..this was probably because in the same year the Dog's owner William Watts died and the building, stables and brewhouse was purchased by Mr Beales, the manager of the Leicester Racecourse Company.

Isaac Hurst took over the licence and continued the pub's homebrewing tradition. This custom ended in 1897 when the Black Dog was acquired by Lichfield's City Brewery.

This explains how the pub came to be owned by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries because they bought the City Brewery and its 200 public houses in 1917.

Isaac Hurst kept the Black Dog with his wife Caroline. Both were born in Wigston Magna in 1832 and 1833 respectively.