The Staffordshire Bull Terrier came to be in and around the seventeenth century. As bull baiting events declined in popularity and dog fighting escalated in popularity.
It became a mission for the dog fighting fraternity of the day to come up with a breed of dog that had a more athletic form with a larger more powerful head and could combine its strength and agility without the having the draw backs of the larger more cumbersome dogs of the time.
So the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was conceived from the fighting dogs of the day crossed with some of the terriers of the time, they proved to be excellent for the needs of these barbarians of cruel blood sport's and their sadistic voyeurs.
This cross these breeders produced was known a "Bull Terrier"or Pit bull, these dogs were renowned for their tenacity and courage and despite their unrivaled ferocity in the pit were terrific pets and good with all children (Hence The Nickname "Nanny Dogs").
Although dog fighting and other bloodspot pastimes of the day were endorsed or patronised by some of the the aristocracy, fighting dogs were also owned and bred by the poorest of families.
The pit bull was very popular with working classes where the dogs were not only matched and fought for cheap pleasure, but a working man could increase his income greatly with side bets made on owning a champion fighting pit bull and also when worked their terrier side as a game working dog with badgers or as vermin control (ratters).
When the law changed 1835, ( "the humane act ") these blood baiting sports and dog fighting events became illegal and several men in the Staffordshire area took their dogs in a different direction and drew a line between the two so as to preserve their breed of Bull Terrier lines by introducing them to the show world as Pedigree dogs.
A Breed Standard was soon written describing what the dog's form and specs were and this dog was then given the all to well known name The Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
