Open Letter written by Gravyman years back

"To all Dogmen and women past, present and future: I've contained my feelings and thoughts long enough! After a 12 year absence from as my italian ancestors would say "this thing of ours" The American Pitbull Terrier dog game I've witnessed a transformation of something old world dogmen taught me as a young man was an honorable sport turn into the FUCKING "Jerry Springer show." So I ask myself do I want to make a re-entry into the world I love the most? The answer is Yes, I live with Parkinsons disease, I beat cancer twice, I beat the "FEDS", BSL, and I did all this from the knowledge these dogs gave me about "GAMENESS" If you are so hell bent on proving how good you are, who you're better than, and you think you're going to be the next "Legendary Dogman" take a lesson from those who came before you and let the quality of your dogs do the talking. If you truly believe in and LOVE what you have in your yard they will prove who you are and what you got. None of this internet Shit-stirring, mudslinging, bad mouthing, character bashing, whining and yard insults does anything good for the positive portrayal and PRESERVATION of this GREAT breed of ours. I'm sure there are some dogmen who respect me, and some who hate me but if there is any degree of honesty in them they will have to say I have always put the PRESERVATION of THE AMERICAN PITBULL TERRIER first. I have and ALWAYS will have their best interest at heart. I'm hoping my new task will be sharing some of the knowledge that was given to me to up and coming dogmen and women. I would like to believe I have not worn out my usefulness just because due to my illness I no longer have a big yard and Council Rock Kennels is now just a GREAT memory. Stop talking SHIT and put PRINCIPLES before EGO and personalities. God Bless You, God Bless The American Pitbull Terrier, And THANK YOU ALL, I feel better now..........."

HELLO. TT
I just finished reading your post and no matter if agree with you or not, it shows the quality of so called dogmen today.
Like yourself which by the way agree with you, regardless. I see that no one even bothered to retort to a well wooden post with valid and good points.
No one (today) care about the topic you stated let alone a game dog. They want freak of natures that bite like alligators and that's all.
Not worth getting involved anymore unless you personally know 4-5ppl that have dogs and are breeding and using them for the right
Reasons..
I am not far from your predicament with a yard of dogs that you souks not be able to count from the entry point, yet I still have them feed them and don't have the heart to put them down.
Not worth the risk any more nor the joy of knowing you won or tried winning over good comp.
So I'm buying time until they all go naturally,
Once in a while I'll look at one or 2 and if it's not worth feeding it goes faster.
This is what this sport has come to... In North America.
All the best to you sir and to your enthusiastic plans.

Sadly Gravyman has since passed since his letter . He was my pal and a mentor of mine. God Bless Gravyman and the APBT . Peter Carnevale was Gravyman of Council Rock Kennels and third generation dogman . My family has been with the dogs since 1884 as well . Damb curse .

This is always an interesting topic.

I am not sure the game or the people involved have changed all that much over the years. I think what has changed is the sheer number of people in and around the game and then the internet/social media.

I will time stamp myself and say I walked my first bulldog int he late 70's as a 10-11 year old kid. My best friend's dad had dogs and he paid us to walk dogs around a field. One of the first dogs I walked was a son of Red Boy named JR. I have been in and around these dogs for a hair over 40 years, not always active but within a rock's throw since I was a kid.

I have some incredible experiences and met some incredible people over the years. The dogs, just like every other endeavor, is a cross section of society. Whatever good and bad that is in society will also be in the dog game.

Back then there was paper hanging, stealing dogs, cheating, hustlers, peddlers just like there is today. No real difference other than the perception.

Back then for every ten dog men at least two or three of them were trash but 7 out of ten were good people. In today's game it is more like 30 out of a hundred are trash. The percentages are pretty much the same. But if one only looks at the trash group it can be said the game is ten times worse now than it was then.

Back then the word was spread my word of mouth, a magazine or publication or an actual handwritten letter. It was slow. By the time the news arrived it was either watered down, embellished or simply 'old news'. The 3 trashy people was not as impactful to the game. Today, with the internet and social media, the stories of the 30 trashy guys are all over everywhere instantaneously. And since everything on the internet is true, the stories of the 30 are far more impactful than the stories of the 3 from way back when.

I think overall it is the same just we know more of the negatives in a quick minute, and it just feels or looks different.

I think the game is the same, but the trashy parts of the game have been amplified with the internet and as a society we prefer to hear and pass on the shittiest of the news/stories.

The good stories seldom 'splash on to the internet' as they are more the non-typical news item. The dogs the same.

Today we can look for the good, it is still out there.

EWO