[1][2] The dog was first observed by Thornholme resident Mr Mossop on 10 May 1810, and began killing and eating local sheep shortly afterwards.
As import laws and animal control were so relaxed in the early part of the nineteenth century, an escape from one of these itinerant shows is easy to imagine.
[3] As the Girt Dog continued to evade hunters, it became a popular topic of conversation in Ennerdale and Kinniside, and newspapers reported its movements.
[3] Willy Jackson, a resident of Swinside, saw the Girt Dog 30 yards (27 m) away, urinating on a thistle, but his rifle shot missed.
[3] John Russell, who owned a brewery in Whitehaven and a sheep farm in Ennerdale, offered a £10 reward for the dog's capture, dead or alive.