The ability to go below ground in search of vermin is what makes the Earth Dog different then other vermin destroying dogs. For centuries small dogs have been bred for this purpose and have become our modern working terriers. When the underground home of a pest species has been found the terrier is sent down to locate and hopefully make it leave its sanctuary. If the quarry stays then the terrier must be found and reached by the terrierman. A good terrier should stay, holding its quarry in the one spot until reached, enabling the terrierman to lift the terrier and dispatch the pest.
Today’s popular working breeds of terrier all originated in the British Isles. These are the Fell, Lakeland, Border and Jack Russell terriers. There are a few small lines of other types still worked amongst enthusiasts. In times gone by the white-bodied terriers of southern Britain, the Jack Russell, Fox and Sealyham were used to hunt the fox, badger and otter. Often after their game was put to ground by hounds and it was often a sporting exercise. The terriers of the north were however a harder type preferring to close with the quarry. The Fell types, Lakeland’s and Borders were put to their game purely to account for it. Whether they bolted it to hounds or took care of it themselves didn't matter. Because of the often undigable holes in the north the huntsman often couldn't reach his terrier with his fox. Nowadays the breeds tend not to be as localized and are indeed worked all over the world. In Europe the terrier is still worked to it's traditional quarry, the fox and badger and in North America where it is gaining popularity it is worked to a variety of pest species including the raccoon, groundhog and fox. The role of the terrier is the same no matter where and it is still the most humane way of accounting for vermin while still in it's underground home.
As long as man has used dogs for hunting large and often dangerous game he has needed a large powerful type dog to hold the beast at the end of the hunt enabling the hunter to kill it. These catch dogs were often used after the game had been cornered by scent or running hounds. The Mastiffs, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, the Great Dane and the Dogue de Bordeaux being examples of ancient catch dogs. The American Bulldog, a large strong fairly modern breed is still used for holding awkward game. In modern times in a lot of countries hunters often cross the fighting breeds with one of the herding or hound breeds to get a dog that will both hunt and catch. Today’s most common quarry where a catch dog is needed is the Feral Pig, a now wild animal that is causing quite a nuisance in countries where it is established. Being quite fast it can be fierce when cornered and can show the best of dogs whose boss. Using a “strong dog” to draw a badger at the end of a dig after the terrier is finished did indeed lead to a new sport and dogs for the job.
Terriermen in Ireland in the first half of the 20th century devised a trial to test a game type of dog against the badger. A drain approx. 14 yards in length and with a couple of turns within it was dug. This drain was tight enough for a strong terrier to negotiate. At the end of the drain was placed the badger. Under very strict rules the strong dog had a minute to reach his badger and then work his badger in total silence for 6 minutes. If a terrier showed weakness, such as making noise or was slow to reach the end he was disqualified by the judges. Some of these game terriers drew their badger out of the tube in the time given. Certificates of gameness were given out for dogs that passed this hard test. Badgers were never killed and released back were they were caught. The breeds that excelled at this sport were the Staffordshire Bullterrier and the Wheaton terrier. Today there is a small group of fanciers who still appreciate these 2 great breeds for their courage and keep the bloodlines, as they should be.
Man has always admired a dog with pluck and courage. Game breeds of dogs were developed for the various fighting and baiting sports as were the sports developed to test the dogs. As transport in days gone by was often limited or sometimes non-existent, the different regions of the world had their breeds and types. For instance, the traveling communities of Northern England used a breed of terrier, the Bedlington, for providing a bit of hunting, badger drawing and dog fighting. Whereas north again in Scotland they had their own type of pit dog, the Blue Paul, an extinct type that resembled the pit dogs of today. Down South in the Black Country of England, the working class sportsmen had their own, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Even today the staff is admired for his courage. This really is a breed whose history has done it all. He was used on bull and bear in the ancient baiting contests, required to silently draw a badger from a barrel, kill rats by the dozen and take his death in the pit against another staff. The sportsmen of southern Britain often put a bit of staff blood in their white bodied badger digging terriers for courage, while the fox hunting men of the North often put Bedlington in their colored terriers for the same reason.
The dogs used initially for bull and bear baiting although needing to be game and have powerful jaws were not particularly athletic. Indeed a “heaviness” was probably an advantage. The dogs used today in the bear baiting spectacles of Pakistan are a large crossbred type but the dogs used by the same people for fighting each other are pure bred Pit Bulls. When bull and bear baiting lost it's popularity the fighting sports became more confined and usually took place in a pit. A smaller, faster type of dog was needed. This was achieved by breeding the smaller terrier types to the larger bulldog. They were selectively culled and the better specimens bred from. This gave a dog more suited for the speed of the rat and dog pits and the size and strength for drawing a badger.
Over in Ireland where the gentry preferred to hunt from horse back or course hares with Greyhounds, it was mostly the poorer man who kept the game dog for the various sports. The Irish breeds were usually a multi-purpose dog used for keeping vermin down, guarding the house, badger drawing and some dog fighting at the weekends. These were poor people and it was easier to feed one dog than several. Terrier breeds in Ireland were very localized. In the province of Munster the Kerry Blue was a dog required to maybe catch an otter in the river or beat his neighbors dog in a light hearted match. In Wicklow they bred a fair Badger dog called the Glen Of Imall who was also fought occasionally. The Irish and the Wheaton had their small populations too. The Wheaton originally was a guarding, hunting and herding type who when tested on badger ruthlessly by Irish sportsmen and became one of the gamest breeds ever. The type of Pit Bull bred by the Irish was very similar to today’s American Pit Bull terrier.
Many of these dogs were taken to America during the Famine and after and can still be traced in the pedigrees of today’s modern pit dogs. Fighting dogs have always been kept and bred all over the world. In Asia the Akita and Tosa of Japan and the Shar Pei were a few of the large fighting dogs kept. The Majorca Mastiff was commonly fought in Spain and the Balearic Islands. The Cane Corso was a large dog used for herding and fighting in Italy. As you can see a dog with courage was always admired but it is the dogs of Britain and Ireland that have had the greatest impression on the sporting terriers and game dogs that are worked all over the world.
