CHESTER WRITER

E-BOOKS, BOOKS & Manuscripts

ALTERNATIVE EXERCISING

It's probably true to say, that not everyone who owns a Bull Terrier wants their dog to be a crushingly destructive fighter. But then again, not every owner wants their dog to be a permanent fireside attachment either, only raising themselves from slumber when the prospect of food is on offer or someone new comes to visit.

Alternative activities and exercises for your very athletic dog are minimal in normal everyday living. Throwing a ball or a stick can become tiresome, especially if your dog insists on trying to eat the object that you are throwing for them at every opportunity. Having to run over to the dog each time to rescue the object he's busily chewing, seems like a complete waste of time. Long exhausting walks, which might ultimately benefit the dog, seem to be a real pain to the walker, who is constantly being dragged this way and that by a healthy inquisitive dog, who always seems to want to go in the direction you've just come from.....(continued)

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER

In order to give a full history of this breed we must first go back to the early 19th century, prior to the existence of the cross bred bulldog and terrier. It was the cross between the Bulldog and the terrier that resulted in the Staffordshire Terrier, which was originally called the Bull-and-Terrier Dog, Half, and Half, and also the Pit Dog or Pit Bullterrier. Later, it became known in England as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and is the dog breed that ultimately started the American Staffordshire and American Pit Bull Terrier breeds.

Until the early part of the 19th century, the Bulldog was bred in England for the purpose of bull baiting. Bull baiting was a cruel sport in which a tethered bull, brought to market for slaughter would be attacked by bulldogs with the notion that the meat would be tenderized, prior to slaughter, by the bulldog's attacks. The contention that the meat was tenderized during these brutal bouts was not based on any fact and indeed served no real purpose other than to line the pockets of the men who trained their dogs to participate in these sadistic blood-matches. During these matches the dog would assault the bull, avoid the stomping hooves and slashing horns, grab on to a nose or ear, and hang on until the bull collapsed from exhaustion or lack of oxygen. Many of the dogs were crushed by stomping hooves, disembowelled by slashing horns, and tossed through the air causing broken legs, backs, and skulls when they hit the ground.....(continued)

BREEDING BULLISH TERRIERS

These are difficult times for those who favour the distinctive breeds of Terrier with Bulldog blood. The threat of action, under the now discredited Dangerous Dogs Act, is a constant worry. The implementation of this shabby Act by ill advised animal welfare officers, misguided police forces and a couple of strangely motivated vets, shames a nation once famous for its judicial system, sense of fair play and love of dogs.

That apart, the untypical anatomies inflicted on Bull Terriers, with their relatively new 'down face' or 'ruggerball' heads, and, Staffordshire Bull Terriers with their short whippety legs, is most surprising in two breeds whose fanciers were once archetypal traditionalists, level-headed and single-minded.

If you look at paintings of these two admirable breeds in the last century, the loss of true type soon becomes apparent. This may apply to other breeds too of course, but when it concerns these two particular breeds, it seems especially sad. I always think of those in these breeds as being resistant to the usual pressures: the pursuit of fad breed points in each decade, some temporary flight of fancy or one influential breeder’s partialities. You only have to look at the faces of some of the characters in old paintings of these breeds, to see why I say that.....(continued)

COLOUR TYPE IN BREEDING

Many times colour type selection has been overlooked in breeding game dogs, especially in the USA where I went to visit big yards of dogs from 35 up to 250 dogs at a time. It surprised me that only one or two men did this and they are legends in the breeding of game dogs, these men are Floyd Boudreaux and Jerry Clemments.

Over the years we have done the same and with great success, to say the least. If you have lack of space or have a small genetic pool, then you can actually tighten up your blood/family by selecting on type and colour. It is never a guarantee as game dogs come in all colours and shapes, but for instance lets say you where breeding the Alligator line, and you only access to say 4 to 10 dogs, then I suggest you use this technique to your breeding program.....(continued)

DOG-FIGHTING AS A SPORT

Dog-fighting as a sport is not much in vogue nowadays. To begin with it's illegal. Not that that matters much, for Sunday drinking is also illegal. But dog-fighting is one of the cruel sports, which the community has decided to put down with all the force of public opinion.

Nevertheless, a certain amount of it is still carried on near Sidney, and very neatly and scientifically carried on too, principally by gentlemen who live out Botany way and do not care for public opinion.

The grey dawn was just breaking over Botany when we got to the meeting place. Away to the east the stars are paling in the faint flush of the coming dawn, and over the sand hills came the boom of the breakers. It was Sunday morning and all the respectable, non-dog fighting population of that odoriferous suburb were sleeping their heavy, Sunday morning sleep.

Some few people however were astir. In the dim light hurried, pedestrians plodded along the heavy roads towards the sand hills. Now and then, a van laden with 10 or 11 of the "talent" and drawn by a horse that cost 15 shillings at auction, rolled softly along in the same direction. These were dog-fighters who had got "the office" and knew exactly where the match was to take place.....(continued)

DOG-FIGHT ON THE WESTERN FRONT

BRUSSELS--Germany, France, Italy, and Britain are battling again in Belgium, and invading bloody Americans are again ensnarled in the thick of it. That’s American pit bull terriers this time. Like the doughboys of World War I and the GI's of World War II, they are said to be over-large, overdosed on testosterone, and over here, looking for a fight.

This time they are seen as allies of neo-Nazis and Huns--Attila’s Huns, who ravaged Europe from 434 to 453, when the notoriously reactive Attila’s brain burst as he celebrated his honeymoon. The Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union on September 29 heard a German proposal to ban throughout Europe the breeding or import of any kind of “fighting dog,” defined as any member of 14 breeds with American pit bull traits. As well as the American pit bull and Japanese Tosa, who have been banned in Britain and The Netherlands since 1991, the German proposal would ban Rhodesian ridgebacks, Neapolitan bulldogs, Staffordshire terriers, English bull terriers, and bullmastiffs.....(continued)

DOG MEN OF CHOICE

I've been asked to write about a dogman of my choice, which is a hard thing to do, as I know a couple of good ones (bad ones too), But the names B V Hooten - Floyd Boudreaux and J. Zalesky are the first to come to mind right now. Also Ben of (STB), Ben is one of the best, if not the best breeder over here, and although he is out of the bulldogs he still has some very old stock around him. Dogs with exceptional blood, dogs that have Boyles Bobby + Dirty Mary in their second generation, which means their mommy was out of that famous breeding.

He owned Rebel Kennels Gr Ch Spooky - C Halls Ch Sugar and the famous Dylan dog. Ben never was a tight single sighted breeder, but used a very unorthodox way of breeding. In my eyes he liked loose line breeding, and tried to breed dogs that would do well in the hands of rookie dog men just starting off a yard. As some bloodlines have been sent to certain breeders hands, which makes it difficult, or sometimes impossible, for other dog men to work with the dogs or get the best out of them. Which happens often, and the dogs or the breeder gets the blame. Ben was able to breed dogs that even in the hands of a novice dogman, did a good job. And in the hands of a good dogman did a very good job - to say the least......(continued)

DON MAYFELD – BY STEINLIN

He is considered by the fraternity, to have one of the best records and to be one of the best conditioner/handlers the game has seen. The famous dogs and dogs made famous, though his hands, are far too numerous to mention and his accomplishments in other areas such as training, methodology, breeding and writing still carry on, through the internet. His writings have always been a popular topic, as he likes to write the way he sees it and always with a southern accent. He writes "between the lines", and by his use of familiar names, handles and mental images, he draws the reader into the story and then, usually ends with a "surprise" truth.....and surprise it did, a lot of people who would have preferred, "a white lie to truth pie. lol

His truths.... come from a natural common sense, His success in the game.... comes from deep in the heart of Texas, His love of it....comes from his gameness and his heritage And his insight......straight from Lookout Mountain, To a remarkable dogman, gentleman and... Truly...One of a kind! Mr. Don Mayfield a class act.....(continued)

STORIES OF FORGOTTEN DOGS

This story is about a dog called Sunny Boys "Choko" and his parents. "Choko" was bred by JB from stock he acquired from Limey Kennels at the time. JB had a male out of "Spike" x "Tug" called "Chester", and bred him to a triple inbred "Nelis" bitch called "Flakey", also Limey stock. "Chester" was litter brother to Ch. "Alligator", "Prudence", "Dillinger", "Miss Fox" and others. "Flakey" was litter sister to Springviews "Beauty".

"Chester" was put on contract by JB into a dog called Ch."Blinky" (from the book Legacy of Gameness from Rocca). In the book, a mistake is put on paper, as it says that "Chester" quit in that show? Nothing could be further from the truth, as the story was told by a man who never saw this show, but bought "Blinky" later......(continued)

GAMENESS – BY JACK KELLY

In 1978, shortly before I moved to Georgia from New York, the late Andre Giroux called me to report a match he had just won with a son of Davis' GR CH Boomerang that he called Paddy. This was Paddy's third win and Andre also wanted to register him as a Champion. During the course of our conversation Andre was bemoaning the fact he didn't have a thing to breed Paddy too that is nothing that he thought would cross well with Paddy. I reminded Andre that he did have a bitch that would look real good bred to Paddy. The bitch was called Black Pinky and was one of the 30 or so odd dogs that were registered as being sired by Bullyson out of Art's Missy.

Andre never liked that old bitch; he claimed she was as ugly as any birch he had ever seen. Someone had cut off her ears and her tail and she was scarred from head to toe. Andre had matched her one time and had to pick her up in nine minutes with a bad bleeder. Andre had farmer her out after she lost and as he thought about it, he did admit that the bitch was as ugly as sin. At last Andre agreed that the breeding looked like a good one and then he said, "I'll make the breeding and if they have pups, I'll send you a couple of male pups.".....(continued)

HE’S NOT A CUR, HE’S JUST GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

Have you ever seen a dog that would whip the hell out of anything that was put in front of him, but when handled wouldn't scratch? Or, a dog that would perform with remarkable ability until his opponent was left prone and defenceless, and then he would let up and walk away? One of the best dogs I ever saw was Tudor's "Spike". He was an out and out destroyer, but once he had his opponent down and stretched out, he would stop his assault and lick his adversary...If the other dog moved at all "Spike" went back to his murderous ways and if he was handled he would not, in the least, hesitate to scratch. Of course, since the other dog had also been handled, "Spike" was aware that the other dog had moved, even if only by his handler. Howard Heinzl mentioned to me, on more than one occasion, that he considered "Spike" less than a game dog because of this trait. If he was a cur, then I'd certainly like a yard full of curs just like him.

Most animal specialists, who have studied animal behaviour, all seem to agree that animals will fight one another in the wild for either sex or food. However, when one or the other adopts a submissive posture, the other will see that he is the winner and stops fighting or else allows his opponent to beat a hasty retreat, without any further aggressive behaviour. In studies done with wolves, a dog’s closest relative in the wild state, this certainly seems to be the case. If the 'Alpha' male is challenged, he'll find the pretender to the death, if necessary. If either becomes convinced that he isn't going to win the battle, all that he has to do is stop fighting, adopt a submissive posture and the whole thing is over and done with. The protagonists are back to being good buddies before the dust even settles.....(continued)

HOW IT LOOKS TO ME

Many dog men you meet start by telling you how many years they have had Bull Terriers. I got my first one when I was 9 years old, and all of 31 years ago. All this proves to my way of thinking is that I like dogs, and mostly that I’m getting older. The hottest dog man around Arizona now is Charlie Spencer, who started about 4 years ago. He’s won 3 or 4 good ones with his 48 pound Toby dog, and the one man to beat him so far was Ken Barney, at 36 pounds. Ken has had Pit Bulls about 2 ¢ years now, and will match one at the drop of a hat. Both Spencer’s Toby and Kenny’s 36 pound dog were bred by Ed Ritcheson; Ed lost three in a row trying to beat dogs of his own breeding with dogs he would buy around the country. From here on Ed tells me he’s using his own.

Another dog man bound to be heard from is Clarence Hager, his wife is as much of a fan as he is. He had two dogs stopped in rolls here lately, and he will shake hands with you afterward, and thank you for helping cull his kennel and cut his feed bill, as he put it. We’ve all seen old timers at the game that would pout and make excuses when one quit. The old timers who did anything don’t have to tell you how many years they have had Bull Terriers, you read about them in the records.....(continued)

IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH – PART ONE

The basic ingredient to achieve success in the game dog game is honesty or the understanding of truth. A dogman must first research the game through books and magazines, talking to competent dog men and listening and learning. The first ten years are spent serving your apprenticeship, then when you think you have learned enough to get by, you realise that most of what you've learned is bullshit. I have been in sporting dogs all of my life and have been around game dogs as long as anyone. When I began matching dogs in the late seventies, there were perhaps only five people who matched dogs regularly. Of these, none are still active in the game. After being in the game for only a short while, I quickly realised that those that were matching dogs had little or no idea about conditioning. I decided that the key to success in the game, lay in the ability to put one in top shape and so I spent the next decade learning how to put a dog in top shape.

This was a trial and error period, where I was corresponding on a daily basis with many of the top conditioners around the world. However, after a while it dawned on me that some of these people knew less than I did and I decided to put together my own keeps, using different methods for different dogs. This was a real interesting learning experience and I won the first ten matches that I had. I was at the time, experimenting with using shots in my conditioning. But after giving it much thought I decided that I could put my dogs in much better condition without using shots.....(continued)

IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH – PART TWO

The magazine arrived and it was read several times before I even got around to my usual morning chores of cleaning out the dogs and feeding the livestock, then I eat my breakfast and think "Hell, I'll read it again"

I sure enjoyed the story on "Kilwilkie Lad", even though I had read it before. It was just as interesting second time round, and why shouldn't it be. I myself could read about dogs of such quality every day. However, when I first read the article I pointed out an error to Barry Ligget, and he checked out what I had said and verified it as being true, that the dog "Kilwilkie Lad" actually did sire a litter of pups. In the early 60's Tom Haughey of Lurgan, Ireland owned a very game English/Stafford bitch called "Rowdy". Having seen "Kilwilkie Lad" at work and seeing the superior game dog that he was, he took "Rowdy" to him and bred her. From this mating came two of the great working dogs of the 60's in Tom's own dog "North Star" and the equally famous "Blunders Lad". The "North Star" dog was behind the Champion "Psycho" dog which seems so popular today.....(continued)

INDIAN BOLIO

Bolio was bred by Maurice Carver and Eddie Klaus in 1969. His sire was the famous pit ace Klaus’ Zeke and his dam was Klaus’ Goldie. Bolio’s pedigree is very heavy in the blood of a bitch named Carver’s Judy and her sister the great Carver’s Black Widow. In fact he carried fifty percent of this blood in his breeding.

Bennett Clayton of Texas bought Bolio from Carver and sent him to Floyd Boudreaux to be matched; he was hooked into a dog that had killed both of his previous opponents. This dog’s name was Rowdy. Bolio was contracted into Rowdy twice. The first time Floyd was not content with Bolio’s conditioning for the fight, he knew that Bolio must be perfect to fight a dog of this calibre. After Floyd paid the forfeit he set up a new match with Rowdy for the big night of a southern convention. This time Bolio was in great shape and when they hit, it was a real war. Bolio killed Rowdy in about two hours and was voted best in show! At this same convention, there were many champions being shown and among them was Davis’ Grand Champion Boomerang. I was not at this fight and I got my information from other dog men and the sporting dog magazines. Sometime after the fight Bolio was sold to a fancier in southern California.....(continued)

JAMES HINKS AND THE ENGLISH BULL TERRIER

Although born of humble stock, James Hinks is widely credited with and accepted as, being the man responsible for the foundation of the White English Bull Terrier breed that we know today.

Hinks began his working life as an apprentice carpenter in the bustling city of Birmingham. After serving his traineeship, he very quickly established himself in business, at which he proved himself to be both shrewd and successful. He diversified into many kinds of businesses, but was perhaps best known for his pet dealership, which offered those that were interested, the opportunity to buy "game" dogs and birds that were tried and tested.....(continued)

KILWILKIE LAD

This is a tale from the 1960's when life was much different and far less complicated for working dogs and their owners. In those not-so-far-off days the Irish Kennel Club organised working trials for Terriers in two distinct categories, "Strong Dogs" and "Sounders". Both were tests against live quarry - the Badger. Both were well organised in a sportsmanlike manner and both took place with very strict rules and under public scrutiny. "Kilwilkie Lad" was a "Strong Dog", a first rate Badger dog. Supreme in many trials, he gained a host of awards but was equally at home working out in the field, in natural conditions.

My grandfather, James Creaney, was at a hunt in Southern Ireland with the Terrier Club. They had a great days sport, and as they often did, stopped at a pub on their way home to enjoy a pint and to discuss the day’s events. The pub was in Dundalk, a working dog stronghold, and my grandfather was offered a Staffordshire bitch. He would never buy on impulse, he was a market dealer by trade, and he would wait and haggle. But anyway, he bought the bitch and, bringing her home that night, kennelled her in the yard.

Two weeks later the club were out locally and James tried the bitch, but she showed no interest at all, and he thought that he'd been caught with a 'dud' dog. Weeks passed, until one day at a market being held at a local fair, he spotted a lad with an English Bull Terrier. Naturally enough, he engaged the youth in conversation to find out all that he could about the dog and discovered that it was a full bred pedigree dog, which belonged to the boy’s mother.....(continued)

“KRISTELNACHT” FOR GERMANY’S BULL TERRIERS

OWNERS OF Bull breeds of dog in Germany were literally fearing for their safety and their dogs’ lives last weekend as the Regional and Federal Governments enacted emergency ‘dangerous dogs’ laws after two dogs - alleged to be an American Pit Bull Terrier and an American Staffordshire Bull Terrier attacked and killed a six year-old schoolboy. As reported previously in OUR DOGS, the regional States assemblies in Germany had been enacting draconian dog control legislation after a series of well publicised - and massively hyped - dog attacks over the previous few months.

In a sinister echo of the circumstances leading up to the introduction of the UK’s Dangerous Dogs Act, the German media launched into frenzy against so-called ‘fighting breeds’ when an 86 year-old woman was killed by a Rottweiler in April of this year. The German Home Secretary himself launched a campaign to ban all ‘fighting breeds’, a cry taken up by the media. Gregor Von Dungen, President of the Gesellschaft der Bullterrier-Freunde (Society of Bull Terrier Friends) told OUR DOGS at the time; “Every day there are terrible stories about ‘fighting dogs’ in our newspapers. On television the other night, a politician was on raging about the dogs and a dog breeder tried to explain about dog behaviour only for the politician to turn to him and say ‘I am not interested in scientific explanations; I want these dogs banned.’ How can you have a rational argument over attitudes like that?” “The media want sensation and blood. The bite of a Pit Bull is of more interest than the bite of a Labrador.....(continued)

LIMEY KENNELS NELIS ROM

"Nelis" was born around 1980-1981 and was sired by Mr Bulldog's Champion "Spike" (Hammond's Ch. "Jo"). His dam was Hammond's (Mr. Bulldog's) "Jessy". "Nelis" was one of six pups from the litter, his brother J. B. "Spike Jnr." won one and another "Klinker" lost dead game to a son of Pieter's "Pilot" who outweighed him by six pounds.

His brother "Trouble" was schooled and tested. Sisters "Lucky" and ”Paddy" was schooled and tested hard, and a sister called "Suzy" was said to have quit, yet when bred to Champion Willy Booger and a Rufus / Heinzl dog produced some good ones.

"Nelis" was sold to a man called Van Leeuwen. At eighteen months old he began his career and was brought back to be two-dogged by his sire Champion "Spike" and a half-brother Champion "Ringo". He was then matched into Nico's Champion "Sting" who was out of "Handsome" & "Hot Lips". "Handsome" was out of "Bolio", and "Hot Lips" out of Grand Champion "Hank" Because of a lack of conditioning, bad advice and going two pounds uphill, he lost this contest in a deep game fashion. When the match was over "Nelis" was left dying in the pit.....(continued)

LIMEY KENNELS TUG ROM

The following is a short account of the life of a sporting bitch that produced some of the best sporting dogs that this country has ever seen. Limey Kennels "Tug" ROM.

"Tug" was born on the 26th February 1980, at Eddie Curtis' yard in Boston, Mass. She was one of a litter of six, the others being "Bunny", "Bugsy", "Toby", "Blaithe" and "Lochen". This final pup "Lochen" was destined to earn his Championship in very short order, with none of his opponents lasting more than the 25 minute mark. He had an extremely 'hard' mouth and many of those who saw him work believed him to be one of the best dogs that they had ever seen.

"Tug" was bought and raised in Virginia by Frank Milen, who had acquired her from Mr. Curtis who had originally called her Curtis' "Buffy". Some time later, King Limey and the Welshman were visiting the U.S. looking to buy some good American blood. They were informed that Mr. Milen was looking to get out of the dogs and so they decided to pay him a visit and see if there were any dogs to buy. After visiting for a while, they decided to buy a young dog called "Ernie Buck Jnr.". Mr. Milen surprised them both by including "Tug" ("Buffy") as part of the deal. The dogs were exported to Britain and "Tug" was opened to match.....(continued)

MAURICE CARVER…WHAT A GUY!!

It was always an honour to write about someone as diverse as Maurice Carver. Much has been said about this "bigger than life' Texan, and almost everyone that knew him either strongly liked or disliked him. While I knew Maurice, the dog man I was never really close to him. By the time I first met Maurice I had heard so much Pro and Con I figured the best policy was just to watch him. I'd be at a very private get-together miles from Texas at a most secretive site and he would show up in his cowboy boots, Stetson hat and usually dressed to kill. The crowd would generally gather around to hear some tall tales, most of which were made very believable by the master story teller. If you would listen real close and asked just the right questions and caught Maurice in just the right mood, he would share some real jewels of knowledge with you, not just about the dogs, but about all aspects of "Life".

I'd not grown to trust Maurice enough to do business with him until one of my best and most trusted friends, Jeff McManus got to know him. He kept telling me about those Carver dogs and Game Fowl he had been driving to San Antonio to breed and see. During a short period of time Jeff went from a pup to a pretty knowledgeable dogman. Jeff was pretty much a Bullyson man who liked the Stomper/Peaches stuff the best, but bred dogs a lot like Maurice recommended him to do. Consequently Jeff became one of the most successful breeders and dog men I've known through my years with the dogs.....(continued)

THE NORSEMAN’S CRITIQUE OF SBT MODERN HISTORY ARTICLE

"It's true to say that the dog 'Rosa' shown in the painting bears more than a passing resemblance to some modern Stafford’s. People should not be surprised at this, because despite many writings to the contrary, there is no clear evidence that a cross was ever made to Terriers to create our breed. It may at first seem madness to suggest such a thing, but when examined in depth, Stafford history shows the events and reasons generally given to be nothing more than assumptions and guesswork. Indeed, it becomes clear that the breed we call the Staffordshire Bull Terrier received a name first, and then the history was created.

Baiting sports were indeed outlawed in 1835, but to suggest that our breed was in the 'wilderness' until Kennel Club recognition is wrong. The baiting dogs of the time were still kept and admired by those who valued them for their gameness, often using them as outcrosses to other breeds to improve the qualities of these other dogs. These owners were more interested in whether the dog could undertake his task, rather than how he looked. Baiting continued to be participated in well into the late 1800's. However, as it was illegal, large crowds were not encouraged. It was far easier to hold clandestine dog-fights rather than events with larger animals, and these matches would be held inside, often in pubs. In these areas the spectators would have been much closer to the action, and trying to contain an excited 50lb dog would have been difficult. Smaller examples would have been easier to handle and these smaller dogs began to become popular.....(continued)

PATRICK’S ROM YARD

Boyle's "Dirty Mary" is one of six dogs that have achieved R. O. M. status which have come from the yard of Pat Patrick. "Dirty Mary" has been detailed separately in the "Boyles Line" article contained in this publication; brief details of the remaining five are shown below;

"Indian Bolio" - was a great head fighter. He could stay out of trouble while he dished out some heavy punishment to his opponents head. "Bolio" was lightning fast and a strong skilful fighter and was able to control his opponent. He would lean on his foe and once it was tired and weakened, he would move from the head to the throat. In rolls he could handle dogs of any size with ease.

He was bred by Maurice Carver, raised by Norman Hooten and won a great match for Bennet Clayton and Floyd Boudreaux. Floyd handled and conditioned him for the match against a dog called "Rowdy". "Rowdy" was a real killer, but "Bolio" was even better and beat "Rowdy" in one hour and fifty-two minutes He received a Best In Show award in a fourteen fight convention.....(continued)

PERFORMANCE TITLE BLINDNESS BY MEANBEAM

Too many young and or ignorant dogman look to much at the Ch./Gr.Ch./ROM titles, or ask you who was your last Champion and how long ago was he bred!. I must admit that I was like that too, when I was a greenhorn. But the older and wiser you get, you will find out that titles do not impress you all that much anymore. When I was in the breeding game only a couple of years I quickly skipped over the breedings in the SDJ that didn't had familiar names or lots of titles in there. Today, lots of years later I try to stay away from the big names or popular bloodlines as far as I can.

Of course I am interested in very well-bred blood on paper, but you will be surprised about the quality you can find in a yard of a small time dogger who has some old well-bred stuff that the original breeders don't carry anymore, or are 2/3 generations further down the road with their breeding program simply because of the demand for pups.

I got to know people like Wrecking Yard Kennels in Texas and the Bulldog Ranch in Louisiana, dog men who have been active for 20/25 years or longer, yet very few people ever heard about them. Nevertheless, I saw some of the best dogs on their yards and or bred some of the very best.....(continued)

PLUMBER’S CHAMPION ALLIGATOR

I am constantly being asked questions about the Alligator dog and the family of dogs that has come about from this great old warrior. It seems the more that’s said the more is left unsaid. Or at least is overlooked and not purposely so.

Alligator came about as almost an afterthought. Mr. Williams of Ft. Worth had obtained the Satin Lady b###h from Maurice Carver. She was a big, black pretty b###h that I never cared much about as an individual. She was one of these scatter-bred dogs Maurice was famous for.

Unlike most of the Carver dogs she was cold. When it came time to breed her Mr. Williams went to Wichita Falls, Texas and bred her to Tudor’s old Nigger dog, which was owned at that time by J.E. King. Nigger was some of the last of the old Tudor stuff and had been on several yards before King got him.

The breeding was made, and as they grew into adulthood I was able to see and handle all three of these dogs. Alligator, as great as he was, had two littermates that in my opinion were at least as good if not better than him. There were Soko and Susan Renee’, both real bulldogs in every way. Mr. Williams kept Alligator until he was just over a year old, so he could breed him back to his dam, which he did. Soko had shown so good at a young age for the little Plumber that the Plumbers went in together to buy Alligator.....(continued)

BREEDERS AND BLOODLINES by Jack Kelly

I first became interested in the dogs in the late 1950’s. At that time there weren’t as many participants in the sport as there are today. In the late 50’s Louis and Mike Colby were carrying on the famous breeding of their late father, John P Colby, who had passed away in 1941. John P Colby had been breeding the “Colby” bloodline since 1888. He started, like everyone else when they first get into the dogs, by breeding a variety of bloodlines that looked good to him at the time. In John P Colby’s case he started with the Gashouse stock from Boston along with Teddy Racine’s bloodline and stock that he imported from Galtie in Ireland. All this blood went into establishing the greatest bloodline of American Pit-bull Terrier.

I matched my first dog when I was barely in the game for a couple of months. I used a dog that came from a Menefee bloodline and won, in short order, over a dog of Corvino’s breeding. The Corvino dog was little more than a pup and certainly wasn’t ready to be matched. Everyone in those days, in the Northeast, kept dogs from the Colby bloodline. I didn’t want to be like everyone else and got my dogs from a variety of other bloodlines. If you were matching dogs at that time in the Northeast, it was not hard to match into a Colby dog and the next four times I matched a dog, it was into a Colby dog. I lost all four matches. It was about this time that I figured out that if you couldn’t beat them then you’d better join them. I did and won a good few matches, after that less than auspicious beginning, with pure Colby or mostly Colby blood.....(continued)

POLICE FEAR RESURGENCE OF DOG-FIGHTING

The inspectors did not take long to find the evidence. Prowling in a garden on a Cornish housing estate was a large fawn dog with a jagged wound red, raw and crudely stitched with fishing line. The animal was a Staffordshire bull terrier and, judging from the foul-mouthed protests of its owner, it had been involved in a rapidly growing spectator sport dog fighting.

Officers from the RSPCA's undercover special operations unit seized the dog two weeks ago, with two others at a home in Redruth in a joint raid with the Devon and Cornwall police. The operation the fifth in a week that saw the RSPCA seize 12 dogs and four men covered addresses in London, Birmingham, Scunthorpe and Surrey.

The unit believes recent arrests point to resurgence in a blood sport that had its heyday in the 1970s. Although there have been 145 convictions for dog fighting since 1990, it had died down in the mid-1990s, when many owners took their dogs abroad. But, in addition to this month's arrests and seizures, there have been 16 people questioned and four people convicted of dog-fighting offences this year. The figure is already twice as high as the total for last year.....(continued)

STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER MODERN HISTORY

Although in the context of Kennel Club recognition the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a relatively 'new breed', on the basis of the many drawings available, a Stafford-like animal existed at the turn of the 19th Century. A classic example is "Crib and Rosa", a painting by Abraham Cooper, circa 1816. For almost seventy years "Rosa" was taken as the model bulldog, but the modern bulldog bears little resemblance to her.

Allowing for a slight prejudice, the only modern dog of this type is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. An engraving of "Crib and Rosa" by Scott bears the caption - "Engraved by John Scott. Published in 1817" "Rosa" was by the Honourable Berkeley-Cravens "Old Bowler" out of Bowlems tulip-eared bitch, by Paddington Jones' "Hoppy" out of the famous Staffordshire bitch. "Crib" was got by Mrs Halls "Nimble" out of "Rosa". It is not suggested that the 'famous Staffordshire bitch' was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, but it could be concluded that animals of that type, existed in that county before 1816. Her fame probably arose from her prowess in the bullring.....(continued)

CHAMPION SCOTSMAN’S MAX – PROVEN AGAINST CHAMPIONS

The first time I ever saw Max was probably in 1983, he was about six months old and he used to sit on the street at the door way of a furniture store on the North side of town. He was never tied up or anything, he just sat there 41 day watching the world go by. At this time I owned a Staffordshire Bull terrier and when I walked past the shop I would look down at Max thinking that he must be one of those mongrel American fighting dogs, the same ones the daft yanks thought could beat our Staffordshire terriers, when of course anyone in their right mind could tell you that the Staffordshire was truly the genuine article. Everyday I walked past him just to see my Staff strain on the lead to get into that dopey looking pup with legs too big for his body and ears too big for his head.

However towards the end of 1983 I never saw Max around anymore and it was maybe another year before I saw him again. I had been making it known around town that I wanted a fight for my Staffordshire terrier and it was not long before the Scotsman and his cousin pulled up outside my door in a beat up builder's van asking if I fancied rolling my dog. I never had a clue what a roll was but I agreed anyway, so the Scotsman and I just walked my dog into a field at the back of the coalmine while the cousin went to fetch his dog. When he got back I recognised him straight away as Max, this was the first time I had ever seen an adult Pit Bull terrier and it blew me away. The look in Max's eyes and the way he moved, man he was like something out of the jungle. There was no roll, only sixty seconds of my dog getting shook. like a duster, none of us knew about breaking sticks so we eventually choked Max off my dog and I ran off in the direction of a vet.....(continued)

STAFFORD’S AND THE BAITING SPORTS

For centuries, the men who frequented Bull rings and Bear pits had enjoyed watching two dogs fight, but it was only with the abolition of Bull baiting that dogs were bred and trained specifically for the sport. It had been found that Bulldogs were the only dogs which possessed the requisite courage for the dog-pit, but that they lacked the necessary agility. Various Bulldog crosses were tried, mainly with Terriers, until eventually a specific breed of Bull and Terrier was produced which was fast, strong and utterly game.

From that time dog-fighting increased in popularity. It was spectacular and as searching a test of gameness and capacity to give and take punishment as ever a Bull-bait was. There was little initial interference from the law, since it was possible to fight two dogs in any hollow or shed without attracting too much attention, for fighting dogs fight silently. They were easy to get away afterwards, as they could always be carried off in a sack if their condition was likely to draw suspicion. And dog-fighting had an advantage over Bull or Bear-baiting in that at least both animals wanted to fight, instead of the victim having to be fastened with a rope or chain.....(continued)

THE PELICAN BRIEF

This story is based on half-facts, half-truths and is wishful thinking in a certain direction that could be close to the truth, but is by no means the whole truth. It is just a hint for the readers to think in a certain direction when breeding bulldogs and why some of the legendary old-timers are still on the top of the mountain after all these decades of breeding their family, because they carry a big hidden secret about the truth of one of the greatest clicks in history to produce awesome bulldogs.

Some time ago I was studying the roots and background off my bulldogs again and of other major bulldogs from the past with the help of pedigrees on line. It went pretty good and fast I came across the Eli/Boudreaux dogs and especially the Eli dog himself and the dogs before him. To my surprise I saw that he came from light coloured dogs that were red bred and/or white buckskin and white brindle dogs traits from the Colby bloodline The Eli family turned from these colours black almost overnight. He's heavy Dibo inbred bred and since Dibo was one of if not the most important potent producer of his days it kind of looked odd that the Eli family turned black overnight.....(continued)

TREADMILL CONDITIONING

For the owners of sporting dogs the treadmill can be an invaluable piece of equipment, largely misunderstood by the general dog owning public, who feel that it is only used by dog fighters or dog owners of the seedier type. The treadmill has been used for well over a century to exercise dogs and its general design has changed little over the time. Of course the invention of ball bearing wheels have made them far smoother and easier to run, some have been motorised, but the basic design has remained the same. In the present day the mill is used to exercise not just dogs, but many of the top racehorse stables use them, and of course many gymnasiums are equipped with human versions, all used for the same purpose, to condition a person or animal despite the weather or space available.

Those wishing to obtain a treadmill, soon realise that it is not a cheap piece of equipment. You could expect to pay from £350.00 and upwards for a well made, easy running mill with ball bearing wheels and wooden slats. Whichever type you choose to buy however, it must be EASY TO RUN. This is a point that cannot be emphasised too strongly, especially if you have a young or timid dog that you wish to get started on the mill.....(continued)