Just like the old bulldogs were not necessarily a "breed" by modern definitions and they obviously didn't look like the English Bulldog of today, the terriers used in the establishment of the bullterrier category were certainly not lap dogs or show competitors as most of the terrier breeds are presently, but were in fact hard, rugged and intense workers, whose tenacity, agility and stamina, as well as willingness to fight beasts and other dogs any place and any time while disregarding their own safety was their main distinguishing trait from other hunting breeds in old Britain and what was also admired by those who owned fighting bulldogges. So admired were these characteristics that the idea of having a fighter which posessed the physical strength, loyalty and ferocious personality of a bulldog and the agility, intelligence and tenacity of a terrier was enough to revolutionize the way old-time "sport enthusiasts" approached their breeding practices and experiment with different crosses between the two types and attempt to establish a strain of combat-ready dogs superiour to both the bulldog and the terrier, as well as to all others. Regional preferences and personal tastes helped shape this new stock of fighting dogs and the percentage of blood from the parental types (as well as the actual strain of each) varied to an extent across the land, but the fact remains that the praised bullterrier category was founded on the basic principle of crossing bulldogges with terriers. Even the old names for the type of dog which would later evolve into the American Pit Bull Terrier reveal the "recipe", with labels such as "Half and Half", "Bulldogge Terrier", "Bull and Terrier", "Staffordshire Fighting Terrier" and so on. Some of these regional differences resulted in the formation of distinct breeds, some of which still exist today, while others were unsuccesful or simply unfortunate ventures of their developers.