A little bit about me.
I’m a long time lover of the bull terrier - there never has been any other breed for me.
I bred my first litter a long long time ago,in my teens, at about the time of the Norman Conquests,or perhaps earlier.
As so often in life,things didn’t work out and work,marriage,divorce,marriage and divorce intervened. I may still yet have time for both more marriage and divorce if I can fit it in around breeding bull terriers.
After the first false start I restarted,breeding Brigadier etc,as outlined in this article and after another long spell out started yet again with Warbonnet India of Bayshuck.
Incidentally that first litter included a bitch who is behind my current breeding.
Jannie has asked me for my thoughts on where the breed is heading,my philosophy of breeding,what I value most etc.
True type is what I value most,with middle of the road at the head of the list.
Where do I see the breed heading? Well,size is an issue,increased size,which brings with it a loss of true type. I can only talk of the breed here in UK,of course. This breeding for size produces,to me,a dog which is neither ‘nowt nor something’ a dog too rangy for a terrier,with not enough substance for a bull.
We must never forget the bull type and it’s great influence for good. Bone,substance and strength of head are so easily lost,the breed always wants to revert to the norm,so these hugely important ingredients have to be put in,time and time again. The trick is to keep the quality too,and that is where the good terrier type plays its equally huge part.
I hope the reader enjoys this little article.
Peter Moyle. June 2015.
Bull Terrier Type.
The ‘Bull’ Type.
Ch Arguside Yuletide Ghoste on Curraneye.Circa 1987
This type will excel in bone and substance,spring of rib and depth of brisket,and a good one also in strength of head. They are of great use in any breeding programme as a fast fix for a lack of bone and substance,the quality terrier type being an ideal mate. A true bull will be rather wider in front than the ideal middle of the road type,with less length of neck. Generally they lack the quality of a good middle of the road. Typical faults are a poor or less than good front,a certain coarseness of skull,and a loaded shoulder,a shoulder overdone in muscle. A good one is a very impressive animal indeed,but alongside an equally good,point for point, middle of the road will always lack the quality to beat him.
The ‘Terrier’ type.
Ch Aricon One in the Eye 1987
This type at it’s best have always less bone and substance than the bull or middle of the road,but a good one will have great quality,tight muscling,straight front,clean lines and a ‘corkiness’ about him. Traditionally terriers are thought to have better eye and expression,better feet,straighter movement,more ‘spark’ in temperament but these really are generalizations. A good one will have all these traits or most of them,a bad one may have none of them but still be a terrier type,just not a very good one.The ideal mate for the bull type or for a middle of the road with a lot of bone and substance for his type. They can also be put to an upstanding type,Ch Brobar Backchat was from such a mating but it should be noted that his beautiful dam,a terrier,was rather lacking in inches on her legs and was good and cobby - she needed the reach and scope of her upstanding mate ,Ch Hollyfir’s Devil’s Disciple. However,such a mating,though very successful in this case,cannot produce the middle of the road,the type we should all be aiming for.
The ‘Middle Of The Road’ type.
Bulivar Starbuck Tawnbarr 1990
As the name implies,a combination of the other types. If you like,a bull with the rough edges shaved off. He will have very good strength of head and bone,lots of real substance,much more than the terrier,have cleaner shoulders and more neck than the bull,and the activity in movement of the terrier but with a rather more powerful,perhaps less precise gait. The ideal type,combining quality with substance - the type everyone should aim for. Breeders of course can breed what they like,the type they like,but judges MUST reward the ideal.Breeders preferring the terrier or bull,or the upstanding,as I’ve said are free to breed what they like but should never beat a middle of the road of equal quality. Why? The middle of the road,as described,combines the best virtues of the bull and the terrier,and is the hardest to breed. Success in producing a good one must be rewarded.
I consider the upstanding ‘Dalmation’ type as a sub type,not one of the true types,but one which unfortunately in my opinion has gained ground in recent years. Such dogs can be useful in a breeding programme,a good one giving scope to a line which may be getting rather ‘dumpy’ but actively breeding for this type is wrong. They will always lack the bone and substance and strength of head to take on the middle of the road,and will tend to length,of both leg and back and indeed head,but without the required strength to go with it.
There are dogs,a great many of them,who do not quite fit into one of these main categories. There are cobby terriers with the strength of head of a much bigger dog,I bred such a dog (in fact three dogs in the same litter) Such a dog is still essentially a terrier. Invariably they will be great sires of heads as they have such exceptional strength for their type.
Likewise,not all middle of the roads are born the same,in our breed of all of these types there is always room for divergence. One middle of the road will lean more to the bull,another a shade more to the terrier - they are still essentially middle of the road,but not quite the ideal mix.
It might be asked by someone perhaps new to the breed ‘What of the bull type with a beautiful front,and good neck and shoulder?’ The answer is,with those points it cannot be a true bull,it has to be a middle of the road with maximum substance,bone etc for it’s type. It could be argued a coarse middle of the road is a bull,or a bull type lacking great substance is a middle of the road. Only seeing individual dogs in the flesh brings an answer to these questions,generalizations can’t quite do it.
It takes a bit of experience to recognise type. For a newcomer to the breed it might seem like a minefield but really it is quite simple,it just,like anything else,requires a little bit of thought.
A few examples of breeding and the types achieved.
I hope readers will excuse me for using examples of my own breeding,and also of the breeding of my good friend,Clare O’Prey and her sister Sarah of the ‘Zaracle’ kennel.
First two poor pics,but unfortunately the only pics I have,of one of mine, Bayshuck Brigadier,born in 1992,as a puppy. A middle of the road by the beautiful middle of the road Bulivar Starbuck Tawnbarr ex a terrier type daughter of the bull, Ch Arguside Yuletide Ghoste on Curraneye. I was forced to stop showing him while still a puppy before he gained his title,having won his first CC and BOB at 9 months old. He was a middle of the road like his sire.
Bayshuck Brigadier as a puppy. Light in body due to illness on the day but a middle of the road. 1992
Bayshuck Bouncer into Zaracle,by the middle of the road Ch Teirwgwyn Son of a Gun at Meilow ex a very cobby terrier daughter of the upstanding Ch Emred Huntsman.
Bayshuck Bohemian,litter brother of Bouncer,at 5 months old.
Ch Teirwgwyn Son of a Gun at Meilow. Middle of the road.Sire of Bouncer,Bohemian and their upstanding sister Ma Baker.
Warbonnet India of Bayshuck,dam of Bouncer,Bohemian and Ma Baker.
A small terrier type but with very good substance for her type. Her head is strong enough but not exceptional.
The mating of Son of a Gun to Warbonnet India produced eight pups,one of which was lost - seven dogs and only one bitch,which I kept. There were no middle of the roads but instead I got three terrier type dog pups,all very cobby,with heads which belonged on a middle of the road,exceptionally strong. The bitch,Ma Baker,is a good example of the upstanding type,with good substance for her type,and very different from her terrier brothers who take after their dam. Two other dog pups were upstanding,the other more a pure terrier but he too had a good head but not exceptionally strong like his three terrier brothers.
Bouncer,though little used has proved an effective sire,not surprisingly passing on his head strongly. I think any essentially terrier type dog with exceptional strength of head for his type MUST be prepotent for it - the genes must be great for strength.
Mated to the terrier type bitch,Irish Champion Merlindan Xsara of Zaracle,he produced seven pups,several of them strong headed,indeed there were nothing but good heads in the litter. This to a beautifully sound terrier bitch rather lacking in strength of head.
Terrier to terrier really isn’t the best mating because middle of the road cannot be achieved except by pure luck but in this case Bouncer has good bone and substance and the previously mentioned great strength of head for his type,and the results were good.
Ir Ch Merlindan Xsara of Zaracle.
. A very sound terrier type. Mated to Bouncer she produced :-
Ir Ch Zaracle Zundae Best. A lovely cobby terrier type with a great head.
Zaracle Zuperstition,litter brother of Zundae Best. Proving an effective sire in Europe.
Next Clare mated Zundae Best (cobby terrier) back to her middle of the road grandsire,Son of a Gun. A litter of somewhat varied type resulted,though heads again were good. There were no middle of the roads but several cobby terriers with the strength of head of a heavier type. Here is one pictured at 7 months old. Her name is Zaracle Zorceress. I have no doubt that she in her turn will produce something extra special,and hopefully the ideal middle of the road.
Zaracle Zorceress at 7 months old. Great strength of head.
Time will tell how successful we are but middle of the road will always be the aim.
Finally,a pic of a daughter of Ma Baker,by the large but substantial Ch Busell’s Black Magic at Ounsdale ex the upstanding Ma Baker. A small typy terrier bitch,unlike either parent.Size and type can never be assured in our breed by only looking at the parents,which I was banking on when I did the mating. I did not want great big pups. Both parents by Son of a Gun. Her name is Bayshuck Colleen at Serenbull.
Her litter brother,Bayshuck Double Barrel at Busell.Essentially an upstanding dog but full of substance. Very like his mother.
A more in depth look at the breeding of Brigadier.
Seeing Ch Aricon One in the Eye and Ch Arguside Yuletide Ghoste on Curraneye set me thinking. What if I try to combine these two dogs?
One in the Eye,all a terrier,clean lines,a superb expression,very well put together with a better than average upperarm and a very good front,and the bull Yuletide Ghoste,with his tremendously strong head,also superb eye,great bone and substance and huge ribs. Each a perfect compliment for the other with the virtues and faults of their type.
First,I bought a terrier type bitch by Yuletide Ghoste. Her front and upperarm weren’t her fortune and her eye could have been smaller but nevertheless a nice bitch. She had superbly strong hindquarters and something which is never common in a bull terrier,top class hind movement. Unlike the traditional view of the terrier,her feet were not the tightest.The job now was to find her a mate. One in the Eye wasn’t suitable,being a terrier,but luck was on my side with the appearance of a stunning dog by him,Bulivar Starbuck Tawnbarr. Starbuck was a superb,ideal middle of the road,very difficult to fault with virtue after virtue. I say difficult to fault but he had one very obvious fault,a very bad mouth. His hind action too was uncoordinated. He excelled where my bitch failed,with a superb front and feet and a very good upperarm.. He had all the bone and substance of the true bull type but with the intense quality of the very best terrier.
It’s important to know where Starbuck got all that bone and substance. His dam was linebred to the beautiful middle of the road Ch Bulivar Real McCoy,and was described by her breeder Mrs Mitchell of the excellent ‘Bulivar’ kennel as,”massive!” in short,the ideal mate for the terrier One in the Eye,with great bone and substance. I believe,by the way,that Starbuck was from the third mating of this bitch to One in the Eye,which rather puts the lid on the old belief that repeat matings in the bull terrier are never as good.
Real McCoy features heavily in all this,One in the Eye being a great grandson,his dam by his heavyweight son Ch Burundi Black,a dual trophy winner,and the dam of Starbuck doubled up on him via a half brother/sister mating,his granddam also a sister of Ch Burundi Black,and in my opinion far superior. She was a wonderful tri heavyweight called Bulivar Twilight Zone.
The litter produced only four pups,two dogs and two bitches. Two middle of the roads,Bayshuck Brigadier and a very good sister,a middle of the road dog leaning to the bull,and one terrier bitch. Sadly the very good sister was lost,killed in a road accident having stupidly been sold by me as a pup. The ups and mostly downs after Brigadier are really not worth going into here but within a few years I was out of the breed,having lost a number of good dogs,eventually starting again years later with Warbonnet India of Bayshuck.
I also sold Brigadier as a puppy,a huge mistake. For the small breeder keeping a dog among bitches is always difficult but nevertheless I should of course have kept him.For the record he was very like his sire but with a good mouth (two incisors just off) and superb movement both ways.