If someone offered you a wager of $100 that you couldn’t escape a muzzled dog, would you take the bet? Would you take it for $2,000? Would you even try?
Back in 1901, Mr. W. Burton of Thorneywood Kennels in England challenged a group of spectators at a dog show to try to escape a muzzled dog he’d brought with him, the prize being one pound (by our calculations, about $2,000 USD today). Burton actually got a volunteer to take the bet, someone who probably thought they were pretty experienced with dogs. Despite being given a huge head start, the volunteer was easily caught almost immediately and leveled with the first spring. Every time the volunteer got to his feet, he was knocked down, and kept down until Burton directed the dog to let him up. This happened three times, each ending the same way. By all accounts, those who had gathered to watch were greatly amused, and the point was taken that Burton’s dog, a 120 pound canine named “Thomeywood Terror,” was not going to be bested.
Burton kept a kennel of these large dogs and gave several displays at shows and exhibitions, including the Crystal Palace, and
often with Thomeywood Terror. One source says that these performances interested officials at the War Office who’d visited a show at the Westminster Aquarium, but nothing more was written of it.
Burton’s dog was a Bullmastiff, a distinctly British creation, and the only British breed created and bred to protect and guard. A direct result of poaching wars, Bullmastiffs were the result of a 60% Mastiff and 40% Bulldog ratio that lead to a quiet, agile and fearless dog with inherent guarding instincts, but not ravaging or killing inclinations. The breed, famous as the “Night Dog,” or Gameskeeper Dog,” was an ally in a war against poaching, a significant problem for royals and aristocrats with land. It was dangerous business for both the poacher (who faced whipping, imprisonment, or pressed service in the army or navy if caught) and the gameskeeper pursuing a poacher desperate not to get caught. Many gameskeepers, it’s written, owed their lives to their Bullmastiff who had as much a psychological job as physical.
“Lillie” by Nadi Spencer (winner of National Purebred Dog Day’s Fine Art and Poster Competition in 2016) is available for purchase here.