It's My Tea Party
Like Boston cream pie, which isn't really a pie, the Boston terrier isn't precisely a terrier, though the breed's original ingredients did include a number of terriers. In fact the father of all Bostons was a bulldog-English terrier cross named Hooper's Judge, who belonged to Robert C. Hooper of Boston. According to The Complete Dog Book, published by the American Kennel Club (AKC), Judge was "a well-built, high-stationed dog" weighing "about 32 pounds." He was dark brindle in color with a white blaze. (A brindle dog, as defined by AKC, has "a fine even mixture of black hairs with hairs of a lighter color, usually tan, brown, or gray." A blaze is a stripe down the center of the face).
Hooper purchased Judge from William O'Brien, also of Boston, "about the year 1870."
Boston terrier breeders Michael and Beverly Staley, writing in The Boston Terrier: An American Original, report that Hooper imported Judge from England in 1865. An English expatriate, Hooper wanted a dog like the kind he had known in his youth in England. That childhood companion was one of many bulldog-terrier crosses that thrived in England but could not be found in the United States.
Still other breed historians, the Boston Globe among them, report that the Boston terrier "was born and bred in the workingmen's taverns and stables that lined Charles Street ... in the 1860s and '70s." The working-class, Charles Street fanciers "borrowed" their employers' imported English bulldogs, English terriers, white bull terriers and French bulldogs, "all somewhat dissimilar from the dogs of those names we know today," to create "a lively, loyal, scrappy, medium-sized fighter." (The English terrier used in those mix-and-matches was an old breed then and is extinct now. Paintings and prints from its time suggest it was either white or black-and-tan.)
Summary Judgement
No matter which version of the Boston genesis one credits, breed records show that Judge was bred to a 20-pound, white bitch named Gyp (or Kate), who belonged to Edward Burnett of Southboro, Massachusetts. This union, Judge's first and only, produced a single puppy, an ugly duckling of a male named Well's Eph. Ugly or not, Eph was all wool and a yard wide in other regards that Hooper and his friends admired. Consequently Eph was bred, as might have been remarked in the taverns and barbershops of his day, "to every female that could see lightning or hear thunder." Those females, theCanine Lexicon avers, included "the English colored Bull Terrier, the Boxer, the Pit Bull Terrier" and other terriers.
Eph's legions were called by various names: bullet heads, round-headed bull-and-terriers, American terriers, and Boston bulldogs. In time most people who owned the dogs referred to them as Boston bulls, a name still used by some older citizens today.
No Massacre Here
When the product of a bulldog-terrier cross inherited the signal attributes of its parent breeds, the result was a dog so impressive as to make Nature wish she had gotten around to inventing it herself. The bulldog, although bred originally for close encounters in blood sports, was a cuddlesome, affable creature beneath the ferocity and gore. The Boston bull inherited this temperament, together with the fearless mettle its creators had sought. "There was just one problem," the Globe noted, the Boston bull was "too intelligent and friendly to be a brawler." Not for nothing did the breed come to be known as "The American Gentleman." Therefore, even though Bostons were exceedingly popular at first with stablemen and barbers, the breed's charm and increasingly smaller size brought it to the attentions of a wider, more pacific audience.
Hector Rules the Day
A group of Boston bull fanciers eventually formed the American Bull Terrier Club (ABTC), which applied to AKC, asking that the Boston bull be anointed a legitimate breed and made eligible for competition in AKC-sanctioned events. The AKC wasn't bullish on the idea because bulldog fanciers, who had a liplock on the workings of the organization, were not about to allow these "usurpers" of the bulldog name into the club. According to the late Vincent Perry, a breed historian, one AKC official thundered, "Bulldog, indeed! Why this hybrid from Boston is nothing but a mongrel!"
Bullheadedness seldom springs eternal in the dog fancy, so the Boston bull's advocates kept on advocating. Inspired by the philosophy "if you can't join 'em, beat 'em down," they changed their name to Boston Terrier Club of America in 1891. Two years later their breed was accepted for registration by the AKC, but only after the breed had been rechristened the Boston terrier. A male named Hector, registration number 28814, was the first Boston registered by AKC. Not only he but also his breed made history. The latter becoming the first of the 10 made-in-America breeds currently recognized by the AKC to be admitted into its stud books.
Bully for the Boston
The public's opinion about the Boston terrier was as positive as the AKC's had been priggish. By the time the Boston's characteristics had been stabilized, in 1915, it was the most popular breed in the United States. It remained in the top ten for years, heading the list again in 1920 and 1930.
Few places were more slavishly devoted to the Boston than was Hollywood, and few people in Hollywood were more attached to their Bostons than was silent film star Pola Negri. Born Apolonia Chalupec on December 31, 1895, in Lipno, Poland, Negri was Gloria Swanson's rival, Rudolph Valentino's lover and the Boston's unswerving champion. Because she would not abide being separated from her Boston, "Patsy," Negri took the dog with her to the best Hollywood restaurants and night spots. A film industry tabloid reported that Negri stormed out of a popular restaurant after Patsy had been flagged at the door. "No Patsy, no Pola. Goodbye -- forever!" shouted Negri as she made her exit.
Legendary gossip columnist Louella Parsons, queen of dish in Hollywood during the 1930s and '40s, also had a Boston named "Patsy." The latter was fiercely jealous, and if Parsons showed obvious affection toward someone, Patsy howled as though she were calling upon all her lupine ancestors to come forth and carry off the intruder.
As Hollywood goes, so goes America, and the Boston terrier wielded a similar appeal in the rest of the United States. It lived on the AKC's top-ten list until the early 1960s, and even after it had been jostled from the starting team by other dogs, it remained a capable player. In 1976 the Boston was selected as the bicentennial dog of the United States. Three years later it was appointed the official state dog of Massachusetts. The Boston's case was not hindered by the fact that Edward King, then governor of Massachusetts, had grown up with a Boston terrier named Skippy. In 1997, its popularity having weathered numerous fads from other breeds, the Boston terrier ranked 20th among the 145 breeds recognized by the AKC. New Boston registrations for the year totaled 18,185.
Weights and Measures
The Boston terrier should stand no more than 12 nor less than nine inches at the shoulders. For show-ring purposes, the breed is divided into three weight classes: fewer than 15 pounds; between 15 and 20 pounds; more than 20 pounds but fewer than 25 pounds. Whatever a Boston weighs, the length of its leg should balance with the length of its body to create what the AKC calls a "striking square appearance."
Brindle-and-white is the preferred Boston color, according to the breed standard, but a black-and-white coat is permissible. Ear cropping is not encouraged, and a docked tail is cause for disqualification in the show ring.
Lettuce Praise the Boston
The Boston terrier sustains it popularity because it continues to embody the endearing qualities of its bulldog ancestors and the spunk of its terrier kin. Sophisticated in style and markings, including spiffy, white accents that give it a tuxedolike appearance, the Boston is fastidious and free of doggy odor. It does not shed much, nor does its short, glistening coat require extensive grooming.
Like the fern with which it shares a name, the Boston terrier thrives best under certain prescribed conditions. It is, prospective owners should understand, a house dog by inclination and construction. Because of its short muzzle and slightly elongated palate, it does not cope well with extremes of temperature and is given to overheating quickly. Nevertheless, the Boston wants daily exercise, temperature permitting, in a fenced-in yard and/or on a brisk walk. If Boston owners observe these conventions, they can expect to enjoy the companionship of their dogs throughout their average life span of 10 to 13 years.
So let's pour a glass of Old Mr. Boston -- or some Boston coffee if that's your cup of tea. Then we'll fill a plate with a generous cut of Boston cream pie and, by way of exercise afterward, do the Boston waltz in honor of the bug-eyed, bat-eared charmer from Beantown.
Beans, Beans...
Several years ago the St. Louis Post-Dispatch carried an article on canine gastroenterology that began with the following anecdote: "Forty years later, Harry still remembers his breathless courtship of Helen. Whenever the ardent young couple could steal a few moments alone on her parents' sofa, Helen's gnarled old Boston terrier would waddle in and settle behind the couch. Before they could get into a clinch, the dog would, um, substantially alter the atmosphere.
"'Disgusting dog drove us out every time,'" Harry fumed. "'That fur-bearing gas bag should have been recalled by the EPA. I finally married Helen so I could breathe.'"
Into each life a little turbulence must fall, and would that turbulence were the bean-all and the end-all of the Boston terrier's health problems. Unfortunately it is not. From one end to the other the Boston is subject not only to social indiscretions but also to genetic diseases, including brain tumors, juvenile cataracts and other eye problems, deafness, heart defects and hind-leg difficulties.
Juvenile cataracts can occur in Boston terriers between the eighth week and 12th month of age. Some juvenile cataracts are visible to the eye; others can be identified only by a veterinary ophthalomologist using a CERF (Canine Eye Registration Foundation) test. If you are interested in buying a Boston terrier that has not been tested for juvenile cataracts, ask the breeder why the dog has not been tested and if he or she will be tested before you buy the dog.
Cherry eye, also known as ectropian, is a prolapse of the gland of the third eyelid. This condition, which is believed to be genetic in origin, frequently occurs in dogs that are less than a year old. Some veterinarians reposition the gland surgically to its original site at the base of the third eyelid (or haw). Others elect to remove the prolapsed gland surgically.
The hind-leg problems that trouble Boston terriers are known as luxating patella, a dislocation of the small, flat, moveable bone at the front of the knee. An inherited tendency, luxating patella can be aggravated by excess weight. The condition can be corrected by roughly $500 to $600 worth of surgery and a lot of inconvenience on the dog's part.
As technology and veterinary science progress, more and more tests that screen for genetic defects in dogs will become available. Tests already exist that can identify luxating patella, deafness and certain heart defects in dogs. Be sure that the parents of any dog in which your are interested have received and passed every kind of test imaginable before you get serious with a breeder about buying that dog.
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