Ooo...

I was reading about some local history and ended up looking at staffordshire and apparently bull terriers like staffies and pit bull types were actually named "pit bulls" as they used to send them down into the pits of coal mines to pull the carts full of coal back to the top as they had the strength of a bull!

I don't know how accurate that is, but apparently the term pit bull was started here in England! :O

My grandad told me that and he was a coal miner like you said i dont no how true that is

I dont know how much truth in this, I'm sure some of our more experienced owners will know.

I don't know how true it is either I just thought it was quite interesting! I'm sure someone will point me in the right direction on here

oh defantley its a knowledgable forum

i know for a fact they used pit ponies to pull carts

Interesting never heard that before, mind you Katy quite often looks like she's been down the pit

I feel for you on that one! Ebony makes a sprint to the dirtiest place she can find!

The "pit" is in reference to the pits they put them in to fight. They are very good at pulling yes, but i don't know if they really used them in pits. The "bull" comes from the fact they are from bulldogs.

I thought that too! I know that's why they have the bull in staffordshire bull terrier as it's what they're bred with but yeah both reasons are good reasons to be called pit bulls!

Well not so much the pit fighting one..

I didn't literally mean that them fighting bulls were good ... I mean good as in "yes, that could be why they were called that. There's a good possibility that's why they're called pit bulls" sorry you miss understood.

yea i always thought pit was for the pit they thought in........never heard to coal one!

Yeah that's what I always thought too! Thougt it was nice to hear a different story of man and dog working together instead of this fighting lark we hear about them all the time

I copied this off pitbullregistry.com.. This is another theory

At this point the sport known as ratting soon emerged. This involved placing a number of rats in a literal pit for a specified period of time with the dog.

The larger the number of rats killed by the dog the better the dog placed in the match.

THIS IS IN FACT WHERE THE "PIT" IN THE AMERICAN Pit Bull TERRIER NAME CAME FROM NOT FROM FIGHTING OTHER DOGS.

Again i don't know what truth there is in it..

Well thank you for finding this Kylie! I've never heard of the ratting thing before! I have absolutely no clue which ones true or not though

P.s your girls colours are lovely in that picture!

CodlingKid wrote:Well thank you for finding this Kylie! I've never heard of the ratting thing before! I have absolutely no clue which ones true or not though

P.s your girls colours are lovely in that picture!

I really have no idea what if any truth there is in it. TBH I have never properly studied the history of the breed.. But there are some members here that have studied the history of the breed for many years and would have a better idea than me.

Thank you re; Steffi Although you are a little biased, as I am with your Ebony as they are so much alike our girls

Yeah, this really is a very knowledgable forum full of nice people - was lucky to find it

And yessss! From your picture they do look very similar! She even has the white toe fur! she is a beaut

It is indeed from the rat, and fighting pits the term came from .. not pulling coal from a mine, unless the carts were about the size of a handbag

Though I did hear they used to wear x4 little hob-nailed boots and flat caps ... not sure how much truth is in that tho

I think they'd look rather wonderful in little and hard hats though lol.

Thanks for the clarification Sir! Very much appreciated!

CodlingKid wrote: I think they'd look rather wonderful in little and hard hats though lol.

Thanks for the clarification Sir! Very much appreciated!

Your welcome sweetheart

Andy wrote:It is indeed from the rat, and fighting pits the term came from .. not pulling coal from a mine, unless the carts were about the size of a handbag

Though I did hear they used to wear x4 little hob-nailed boots and flat caps ... not sure how much truth is in that tho

Thanks Andy

As far as i know they were pit bulls as a group of dogs used to fight in the ring (none of them necessarily looked like a pitbull, more like bull dogs), and the terrier was added when they were bred with terriers to make the ratting instinct but they were also still good fighters.