BULL TERRIER TIMES COMPILATION

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.

I also enjoyed reading about my old adversary Ch. "Brock", a dog that I knew real well I owned the Ch. "Oscar" dog when he was matched into "Brock" and conditioned and handled him for all his matches. The Ch Oscar" dog was a very small dog and never weighed more than 27lbs in any of his matches. In fact, I matched him at 30lbs each time he fought, as there were no dogs at his proper weight. For his match against the "Monty" dog, a son of "Busker", he came in at 27lbs with "Monty" coming in at 32lbs, with the match being made at 30lbs. He came off the bottom at the 15 minute mark and "Monty" quit cold on his first scratch at the 20 minute mark. I also refereed the first "Brock" vs. "Bullet" match and remember it so clearly, as if it were yesterday. Sadly, all of those present that day are no longer in the game.

I have often wondered how people can class the "Psycho" dogs as Stafford’s, when they are anything but Stafford’s. These types of dogs carry a lot of English Bull blood in them, which can only be a bad thing for any dog that is supposed to be game or game bred. I have never understood why anyone would want to breed to an English Bull Terrier, or a dog that had English Bull blood. It's a fact that even an English Bull like the "Red Hand of Ulster" ("Howdy") and the "Guv'nor" were bred out of show dogs that were certainly not game bred. What you usually get from crossing working bred dogs to English Bulls is a very hardy hybrid first cross. However, the gameness and working ability comes not from the English Bull, but from the years of working blood behind the other side. There have been so many cases to prove this over the years, such as the breeding of the "Red Hand of Ulster" to a Wheaten bitch, which produced the "Lance" dog, which was dog of the year twice and a great working dog. The offspring that he produced did not equal his record and eventually this mating was to bring about the demise of the Wheaten as a breed, with more and more people trying to breed this type of cross and then crossing them back to the Wheaten. The end result was a shortage of pure Wheaten and a lot of inferior crossbred dogs.

Some years ago, the "Gar" dog was mated to an English Bull Terrier bitch. Why such a mating was made has always been beyond my logic and understanding. From this mating came the "Pirate" dog that won 3 contracted matches and lost dead-game to the Ch. "Clogger" dog This only showed to me the ability "Gar" had as a producer of game dogs However, the brother to "Pirate", a big catch weight dog called” Jim" was also a very game dog and was bred to a number of bitches, but never produced a dog that was worth a bean.

Many of the "Gar" dog’s offspring that were bred out of Mayfield bitches went on to become very game dogs that in their turn produced game dogs. I've had this conversation before with many dog men and heard all the nonsense about "Frisco Sport" and "Pirate" and a host of other dogs, such as "Stormer". My answer to this is where all the good dogs are bred off these dogs. Can anyone show me a dog out of "Stormer" that's won a match, or any of these other crossbred dogs? To own and breed from dogs bred in this way, shows a lack of understanding about the breeding of game dogs.

Some years ago, a dog came over from Ireland called "Irish Jack". He was sired by the great game dog McIntyre’s "Barney" an English Bull/Stafford cross. The dam of "Irish Jack" was a pure English Bull Terrier bitch, which made "Jack" a 3/4 English and 1/4 Stafford. Not only was "Jack" a very game Badger dog, but he was also a game fighting dog. I saw him win his only match aged 8 years over the "Butcher" dog in around 25 minutes. The "Jack" dog was bred to some of the best bitches in the country and never sired a dog that was worth a light. I saw many dogs out of him that were stone cold curs and every pup I saw out of him was the same. This takes nothing away from him as a game dog himself.

Before you all get excited, and start putting pens to paper to take me to task over this, visit an English Bull Terrier show and take a look at the fat horrible excuses and answer me this question. If you had game well-bred bitch and wanted to breed from her, would you in all honesty breed her to an English Bull.? The sad thing is, that someone at sometime has done this and that's why we have dogs like the "Psycho" dogs being sold today as game Stafford’s, when they are anything but and certainly not Stafford’s.

The prostitution of any breed of dog has always brought about its ruin. This can be seen so clearly in the case of the Pit-bull in the late 80's, when almost everyone that owned a dog or bitch couldn't wait to breed a litter. This kind of foolishness can be seen so clearly in the dogs today, with some bitches having litter after litter, with nothing but money being the objective. It was the dog-dealing cheats that brought about the banning of the Pit-bull and not the people that fought them. The attacks on people were not by dogs owned by dog-fighters, but by people's pets and dogs bred by macho assholes, with ego's as big as their heads and the first people to get out of the breed. Some stuck around trying to scratch a living by conning people out of their hard earned money, only now they sell "Irish" Stafford’s and sell them at extortionate prices to anyone that has the price of a pup.

The number of times I used to read the comic, as we called the Pit Bull News back then, and laugh at some of the adverts that used to appear in each issue. Man, if you believed some of what was written in that magazine, then you were living in cloud cuckoo land. Also, the number of dogs that were advertised at stud that had quit cold and the people who conned and cheated folks out of their hard earned cash was unbelievable. If you read some of the adverts for the dogs that were at stud and seen the crap they wrote, about how such a dog had won so many matches over in America and had nothing to prove over here, there would be a rush of dealers running to use the same dog in order to get the pups out before anybody else and make a fast buck. The same stud dog would later be rolled and quit. However, an excuse was usually made and in some cases the dog’s owners still had the cheek to put the dog up for stud.

Many of the adverts were for dogs that were bred out of good families of dogs and the adverts were a learning experience for the newcomer and almost every person that bought dogs through a magazine got burned and conned. Get out your magazines and check these adverts yourself and read some of the bullshit they wrote. Then give the same person a call and check out what dogs they're presently feeding. Surely these dedicated dog men, whose life existed solely to be in the game, will still be involved with the dogs. After all, these same people had nothing to sell but just used to advertise to let you all know how dedicated they were to the preservation of the Pit-bull. You'll be surprised to hear what these same dedicated dog men have to say now! Most of them have forgotten what Pit bulls were, such was their dedication to the dogs.

One of the biggest mistakes made was the conformation show. Why anyone would want to stand in public view with a game dog or pet dog is beyond me, they are simply a place for ego-trippers to gather and talk bullshit, and for those that don't match dogs to gather and act like they feel dog-fighters should act. Why the hell anyone who has owned a game dog would want to take it to a show is just beyond me. It's a fact that the humane people will be there in force with their cameras, and sooner rather than later one dog will grab another and there just happens to be the obligatory photograph that appears on television every time the dogs make the news. I realise that not everyone is a dogfighter and that we should be able to gather and bullshit every once in a while. We all enjoy it, don't we? But, if you honestly think that the Police and RSPCA are interested in who does and who doesn't fight dogs, I suggest that you check out some of the dogs which have been culled since the laws were passed. I'm certain that hardly any of those culled were owned by dogfighters. Don't think for one minute that you're safe with little "Rocky" or old "Judy", a game dog doesn't need to be game in the eyes of the law, it simply needs to be a dog of a certain type, any type! When they knock on your door or even bust it down, remember these words..."I told you so". To want to own a game dog, or to have an interest in how the game dog evolved and to own a dog that looks and is healthy is illegal. Don't try and tell me different, the dog laws have proved me right many times over. The humane people that masquerade as animal lovers are only really seeking the eradication of all game dogs, be they owned by dogfighters or as family pets, and they don't care how it's achieved.

A Texas "Redneck" friend of mine, who has been around these dogs as long as anyone today and whose record is second to none, once told me in a long letter how George Orwell had it right when he wrote such stories as "Animal Farm" and "1984". He wrote about how animals would have more rights than "Man" and how "Big Brother" was watching us all. Here today in the 1990's we can see this real clear, with the government passing special laws to ban dog breeds, yet they allow the young children in our society to be killed and abused and yet do nothing. It seems to me that "Big Brother" certainly is watching you and me, when they should really be watching somebody else.

The days of "shows" have gone, as have the days of being able to walk a game dog in public. As citizens of the United Kingdom we have our rights! This doesn't apply however if you happen to own a Bull breed of dog, then you have no rights. If you think I'm joking or exaggerating, then ask the owners of the dogs that were killed simply because they were of a certain "type". The sooner we all realise that we are us and they are them, then the sooner we'll all be able to smell the roses. Just be real careful who you're talking to, even if it's only about old "Judy" or little "Rocky". Not everyone understands as we do, and sometimes when people don't understand something they try to destroy it. We all need to be real careful in just who we trust. It isn’t paranoia; it's a very sad but true fact of life. Get rid of the dealers who churn out litter after litter from their dogs, and who don't care who they sell their dogs to. We all know who these people are! Unless you want pups for yourself, then why breed them at all. Don't just breed your bitch because she comes into season and don't just stud out your dog because Bill or George asks you to. Think about it carefully and if in doubt, then don't do it. The mass production of anything does only one thing and that's to weaken the quality. If you're looking to buy a pup, then find out about the record of those that are actually selling them. Don't listen to bullshit sales talk and don't be concerned with their talk of dogs from the past, ask them about the dogs they have owned and showed. Do not be tempted to breed off any dog that has a tendency to show aggression towards people. These dogs should be culled, as sure as cur begets cur then man biter begets man biter. It may not surface right away, but when it does, you're in trouble.

Just to finally wrap up my incessant rambling. I enjoyed the story about the Ch. "Jeep" dog, but Steve either forgot to mention or simply didn't know that the sire to "Jeep" was Finley's Ch. "Bo" and he quit in his match to "Vindicator". The dam of "Jeep" was "Honeybunch" and she was sired by "Bullyson", a 30 minute cur. This means that the top ROM dog and bitch were both out of curs. I may not know half of what them good old boys in the US of A know about the dogs, but one thing I do know, I am not breeding to no dog that has a sire and grand-sire that both quit. This doesn't mean to say that these dogs can't produce good match dogs; they just can't produce game dogs. I know of hundreds of dogs that were proven game in the pit and were bred out of rank curs. But it still doesn't change the fact that they were bred out of curs and at any time down the line, for reasons known only to those that are honest or who have some understanding of breeding, these deep game dogs simply quit for no reason at all.

I'll close for now and mean no offence to anyone. What I have written is truth and fact and would wish you all well and ask that you all be careful out there.

Springview Bulldog’s

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