Boston Terrier Dog
Breed history

 

The popularity of animal fights in 19th century England led to the cross-breeding of various terrier and Bull-Terrier breeds that were successful in dog fights and rat catching. In Liverpool in 1860, a Bulldog was crossed with the English Terrier (an extinct breed) leading to a strong and muscular dog named Gadge.
Gadge’s owner sold it to William O’Brian, who took the dog with him to his home in Boston. In 1870, O’Brian sold Gadge to a neighbor in Boston, Robert Hoffer. Gadge, who was called Hoffer’s Gadge from then on, became the ancestor of the Boston Terrier and appears in the pedigree of almost all real Boston Terriers.
A historian who documented breed history described Gadge as a strongly built dog, tall on his legs, weighing thirty two pounds. He was dark brindle with a white stripe on his face. His head was square and short and its mouth that was almost straight was similar to present day Boston Terriers.
Hoffer mated Gadge to a small white bitch named Burnett’s Jip, owned by Edward Burnett from Massachusetts. The dogs born in this litter were the breed’s foundation. Over the years in which the breed was created, selective breeding turned massive Gadge into a small, sweet and attractive companion dog, originally called the “round headed dog”.
The name of the breed was later changed to Boston Terrier, named after the city in which it was developed. The American Boston Terrier Club was founded in 1891 and two years later the first dog was registered in the AKC stud book.
The Boston Terrier is the pride of its city of origin to this day. It is the official mascot of Boston University for the past 100 years and in 1979 the state congress declared the American Gentleman to be the official dog of Massachusetts.