The Boston Terrier: An All American
By Wendy Caples | October 4, 2008
Although not colored red, white and blue, Boston Terriers are the all-American dog. They were developed in the city of Boston, as their name suggests, and then spread out across the nation and the world. They are very much like the American owners who developed them. The Boston Terrier was not in America when the colonists arrived. They were developed from dogs brought over and imported from Europe.
The Boston Terrier was bred first and foremost to be a companion to man, woman and child. This has resulted in a breed more renowned for its good temperament than its cute looks. The Boston Terrier has gone through a lot of changes over the hundred and fifty years or so of it's existence. Both his size and color have gone through a lot of changes. But through it all, it has kept a sunny disposition. He truly earns his nickname of The American Gentleman.
The founding sire of the Boston Terrier breed is thought to have been a jaunty little dog called Hooper's Judge, owned by Robert C. Hooper of Boston, who bought him in 1870. This pivotal dog was imported from England and made a big impression on not just the female dogs of Boston, but their owners as well. He was thirty-two pounds, which is a lot heavier than the Boston Terriers of today. He also is described in old America Kennel Club records as having a well built, high-stationed body, being a dark brindle with a white blaze down the nose.
Hooper's Judge looked a lot different from today's Boston Terriers. The only Boston Terrier information we have of him is written descriptions. He was thought to be over thirty pounds, a solid dark brindle color except for a white blaze down the nose. His head was more round like an English Bulldog. He established a breed called the Old English Bulldogge (which has gone through several spellings). The breed still exists today, but it is very rare.
Eventually, the determined Boston breeders got the dog they wanted. This Boston Bull Terrier or Boston Bull was about fifteen to twenty five pounds, had a naturally short tail and had an evenly proportioned amount of white with the colors black, seal or brindle.
Various name permutations have included the Bull Terrier (which ticked off the emerging breed of the same name), the Boston Bull and the Boston Bull Terrier.
The breed was considered highly desirable by anyone with a bit of money by 1889. By 1893, the Boston Terrier was a recognized breed in the American Kennel Club. In 1870, the first Boston Terrier was allowed to show. The first breed standard to be passed that made the Boston Terrier as we know him today was drafted in 1900.
Despite all of the generations of fighting dogs in him, a Boston Terrier is more inclined to run away than pick a fight.
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