bred sighthounf was automatically deemed a poacher.

[Stabs 2]

Not just bull breeds were used in the square back then though, and still not. I think any dog, if deemed to be standing a chance, was used. If memory serves me correctly, then there's mention of a golden retriever who was used in the pit in Fitzbarnard's Fighting Sports book, and also in Lucas's Hunt and Working Terriers book, there's the Airedale dog, Thunder, that was used too....I think. My memory might be playing tricks on me. Certainly from my own experience, I had a little 20" lurcher once that adored a tear-up with my bull terriers

[CAcountry_boy 0]

Not just bull breeds were used in the square back then though, and still not. I think any dog, if deemed to be standing a chance, was used. If memory serves me correctly, then there's mention of a golden retriever who was used in the pit in Fitzbarnard's Fighting Sports book, and also in Lucas's Hunt and Working Terriers book, there's the Airedale dog, Thunder, that was used too....I think. My memory might be playing tricks on me. Certainly from my own experience, I had a little 20" lurcher once that adored a tear-up with my bull terriers

 

Very true Stabs. I am sure I am not telling Stabs anything new here, but in order to elaborate on his post a bit, Pit dogs were (and are) a type, not a true breed. Their owners bred for gameness and physical characteristics needed to scrap with other dogs, not to any breed standard. The pit bulls we think of as a breed are really just a standardized type that proved to be the most successful type used in the pit. If you look at a game bred dog you will see that the dogs confirmation is all geared for the pit. For instance, the front legs are heavier than the back in order to allow the dog to take the punishment that the front end gets in a fight. The back legs are thinner so as to not contribute any unneeded weight, while being formed to aid the dog in getting traction when the dog is up on its hind legs wrestling with its opponent. Other breeds/types of dogs were (and are) tested in the pit, but in the end the tried and tested pit bull type always proved the most successful in the long run.

 

by the way, the really buff "pit bulls" you see around town are never going to go the distance ether... they are too short and heavy. Dogs are matched at a specified weight, and so those thick and clunky dogs would ether have to be matched at such a low weight that they would be severely weakened, or they would have to fight a bigger, taller dog and still be at a disadvantage. Those buff tank-built pits look cool as heck, but they are truly "not for fighting".

 

I have a game bred bitch here, and everybody asks me if I am worried she will hurt my daughter one day. I always tell them that my dog was bred to never bite humans even under extreme pain, and no other "breed" has been as well selected not to bite people as a game bred dog. For most of the "breeds" history man-biters were killed to prevent them from breeding any more man-biters. Biting humans even during a match was the biggest sin a pit dog could commit...