Staffordshire Bull Terrier - Hardcover

FLEIG, Dieter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 085115543X ISBN 13: 9780851155432

Publisher: The Boydell Press, 1990

Synopsis

Opens with a history of the breed, from its recognition by the Kennel Club in 1935, and an exposition of the various standards. This is followed by practical advice on breeding, selection, training and care, with specific reference to the home environment. A list of champions is included.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Intelligent, loving and courageous, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier has a dedicated following of dog lovers all over the world. Taking his name from the Staffordshire Black Country, he was originally bred for bull-baiting and dog-fighting as early as the 19th century. The development of the breed is linked directly to the Industrial Revolution and the difficulties of the working class, for whom a game dog would infer prestige and respect. This new, revised version of Dr Dieter Fleig's The Staffordshire Bull Terrier examines the history of the breed from its first origins through to the present day. The breed's unique character is described, together with helpful advice on living with a Stafford. Dr Fleig draws on his wide experience of this inimitable terrier to discuss choosing, training and socialising a pup, feeding, and health care. A section on showing Staffords gives invaluable information on presenting the breed to its best advantage in the ring. For!
the expert, there is an analysis of the Breed Standard, which features comments by Stafford expert Mary Pringle. There is also a discussion on breeding which includes a section on line-breeding by Norman Berry, another respected breed authority. Illustrated with stunning new colour photos, and useful line-drawings, this updated edition of an established breed 'bible', is a must for all Stafford enthusiasts.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A large exhibition was organised in 1974 in the Bear Gardens Museum in London by the Southern Counties Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club. This was not in order to celebrate the animal atrocities of the past, or to generate any interest in them. It was designed to explain how the anatomy and character of the present-day Stafford was dictated by its original purpose. The breed has its origins in the dog-fighting of the early 19th century and it is important to understand that dog-fighting at that time was hugely popular among certain sections of the population. But, of course, animal fighting as a public spectacle goes back in time much further than that. Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary on August 14th 1666 that it was a "very rude and nasty pleasure". The Romans had a method for appeasing exploited and oppressed people, 'panem et circenses' - bread and circuses. They served as a distraction from the miseries of life. In the Black Country, in the 19th century,!
people were mercilessly exploited. Not only were adults compelled to labour under terrible conditions in dangerous coalmines and ironworks for sixty hours or more a week, but it was quite usual for children to work ten hours a day underground. Hunger and poverty forced the whole family to pool their efforts in order to survive. In addition, they had few rights and little social standing. Those who know what affection from an animal can mean will appreciate why these despairing people kept pets - most of them dogs, who earned their own living as ratters and as guards.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Boydell Press
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 085115543X
• ISBN 13: 9780851155432
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 149