hi, i need a wee bit of help with my essay- do any rot or staff owners own a breed book that provides a description of their original roles? i would need what it says plus info for a reference. i have general dog encyclopedia at home but i'd rather get from a breed specific text if possible and i don;t have for these ones... any help would be great ta!

I've got rottie and staff books if that helps you. 

brill! do they give a description of the original breed roles? i just want to be definate as i think someone on here said the rottie used to be used for herding. i'd also need the books title, the author, date published and the company that published it.

Best SBT book I have is Staffordshire Bull Terriers by V. H. Pounds and Lilian V. Rant. Published by The Crowood press in 1991.
From the time of Henry II, bull, bear and badger baiting became very popular and the heavy Mastiff type dogs were considered not fast enough and smaller variations were bred.  Hundreds of years later they were again reduced in size and when baiting became illegal, dog fighting was the latest fashion!  These became known as the bulldog from which the modern Bulldog, Bull Terrier and SBT are descended.

Hope this helps you a bit,
Sarah.

A Rottweiler is a large dog breed originating in Germany as herding dogs. The early Rottweilers also worked as beasts of burden, carrying wood and other products to market. In addition, they were used as draft animals to pull carts filled with various products for their owners. During the first and second World Wars, Rottweilers were put into service as war time guard dogs. Currently they are frequently used as guard and police dogs.......Any good?

thats perfect thanks, can you give me the title of the book, the authors name, the date of publication and the company that published it? thanks!

brilliant, thanks so much!

do you have enough info or do you still need more.  i forgot to do it last night.  sorry.

i need the reference details for a rottie one still

Ok, this is the gist of it and any direct quotes are in quotation marks.  the rest is just a summary. Rottweilers have a varied history and were originally possibly derived from a number of sources including Molosser mastiff type dogs in roman times, these dogs apparently bred with local dogs in Rottweil around 260AD.  there is also thought to be some Swiss Mountain dog and German Bullenbeifer (think it is an 'f' it is a German character that looks like a cross between an F and a B.

After this they became used as herding dogs "A successful herder needed a good 'eye' to stare the cattle into submission"  "These dogs were smaller than the modern day Rottie."  "The Rottweiler was originally called the Rottweil Butcher's Dog. this is because he would herd the butcher's cattle from the market to the abbatoir, and then pull the carcasses back on a cart."  The breed was then saved from extinction as it's talents for working were spotted by the German police in the early 1900's.  "in 1910 the Rottweiler was officially accepted as the fourth police dog breed (the others were the German Shepherd, the Airedale Terrier and the Dobermann)."  they first entered the US in the late 1920's and the UK in the 1930's

Living with a Rottweiler, edited by Kate Pinches (2000) Ringpress books. UK.  there are no page numbers throughout the book

HTH

thats brilliant, thanks so much

btw, the b/f thingy letter- its an s-set, it;s basically a 'sssss'

My info was from Wikipedia - don't know if you can use that or not!

lol, no sorry, cardinal accademic sin!

Just make the reference up or say it came from one of the books you've already used!! The bibliography on my dissertation contained books I hadn't even looked at!!! Still got a 2:1 though! Good luck!

oh no chance!! i've the worst luck in the world and i just know i;d get caught and punished (probably by failing me for the year). my uni is really harsh for that sort of thing. it's cool though i used one of the other ones, but ta for the info anyway

When I was at uni, my friend used to make up bizarre references for quotes when she made things up to support her argument and would pick her friends surnames and friends and family members birth years.  She never got caught - not that I am advocating cheating at all though. lol

This exerpt (!) is from the Pet Owners Guide to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier by Clare Lee.
I've typed most of it up because I don't have my copy of the book at work, all my Stafford books are at home, so if I get time I'll do a couple more.
I haven't typed all of it up yet - there is a section regarding the modern Stafford and how it developed from the stages below.
But here you go for now:
****************************************************************************
Since the earliest times one canine descendent of the wolf has been especially identified by its size, breadth of head, shortness of muzzle, strength of jaw and outstanding courage.  Mainly used for hunting large game such as wild boar, this dog also had a role as a warrior dog.  Just such a dog was to be found fighting alongside the ancient Britons against the Roman invaders.
ENTERTAINMENT
The Romans were so impressed with these dogs, whom they called 'Pugnaces' or 'broad-mouthed' dogs, that some were sent to Rome to be used for the sporting entertainments that so delighted the Roman crowds.  Their bloodlines featured in the later development of many of the larger European breeds and, at the time of the Norman Conquest, they could be found taking part in bull, bear and even lion baiting.
BULL BAITING
Bear and bull baiting reached the height of popularity from the middle of the 16th Century through to the middle of the 17th Century when very large powerful dogs were required to 'throw' the bull.  From the end of the 17thC it became more popular to tether the bull and a somewhat smaller bull dog was developed.  This 'bulldog' was leggier, lighter and altogether quicker than his modern cousin.  The head, however, is not dissimilar and had been expertly evolved by selective breeding for the specific task to hand.  To enable to dog to pin the bull by the nose and hang on for a long time, the under-jaw was hugely developed while a top jaw that lay back was bred for, so that the nostrils were not obstructed.  It is even thought the wrinkles on the face were selectively bred in so that blood (and a nose wound would bleed heavily) could run off the dogs face and not into his eyes.
THE SPORTING DOG
This Bulldog is the first direct ancestor of our Staffordshire Bull Terrier.  As bull baiting became less popular, dog fighting enjoyed a sudden surge of interest towards the end of the 18th Century.  Men who had been famous for the prowess of their bull baiting dogs began to gain recognition as owners of fine fighting dogs.  Such a man was Ben White from Shepherds Market, London, who fought his dogs in most of the pits in the City.
Some modification of the dog was necessary.  The bulldog was bred to pin and hang on at all costs - exciting enough when he was pitched against an animal of the magnitude and ferocity of a bull, but boring in the extreme when pitched against another dog.  The muzzle needed to lose its lay back and the teeth to become larger - so that different grips could occur and plenty of blood could flow. All, would you believe, to titillate the crowd.  While these modifications could have been successfully obtained by selective breeding from the existing Bulldog stock, it seems more likely that some terrier blood was introduced.  The name given to this type of dog - Bull-and-Terrier - supports the latter theory.  The Bull-and-Terrier, or Pit-Terrier, was a quick but strong dog with a longer muzzle than the earlier Bulldog.  Apart from dog fighting, he was mainly used for ratting and badger baiting.
With such a bloody history you might wonder how this dog could have become the very popular family pet that it undoubtedly is today.  It should be noted that the key requirement for the type of dog from which the Stafford stems was that it must, above all else, possess great courage.  Even the rules of dog fighting tipped the scales in favour of the courageous dog - the one who would not give up, who kept coming up to the scratch line - rather than towards the most aggressive animal.
Furthermore, these pastimes, especially the fighting, necessitated a great deal of human contact.  After each round the dogs had to be broken, picked up and taken back to their corners.  Contemporary prints of the Westminster Pit show the handlers with their sleeves rolled up and completely unprotected ready to go in and pick up the dogs - these men were certainly not expecting the dogs to bite them.  The ability to distinguish between animal and human is one of the most endearing and obvious characters of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.  Although these barbaric pastimes were patronised by the sporting aristocracy - Lord Belchford owned a famous fighter called Belcher - fighting dogs were also owned by the lowliest families.  In these households the dogs were useful ratters but could also earn money when worked against badgers or when put to fighting.  It was often reported that the children of such families were deprived of food when it was necessary to give all the best victuals to the wage-earning dog.  Pampered as they were within the family, they lived cheek by jowl with the humans.  It was certainly their ability to fit into the family circle which prevented them from becoming extinct after the outlawing dog fighting and before they were recognised as a pure and separate breed of dog.
Dog fighting was outlawed in 1835 and during the following hundred years, where fighting occurred, it was strictly 'underground'.

wow thanks for that!, don;t worry about looking for more for me (though thank you very much for the offer)- my word counts sky rocketing as it is and i;m desperately trying not to focus on the dogs lol as its actually about media influence and the self (just the example i;m working with is this).

thanks for the help everyone, its been really useful!