The alleged appearance of the dog. Individuals who played a role in the fate of the Blue Paul Terrier, origin, ancestors, uniqueness of the breed, reasons for its disappearance. The Blue Paul Terrier, or Blue Paul Terrier, was a type of fighting dog that appears to have been kept primarily in countries such as Scotland and the United States of America. Very little documented information is known about this dog, other than the fact that it was supposedly quite ferocious and was used for a kind of competition - fighting in the ring with dogs. This could probably indicate that the blue color came from these dogs and manifested itself in their descendants: Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Pit Bull Terriers and American Staffordshire Terriers.
At this time, there are no definitive opinions as to when and where these dogs were bred, when and how they became extinct, or even on their appearance and nature of character. The Blue Paul Terrier is also known as the Scottish Bull Terrier, Blue Poll Bulldog and Blue Poll. In the modern world, this species is classified as an extinct breed.
The Blue Paul Terrier had a similar appearance to modern Staffordshire Terriers. It had a smooth coat and was very powerfully built. The animal weighed about 22-23 kg, height at the withers was measured in the range from 55 to 56 centimeters.
The head was large enough with a flat forehead. The muzzle of these terriers appeared short and square, large and wide, but as such was not receding. Wide jaws and strong teeth were not too covered by the wings. They had a small indentation between the eye slits. The eyes were dark brown, presumably oval and not set too deep. The ears were small, thin, set high and invariably cropped, which looked great when combined with dense, muscular cheekbones. The blue floor terrier's eyebrows moved well enough. The expression on the muzzle of these canines can now be recognized in their descendants.
The body was round and well ribbed, but short, broad and muscular, and the ribcage was deep and broad. The tail was placed low enough and did not have a "fringe". When moving, he was lowered and never rose higher than the back. The dog stood upright and stable on its feet. Its front legs were thick and muscular, but not crooked. The hind legs appeared to be very thick and strong, with well developed muscles. Their coat was dark blue. However, they were sometimes born tiger or red, and were popular in Scotland.
Famous persons who took part in the fate of the Blue Paul Terrier
Until now, even cynologists who have studied the history of the appearance of the Blue Paul Terrier in the canine world are not able to fully clarify the mystery of the dog's origin.
It is only known for certain that the appearance of the Blue Paul Terrier is directly associated with the name of the famous sailor, born Scotsman, who passed the thorny sea route from cabin boy to admiral, a former successful slave trader, planter and corsair. This man's name is John Paul Jones. However, he had a lot of names in his life, which is not surprising, because he passed a long way in service. While participating in the North American War of Independence, he called himself in the American manner - Paul Jones (Paul Jones); in the service of the Russian Empress Catherine II, was called Ivan Ivanovich Paul or Pavel Jones; during the privateering period - by the Black Corsair.
Wherever he was, this natural-born sailor, he everywhere showed himself heroically, achieving success and honor, although he was far from pleasing to everyone and more than once was subjected to sophisticated intrigues. In the United States, he is recognized as a national hero, the founder of the American navy. In Russia, under the command of Rear Admiral Pavel Jones, there was a whole sailing flotilla of 5 battleships and eight frigates, with the help of which he terrified the Turks in the Dnieper-Bug estuary. In the Russian-Turkish war, he won a number of victories, including participating in the defeat of the Turkish flotilla near Ochakov.
At the dawn of his admiral's career, John Paul Jones, in one of his appearances in his hometown of Kirkcudbright (Kirkcudbright) in Scotland, around 1770, brought a pair of large dogs of an unusual bluish-blue color. Where they were brought from to Scotland remained a mystery. The admiral never told anyone about this. But, the dogs liked and became very popular very quickly. Moreover, in those distant times, dog fights were very common.
The brought dogs turned out to be surprisingly aggressive, strong, hardy and agile. And the tactics of their battle very thoroughly and favorably differed from the local aboriginal breeds. They invariably prevailed. Soon the breed began to be bred specifically for fighting, not only in Scotland, but throughout the UK. Well, in honor of the navigator, who was the first to introduce dog breeders to new fighting dogs, the breed was named the Blue Paul Terrier.
Alleged versions of the origin of the Blue Paul Terrier
The breed is said to have been the most popular among the peoples of Roma origin who were constantly moving around the region. However, the sources do not provide an accurate clue as to whether these "gypsies" (a derogatory and outdated term describing at least three distinct groups of peoples in Britain) were "Roma", "Scottish nomads" or "Irish nomads". Based on time and place, they were most likely Scottish nomads, but this cannot be said with any certainty.
The Blue Paul Terrier had a near-legendary reputation for fighting dogs in the ring, where he was said to fight to the death. John Paul Jones is said to have returned to America around 1777. As a result, with him to this country, he brought the Blue Paul Terriers, where they subsequently developed on the East Coast of the American territory.
There are many problems in the interpretation of this story. The biggest is that there seems to be no documentation at all to support the story's authenticity, and therefore elevates it to a level of little more than rumor and folklore. Moreover, it covers a short time period. The American Revolution (War of Independence in the United States), which began in 1775, was in full swing by 1777. Although the revolutionaries mostly fought within the colonies, there were also a large number of maritime conflicts.
During the American Revolution, the British at some point blocked most of the major colonial ports, which also greatly interfered with American shipping. Therefore, it is highly doubtful, and admittedly almost impossible, that John Paul Jones returned to America at this stage, and even less likely that he would have been able to bring dogs along with him. In any case, John Paul Jones appears to have already been present in America by 1774, as he offered his services to the North American colonies as a corsair. The Continental Congress in 1775 gave him its consent to this.
It is also completely incomprehensible how John Paul Jones originally acquired these dogs and where they came from at all. The "gypsies" who kept them insisted that the roots of these animals originate from the Galloway coast, where Kirkkudbright is located. If the dogs were bred in this area, then it is unlikely that Paul Jones brought them. It is possible that the "gypsies" did not really mean "Galloway" in the Scottish countryside, but rather the city of Galway, located on the west coast of Ireland (an important and large, fifth largest Irish port city). If so, then the Blue Paul Terrier may have been a descendant of the Kerry Blue Terrier, but this version is nothing more than speculation with rumors.
Possible progenitors of Blue Gender Terriers
It is generally accepted that the "Blue Paul Terrier" was a kind of middle form of the "bull dog", the old English bulldog and terrier. This is possible, but also somewhat unlikely. Of course, "bovine dogs" may have existed for centuries. But, they weren't common, ubiquitous until 1835. The baiting dog population declined significantly after the Cruelty to Animals Act was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the baiting of bulls and other large animals was banned.
If the Blue Paul Terrier dates back to the 1770s, then its existence would predate most other bull dogs and terriers by more than 60 years. There are multiple surviving depictions of Blue Paul Terriers. They are similar to other Bull Terriers and have gone down well in Blue Paul Terrier history. The images may not actually represent the original canine species, but a mixture between that breed, bulldogs and terriers. Anyway, such drawings are not the only ones and show a dog that looks similar to Manchester Terriers and other varieties of terriers and bovine dogs.
The roots of these canines go back to breeds with the same blue coat. Therefore, it can be assumed that they contain the blood of some species of greyhounds. It is possible that the variety was actually an intersection between a blue sighthound and a terrier, although there is no evidence for this version, nor for any other variation. Other theories that have been put forward are that the dog may have evolved from a cross between terriers and one of the Blue Gascony Hounds, Collie-type dogs, or perhaps a canine Native American, but these interpretations are even less plausible.
The uniqueness of the Blue Paul Terrier
Little is known about the specific behavior of the Blue Paul Terrier. It was assumed to be an extremely strong dog, with a high level of aggressiveness and willing to fight to the death. The breed usually had a bluish-gray coat, but it is unclear if the coat was always a solid color or sometimes had some small patches of white color. Not all Blue Paul Terriers were blue, and occasionally red and brindle-colored specimens were born. These dogs were known in Scotland as "Scotland as Smuts" and "Red Smuts".
The breed was quite muscular and athletic. The surviving ancient images show the dog with a short and smooth coat, relatively long and straight legs, and a very thin, medium-length tail. The head of this species looked powerful and was topped with straight ears. But whether they were naturally natural or artificially circumcised is not exactly known (although most researchers think they were circumcised). The muzzle of these dogs looked rather short, about half the length of the skull, and it was also relatively wide. The breed had a wide and deep chest, because of which the animal, perhaps, looked quite round. Supposedly, Blue Paul Terriers were 50 centimeters high at the withers and weighed approximately 20 kilograms.
Despite the fact that the dog grew a blue-tinged coat, it was said to have amber eyes that did not protrude too much or were placed very deeply. The Blue Paul Terrier appeared to have a very unique facial expression that was a feature of the species. Probably one of the only ones among all canines. This "grimace" was the result of a slight overhang of the brow ridges on the frontal part in combination with unusually expressive facial muscles. Some experts have suggested that this trait was taken from two different breeds. But since all dogs have similar facial muscles, this assumption seems impossible.
The ancestor of what breeds was the Blue Paul Terrier
As already mentioned, the bloody sport of bull-baiting with dogs was not practiced after 1835, since it was banned by parliament in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But, the law did not prohibit dog fighting in the ring. Dog fighting enthusiasts have found that Bull Terriers have become the most ideal fighting dogs, as they combine the size, strength and ferocity of a bulldog, the speed and active aggression of a terrier. British lovers of this kind of entertainment began to cross several varieties of terriers with bulldogs in an attempt to develop the perfect fighting dog. These breeders have incorporated the Blue Paul Terrier into their breeding programs.
Breeders in Staffordshire especially favored the "Blue Paul Terriers", and the blue hue was introduced to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier as a result. When Staffordshire Terriers were brought to America in the mid-1800s, they began to be bred with American fighting dogs, including the Blue Paul Terrier, allegedly descended from dogs brought by John Paul Jones. This introduction of the Blue Paul Terrier blood (as well as the Blue Staffordshire Bull Terrier) subsequently had a major impact on the bred American Pit Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier. The shade of blue has long been one of the most popular coat colors among American pit bull terriers, commonly referred to as “Blue Nose Pits,” or much less commonly, Blue Pauls.
History and reasons for the disappearance of the Blue Paul Terrier
Sometimes amateur researchers express a version that the "Blue Paul Terrier" was one of the first dogs that came to America with English immigrants in the 19th century. However, this is in no way an accurate statement. British settlers brought canines with them to America since the 1600s. Bloodhound accompanied the early British settlers to Virginia, and an English merchant ship called the Mayflower, which means Mayflower, brought mastiffs and spaniels to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Many other breeds were preceded by the importation into America of the Blue Paul Terrier, including Collies, Foxhounds and other varieties of Terriers.
At some point, the Blue Paul Terrier breed disappeared altogether, although there does not appear to be any information on when this happened. The breed may have died out at some point between the 1850s and 1900s. Probably most of the representatives of this species died while participating in dog competitions. But, in the traditional sense of this meaning, the species is probably not extinct. Many dog connoisseurs suggest that, most likely, Blue Paul Terriers overlap with American Pit Bull Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers so often that they, as such, ceased to be an independent species and acquired the genetics of these dogs, which manifested itself in a variety of colors and colors. The fact that no one has documented the disappearance of the Blue Paul Terrier may indicate that dogfighting enthusiasts were not even aware of the complete disappearance of this species of canines. But, nevertheless, their genetics continues to exist in different breeds.
