Taken from The Pit Bull Bible ...
The 5 Keys to Success
Before I get into the deeper subjects of schooling, testing, and conditioning these dogs, I want you to keep in mind throughout this book that there is a whole lot more to long-term success as a dogman than “winning a show” or in stumbling upon “a proven producer.” True success in these dogs has to do with a person being able to take the excellent dogs he acquires, to keep them alive first of all (and you will be surprised at how many imbeciles can’t even do that), but after that the successful dogman is able to perpetuate the original excellence in his dogs indefinitely. This means that the successful dogman will be a builder—which means he will still have super, winning dogs 25 years down the road—all linebred and built-upon the original stock he started with.
This seems simple enough, but in point of fact it is not. Like playing tennis on an elite level, or performing well at anything on an elite level, perpetuating canine excellence on an elite level indefinitely requires a bountiful complexity of natural aptitudes, learned skills, and acquired savvy on all aspects of your dogmanship. Book I covered the most important aspects of long-term success, which is simple care-giving and husbandry, and now Book II will cover “the less than 1%” of these dogs, which is the sporting aspect.
And just as most people don’t feed right, house right, kennel right, or use the right products, materials, and medications in their care-giving, so too do most dogmen fail to do anything right in the sport of these dogs as well. The truth is, most dogmen are incompetent in all aspects of their dogmanship. Most dogmen can’t think beyond “today”: they don’t feed well, they don’t school properly, they test their dogs either too hard, too much, or too young (or all of the above), and I would venture to guess that if you placed a truly great dog in the hands of 99% of any randomly-selected so-called dogmen on these boards, that this person would “drop the torch” he was passed, and that he would f^@#-up a wet dream. And the average idiot in these dogs will continue to fail in some aspect of his job as a caregiver every time he is passed a new torch—which is why 99% of so-called dogmen can't do something as simple as keep a dog alive from youth to old age.
What I am trying to say is most people manage to mess-up their excellent dogs, or they lose them altogether, which forever forces them to “start over again” looking to buy another excellent dog. Yet sadly, regardless of how superb the new dog is that they get, or how well-bred, when most people get their hands on such a good dog they will invariably “fumble the ball” at some point—and they will ultimately lose their good dog and all of the superb genetics behind him. And, sadly, the average dogman will commit this stupidity within the first 1-2 years of acquiring that good animal, and he will do this repeatedly, time-and-time-again, with every new good dog he gets his hands on.
Okay, let’s be real here: we have all fumbled the ball at some point: I have, you have, we all have. The truth is mistakes are part of learning. But only a very few dogmen seem to be able to regroup to the point where they “get it,” and from that moment forward to be able to set themselves up to “score consistent touchdowns” with what they get their hands on after that. The vast majority of dogmen will forever keep “dropping the ball,” and they will forever fall flat on their faces, seemingly each and every time they get a new good dog.
If you think I am exaggerating, then really take a good look at most dogmen, and really analyze the fate of every good dog they acquired. How long were they able to hang onto that good dog? What kind of perpetual breeding management were they able to do with that dog to further its genetics? Did the dog go all the way? If so (or if not), were these people able to establish a bloodline with their good dog? How long were they even able to keep that good dog alive? These are tough questions, cutting questions, but the answers will serve to slash a clear and dividing line between who has succeeded and who has failed in their overall concern, competence, and management of the good animals they get their hands on.
In fact, really take a good look at yourself as a dogman, and answer these same questions along the way. Analyze the fate of every good dog you have acquired. How long you were able to hang onto it? What, in fact, were you able to do with your good dogs? Really ask yourself if anything truly lasting has happened with them, thanks to you and your actions. Because, if you pay attention, you will see that most dogmen simply cannot maintain the excellence they acquire. They lose the excellence they were blessed with, more often than not, and/or they fail to manage their good dogs’ gene pool well, more often than not, and if you are real with yourself you will ultimately see that almost every dogman you know (including that guy in your mirror) is forever “starting over again” with new stock because of this consistent fumbling and inability to hang onto the ball. And there is a reason for this!
That reason is because most dogmen simply cannot make effective decisions with their dogs, on any level, as said decisions relate to proper management of their acquired animals from a long-term perspective.
On the other hand, if you do know anyone who has kept his excellent dogs alive for a number of years, and who has managed to keep that genetic excellence going for a number of years with an established bloodline based on his original good dogs, why then you know of a successful dogman, don’t you? ;)
You see, many times a lesser dogman will happens to “stumble” upon a super individual dog (and/or a super individual producer), and he will get all high on himself—but if you pay close attention you will also notice that this same guy will lose the good dog just as suddenly as he came upon it. Remember, momentarily “stumbling” upon an excellent dog isn’t where it’s at. Stumbling about is still the mark of blindness, even when a person briefly stumbles upon success, because that person (since he has no true competence) will just as quickly stumble right back out of his fleeting success. The truth is, any fool can stumble upon canine excellence—and some people are even financially-able to go out purchase canine excellence—but very few people are able to create canine excellence—and fewer still are able to perpetuate the excellence they get indefinitely.
And the fact is, the ability to perpetuate canine excellence indefinitely is the only mark of true competence at being a dogman.
In order for a person to get himself to a point where he not only “has” an excellent dog—“right now”—but to where he can maintain that level of excellence indefinitely for future generations, that person must develop 5 Key Characteristics within himself as an individual dogman. Carefully analyze every truly great dogman, historically, and match them up against these traits. Then, analyze yourself (and also your friends), and honestly assess how many (if any) of the following critical traits you (and they) have. Here they are:
1. The Successful Dogman Genuinely Love His Dogs
The #1 Key to Success in dogs (or in anything in life) is loving your vocation with a sincere passion. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in this sport who “like to watch their dogs fight,” but these people do not actually love their dogs at all, as individuals. Nor do these people love or show any commitment to the bloodline that their dogs come from. Too many people in these dogs are incapable of love, and they have no loyalty to their dogs, or to their bloodline, or to anything really. They have no devotion, no dedication, no passion. Most people in these dogs are simply mindless “adult children” who want to see “two dogs fight,” and they will never be successful because of this lack of love and lack of dedication.
In fact, a lot of people in this sport don’t even like dogs at all. I have seen many dogmen who won’t even pet their dogs. Really, they could really give a damn about their dogs in any way whatsoever, their only reason for having dogs is whether or not the dogs can “fight good.” They don't like puppies, they don't care enough to read-up on the latest medications, etc., and people like this are invariably dog-wasters who will never, ever be successful in dogs, long-term.
In order to be successful with his dogs, a person needs to have a deep understanding of his dogs. And in order to have a deep understanding of his dogs, a person has to first be able to identify with his dogs—and in order to identify with his dogs, a person must genuinely love his dogs, truly, both as individuals and as a whole bloodline and family. A person must be able to put himself in his dog’s position. He must be THOUGHTFUL and able to see things as his dogs see things. He must try to understand his dogs as deeply as possible, from their perspective, in order to be able to make the correct decisions with these animals, on all levels. And a person can NEVER achieve this kind of understanding and connection with his animals unless he genuinely loves them. Period. There are no exceptions.
How can a person instinctively know if a dog is “ready” for a hard roll without first having a deep understanding of that dog as an individual? He should be able to “see it” (or not see it) in each individual animal. Yet how can a person have a deep understanding of that individual dog, unless he has a deep connection with that animal? How can a person have a deep connection with an animal, unless he has a deep love and appreciation for that individual? He can’t.
Unfortunately, most people only look at their dogs as “acquired objects to test,” and as “acquired objects to use,” and as “acquired objects to bet on.” That's it. Dogs are mere objects to most people, nothing more. Most people do not view their dogs as living, breathing, individual creatures of the person’s own design and breeding—most dogmen view their dogs simply as objects to buy and to “go through.” That is all an entire yard of dogs is to most people: objects they bought and must “go through”—objects they intend to “use”—and/or objects they want to “cull” or “bet on.” And these kind of people will never, ever have a clue as true and complete dogmen.
Never in a million years will such people ever be dedicated to their dogs; and that is because these people never, ever legitimately loved their dogs nor did they ever truly invest themselves, emotionally, into their dogs. Have you ever heard the saying, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained?” The truth is, if you do not venture and invest your love into these animals, you will never gain legitimate success out of them, which is lasting success. That is simply the way it is.
To show the reverse of what I mean, I met a young wanna-be dogman recently on the phone, who bought a dog from a friend of mine, and he called me to tell me to talk about what happened. I asked this guy if he liked his new animal, and he told me, “I’ll like him when he proves himself to me.” I rolled my eyes and wanted to hang up the phone, because this was your typical “hard-ass, tough-guy” mindset that you run into in these dogs. And yet I was still simply amazed. The dog he had was a perfect specimen; he was beautifully-colored, well-structured, and superbly-bred. The dog was also wonderfully-tempered, and even very obedient, and it was just a baby!
Basically, to someone who appreciates dogs (as individuals), the young dog was a fine example of the breed (that any true connoisseur of fine dogs would love to have and behold as a young animal). Yet this ignorant fool who had him saw nothing positive in this young dog, simply because he “hadn’t been tested yet.” This young person could not appreciate a thing about his beautiful, young animal—and that is the tell-tale sign of a bad heart.
Folks, these dogs are not stupid, at least superior dogs are not stupid, and intelligent dogs know when they are with a friend—and intelligent dogs know when they are with an enemy. They know when they are genuinely loved by their owners, and they know when they are unappreciated, abused, and neglected by their owners. Your “belief” in this regard doesn’t matter; the fact is an intelligent dog knows in his bones when his master is truly his friend or not, just as you know in your bones whether a person you are with is truly your friend or not. Any intelligent creature has this sort of “sixth sense” about him, which allows them to “feel” the intent of those around them. Same as you “can just tell” when someone likes you, so too can a good dog “just tell” if their owner likes them or not :idea:
Therefore this young fool had his entire view of dogs and his role as their caregiver exactly bass-ackwards. This young man expected his young dog to “prove himself to him,” the punk, before the young punk was willing to make a commitment to love the dog in return. This is in direct conflict with Natural Laws. You must sow the work before you reap. Had this person any clue about the proper order of things, he would realize that he needed to give to the dog, on every nurturing level, before he had a right to expect from the dog at the highest performance level. Genuine love for a dog not only is a necessary part of one’s own dedication as a dogman, but such a bonding experience is part of the developmental process a dog needs in order to achieve true excellence. Let me say that in a different way: developing a legitimate bond with an owner is part of the complete evolution of a young dog’s developmental process from a pup into becoming a World Class Professional Athlete. Therefore, to withhold giving love to a young dog, while he is developing, is to withhold part of the necessary “fertilizer” that is required for his optimal and complete maturation as a total performance animal for you. Believe it!
Yes, it takes a lot out of a person to put that kind of devotion on the table first, for every dog that he has, but if you are not willing to put that kind of investment into your dogs first, then how can you expect to get the most out of your dogs? How can you legitimately expect your dogs to go all the way for you, when you have not gone all the way for them? When you have not provided for all of their needs first, including their bonding need, how can you expect to get the best in return? In short, how can you expect to reap where you have not sown?
Folks, these dogs have a tougher job than we do, and they have the harder road to hoe, so you owe it to them to give them your all before you can expect them to give their all for you. If you have not built your dogs UP with genuine love, (which includes the best food, nutrition, care, and affection possible), then how can you possibly expect your dogs to reach an elite level when you have not bothered to raise them with elite caregiving? I could write 50 pages more on this subject alone, but the bottom line is in order to succeed in dogs, long-term, a dogman must plainly and simply LOVE HIS DOGS, and love them for real, which is shown by loving actions and loving practices, and an unswerving dedication to their well-being.
Sincere love is expressed in many ways. It is expressed by a deep compassion for each individual dog, yes, but it is also expressed by an intense desire and curiosity to learn more and more about dogs in general (canine health, canine upkeep, canine medicine, etc.). Your buying this book is an example of your taking enough interest in your dogs to learn more about them. By contrast, most people in this game have several dogs on their yard—but yet they do not have one single book on veterinary medicine or dog care. This is absolutely insane, to have (say) 15 dogs, but yet not to have one single book on how to care for them! To confine thousands of dollars worth of dogs on improper chain set-ups which puts every single one of them at risk. Most people’s yards consist of haphazard set ups of inferior hardware, and such people lack the curiosity or concern about their animals to learn how to chain and kennel a dog properly.
In a nutshell, too many bottom-dwelling dogmen buy-up a bunch of dogs—and then they keep them in crates—or on 3-foot chains in the mud—all the while feeding them the least-expensive food they can get away with feeding—or they do all of these things together—without having one single book or scrap of paper containing even the slightest tidbit of knowledge on proper care, proper nutrition, proper husbandry, etc.
How can you love an animal and yet keep him in filth? How can you love an animal and yet keep him on a 3-foot chain? How can you be considerate of your animal’s needs, without the slightest will to crack open a book and gain even drop of knowledge on proper care, proper nutrition, proper husbandry, etc.? You can’t.
The bottom line is this: If you do not love your dogs, you will never succeed in dogs for the long haul. You can’t “fake” a genuine love for your dogs either. It is either there or it is not. The only way to show a legitimate love for something is to care for them, always, and on every level possible. That means kenneling, nutritionally, medically, and emotionally via a legitimate bonding experience, basically the truly successful dogman will have an instinctive desire to do his best for his dogs. And that doesn’t come from reading a book, not even this book, it can only come from a truly good heart within the person.
2. The Successful Dogman Abides By Nature’s Laws
The successful dogman realizes there are certain Laws of Nature that must be abided-by in order to achieve the best results. The maturation process is one of these laws. The ability to reap only after one has sown is another of these laws. The fact that the best nutrition yields the best health and performance results is another one of these laws. And yet the vast majority of dogmen flounder in failure precisely because they refuse to obey, follow, or even pay attention to, the decree of these Natural Laws.
How can you judge a dog who is not yet mature? How can you have a carnivore under your care, and then feed him a grain-based diet he was not designed to eat, and then scratch your head and wonder why the dog is not performing at an optimal level? How can you criticize the animal for a “health breakdown” when he has not been provided with the correct fuel required to keep him in an optimal state of health? I mean, there really are basic Laws of Nature that must be seen, recognized, and abided-by in order for a person to be successful. The successful dogman simply notices these laws, and follows them to his benefit, while the perpetual failure in dogs either can’t see these laws, or doesn’t care about them, but either way the failure in dogs is what he becomes precisely because he violates all of these Natural Laws to his dogs' detriment.
As I will be suggesting in my “Schooling” chapter next, if we speak about the subject of farming crops, any fool can clearly see that there is a Nautral Process that must be abided by in order to yield consistently-good harvests of crops. Quality seeds must be planted. Quality nurturing must be given. Sufficient time to grow, mature, and ripen must be allowed-for. And only then, after we have first paid the price, after we have allowed the natural processes to develop and unfold—after we have sown our end of the work—do we then have a right to expect to reap a bountiful harvest from our efforts. We must allow for the passage of the required time and we must put forth the required effort.
Again, this is called “The Law of The Farm.” You reap what you sow.
Yet every day we see dullards in these dogs, who will not sow a single thing into their dogs, and who yet wonder why they cannot reap consistent success with their animals. These fools violate Nature’s Laws as a matter of daily routine, and they do this by trying to take every conceivable “shortcut” they can think of. They school too young, they test too young, they feed the cheapest crap they can buy, they kennel with poor set-ups, they do not control parasites—they fail to prepare their dogs in any way to perform at an optimal level—and by attempting to take these “shortcuts,” such imbeciles will always fail. Because the truth of the matter is there are no shortcuts to success. Success is achieved only by following all of Nature’s Laws, one step at a time, and in the proper order and sequence. You must be willing to go through the process. You must be willing to follow Nature’s Laws, step-by-step, and you must seek to have Nature’s Laws work for you, not against you. Unfortunately, it is always the dogs that pay the price ...
The fact of the matter is, there really are Laws of Nature out there, whether you think so or not, and if you wish to succeed on a large scale you will obey these Laws, you will never violate them. Really, the Laws of Nature must become a religion for you. You must seek to both understand and to obey Nature’s Laws, as a matter of daily habit, because when you do so, you will suddenly achieve a Spiritual Awareness that few dogmen will ever have. You will gain the proverbial “Aha!” as you gain penetrating insight into the whole scheme of things as they relate to your dogs’ developmental processes. Again, these Natural Laws will ultimately become your religion as a dogman, if you wish to succeed in dogs, long-term. As William James once said:
“Spirituality is the attempt to align oneself with an Unseen Order of things.”
And there is an unseen order of things to dogmanship, to the processes and phases that all dogs must go through before they reach an ultimate maturity and readiness. And you must align yourself and your thinking with this “unseen order of things,” not against these processes, if you want to be consistently-successful. You must simply accept the fact that there are Natural Processes that must be allowed to develop and unfold, in flowing succession and sequence, in order for you to reap a successful harvest in your results. The Maturity Process. The Schooling Process. The Continual Process of trying to maintain Optimal Health. The Process of Preventing and Managing Disease, etc.
Again, I could go on for 50 pages or more here, but the bottom line is this: in order to succeed in these dogs you must obey Nature’s Laws and not violate them. Because there is also another saying: “You can never break The Laws, you can only break yourself (or your dogs) against These Laws.”
Sadly, in our case, what most foolish dogmen do is break their dogs against these laws. It is always the dogs that suffer because of their owners’ ignorance. Therefore, the truly wise, mature, and successful dogman is always trying to make these Natural Laws work for his dogs and not against his dogs.
3. The Successful Dogman Understands His Dogs’ Job
Another key trait a dogman must have in order to succeed long-term is he must truly understand the job for which his canine athletes were bred to perform :idea: For our sport, a person must have a legitimate understanding of combat strategy in general, and he must further have a legitimate understanding of the rules by which these dogs are designed to compete.
If we were breeding dogs to win a “drop match,” where two dogs were dumped in a pit, with no rules or handling, and where the winner was decided within a :30 time limit, we would breed for much different traits from those we are breeding for now. If we were breeding for dogs who had to run a race across the icy Arctic tundra, for several days in a row, we again would be selecting and breeding for traits that are entirely different from the traits we are breeding for now in our dogs.
Well, in our sport, we are breeding for traits that should maximize a dog’s chances for winning a match that technically has “no time limit” ... but where (in point of fact) 75% of all contests are decided within :45 min ... and where 98% of all contests are decided in under 2 hours. (Trust me, I have done the math and the numbers-crunching on over ten thousand matches, and the fact of the matter is 75% of all hunts are over within :45—and 98% of all contests are over by the 2-hour mark.)
With those numbers in mind, and with another fact in mind (that over 90% of all hunts are won and lost on scratching within these time frame parameters), we must therefore breed dogs that can survive a “total war” with another dog for at least 2 hours, and select those dogs who are always willing to scratch-back at any point in time they are called upon to do so, within that time parameter. Furthermore, our dogs do not have to do this against “several” dogs, but only against one dog (which means that the practice of “two-dogging” is absolutely pointless and stupid).
And yet you will see people breeding their dogs for entirely different purposes from the parameters of a Cajun Rules contest. You will see people breed for things like “mouth,” and you will see people purposely breeding dogs who won’t pace themselves at all, and thus who couldn’t possibly go two hours, just because these energy-wasting barnstormers are impressive in short bursts. You will also see people test their dogs against “multiple dogs,” when the dog only has to face one opponent for his true vocation and job. Basically, you will see most people in these dogs breeding for, testing for, and culling for traits that have nothing to do with their dogs’ actual job :shocked:
And these people will invariably be failures as breeders and exhibitors, percentage-wise, precisely because they do not truly understand the job for which they are breeding and selecting their dogs. Smashing dogs quickly is not what these dogs are bred for—and for that matter this is usually impossible when you are on a really good opponent. (Truly good dogs can't be killed early.) Scratching into 2 or 3 different opponents is not what bulldogs have to do either. What we are trying to do is breed and select dogs “who are athletic, intelligent, and tough enough to either control, nullify, or survive anything that happens to them ... from ONE other dog ... and who will at the same time continually dismantle their opponent ... and ... who will scratch-back any time he is asked to do so.” That is what these dogs are bred for folks, because that is what a Cajun Rules contest is!
Therefore, another critical element to a person’s long-term success as a dogman is to understand the (Cajun) Rules under which these dogs are intended to compete, and then to design both your selection of performers, as well as your selection of brood animals, based on their conforming ideally within these parameters.
4. The Successful Dogman Views His Dogs As Valuable Resources
The 4th critical trait a dogman must have for long-term success is he must view all of his dogs as valuable resources. When a particular individual animal expresses the epitome of all that we are striving for, gameness and the never-ending desire to win, the successful dogman will make it his business to preserve and cultivate that dog’s genetics as the most valuable resource there is. This is how every single excellent family of dogs has come into existence, and that is where some superior dogman recognized and valued some individual dog’s excellence, and then that dogman made it his business to cultivate those superior genetics as a valuable resource. And the only way to do this is by developing a line-breeding program around that great dog. Hemphill did it with Geronimo. Carver did it with Black Widow and IronHead. Boudreaux did it with Blind Billy and Eli. Tudor did it with Dibo and Spike. Patrick did it with Bolio and Tombstone. Crenshaw did it with Rascal and Honeybunch. Garrett did it with Jeep. Chavis did it with Yellow John. Tant did it with Yellow. Boyles did it with Dirty Mary. Garner did it with Chinaman and Spike. Hollingsworth did it with Lady In Red. I did it with Poncho and Coca Cola. Victor did it with Mayday. CML did it with Little John, etc., etc.
Wherever you find long-term success in dogs, you will find a dogman who has sought to preserve and cultivate the genes of some great dog (or dogs) that he found to be excellent, defining animals to him and what he is looking for.
You see, where most dogmen foolishly waste their excellent dogs, and get them killed eventually, the truly long-term success in dogs tries to actively cultivate and preserve excellence whenever he sees it. Where most idiots view dogs as “expendable items” to use-up and “go through,” the truly successful dogman views his best animals as valuable resources to preserve, cherish, and make more of :idea:
As is repeatedly discussed in this book, most people fail to plan for the future. Most people are “consumers” and not “producers.” Most people use-up their resources; they do not perpetually create their own resources.
The long-term successful dogman is always a producer, not a waster. He sees his best dogs as valuable resources to preserve and maintain, rather than as toys to play with, abuse, and waste. The bottom line is, in order to be successful for the long-haul, you must do everything in your power to preserve and make more of the excellence you are blessed with, and not to waste it so you have no more of it left. And every successful dogman, who has turned-out quality animals year-after-year, follows this credo to the very best of his ability. The truly superior dogman is a preserver and a creator of excellence at heart; he is not a waster and abuser of excellence at heart.
5. The Successful Dogman Effectively Manages The Intangibles
Finally, foundational to all of the above, a truly successful dogman makes it his business to manage all of the intangibles in his dogs’ favor and not against his dogs. This ties in and supports the other 4 Key Elements to success.
Yes, a dog needs superior genetics to be able to reach the highest level, but he also needs the intangibles stacked in his favor, and not against him, in order to have his best chances of success. Let me give you an example below of how important managing the intangibles are, by telling yet another tragedy of someone who mis-managed every single one of the intangibles against his own great (but unfortunate) dog:
A friend of mine bred a truly wonderful dog, an animal who could have gone all the way in the right hands, but one who lost recently—and which dog in fact “quit” in this loss. This dog is being mindlessly-called “a cur” by the primitive apes who own him, but in point of fact this was a truly great animal who repeatedly had every single “intangible” stacked against him, time-and-time-again, until he could no longer overcome the barrier of intangible laid before him. Here is the background:
Before this dog was even 17 months old, he was schooled for over thirty minutes, on 8 separate occasions, and with no more than 3 weeks’ rest in between sessions. This dog was basically skull-drug repeatedly before the age where he should have even been bumped. On top of this stupidity, and after his last hard session at 17 months of age, this dog was then matched by his stupid owner, who likewise made sure this dog had to push 3 lbs of weight to boot. And yet this great young dog miraculously pulled it off and won in an hour-twenty-seven (1:27)!
This dog should have been treated like gold, but instead he was treated like dirt. Two weeks later, not fully recovered from his rolls or his last match, this young dog was then hunted off the chain (O.T.C.) into a killer for :40, again pushing 2 lb of weight, and yet this great and tough young dog again managed to win on exceptional gameness and natural pit savvy. This young animal was now just over 19 months old, which is when he should have just started his schooling. Yet this poor young dog had already been skull-drug all the way out, on 8 separate occasions, and now he had also just finished being put through 2 back-to-back matches added on top of this, both of them pushing weight, and for an amount of time that totaled around an hour apiece.
But the stupidity doesn’t end there, folks. Two weeks later, again after the second match, this young dog—still recovering from the previous deals—and now with a fractured leg—was again matched O.T.C. (pus oozing out of his infected wounds too)—and this time he had to spot 4 lb of weight, into a pretty damned good boar to boot. This poor, young, beat-up pit dog tried every trick in the book, despite how sore and worn-out he was, but finally all he could do was hang onto the bottom jaw just to try and stay out of trouble—but at the end of the day he got beat the f^@# up. Eventually, and tragically, this poor young dog got his whole face ripped off by the bigger dog, and he finally “quit” in 1:10, to a no-win situation, his 10th time down, injured, outweighed, and and with every single card in the deck stacked against him by his criminally-stupid, ape-brained owner.
Unbelievably, this fantastic young dog was called “a cur” by all in attendance, including his owner, who did not have enough sense to consider all of the MISMANAGED INTANGIBLES that were decisively stacked against this dog’s having a snowball's chance of winning—and if you can believe it they shot this dog as “unworthy” of being on their yard. Wow, I get mad every time I think of this!
In actuality, when analyzed by anyone with an ounce of horse sense, this young dog was in fact a super animal, who was unfortunately dealt another shitty hand by being placed in yet another ignorant so-called “dogman’s” hands. It wasn’t the dog who was “unworthy” of his owner; the fact is the owner was the one unworthy of this dog. Because sadly, as good as this young dog was genetically, he simply could not overcome the enormous pile of intangibles that were stacked against him.
Folks, all the “good genetics” in the world will not overcome enough ownership stupidity. All of the “good genetics” in the world won’t overcome being rushed too soon—they won’t overcome spotting too much weight—nor will “good genetics” overcome not being given enough time to recover sufficiently from previous matches. Good genetics simply won’t overcome layer-upon-layer of ownership stupidity, nor will good genetics be able to overcome an entire deck of cards being stacked against a dog. Because at the end of the day, good genetics must be married with good management of the intangibles in order for a dog to reach his full potential.
Just as bad management will bring out the worst in a good dog, good management will bring out the best in even an average dog. But, more importantly, good management will bring out the glory in a truly great dog. And the only way in which a person can be a good manager is to stack all of the intangibles in his dog’s favor, not against his dog. There is no other way to enjoy consistent success in these dogs than by making sure that all of the intangibles are working for your dog and not against your dog. You must make sure that you manage the intangibles, layer-upon-layer, to be favorable to your dog—rather than stacking them, layer-upon-layer, to be against your dog.
Effectively managing the intangibles is something that is absolutely critical to success—and if you think about it, effectively managing the intangibles is what separates a “good” dogman from a “bad dogman.”
Even when you do breedings this applies. For instance, making sure the stud’s semen is viable, and then making sure that the bitch is actually in fertile estrus within her heat cycle—before you actually breed—will yield much better results than will just breeding an unchecked male over a bitch “on her 12th day.” The former management effort shows that the breeder has stacked all of the intangibles in his breeding favor, by having a semen evaluation done on the stud first, as well as by having a progesterone check of the bitch—while the latter “management effort” has failed to do any of this and is basically swinging in the dark. The latter method is “assuming” the male is fertile and the bitch is ovulating, while the first method is making 100% certain of these things. Repeated over time, the former dogman will be the much more successful breeder, while the other bozo will miss breedings as often as he gets them.
And, if you look at all of your own failures in these dogs, honestly, you will see that mis-management of the intangibles was the cause every single one of them. I know this, because mis-managing the intangibles has been the cause of all of my own failures. I have always loved my dogs (Key #1) and I have always valued them as resources (Key #4), and I have always understood my dogs’ job (Key #3)—but I haven’t always obeyed Nature’s Laws (Key #2) and I haven’t always managed the intangibles well (Key #5).
When you match a dog, all of these things are important, and they all fall back to Key #5, which is aligning every single “intangible factor” for your dogs and not against your dogs. Making sure that your entry is fully-mature, is well-schooled, is in optimal health, is free of parasites, is in peak condition, is at his best weight, and has been fed an outstanding complement of good food and supplements is stacking every single layer of intangibles in your dog’s favor—by contrast, bringing in a 16-month-old pup, full of worms, yanked right off the chain, spotting 2 lb of weight, after being fed a steady diet of Ol’ Roy, is stacking every layer of intangibles against your dog’s chances of winning. And yet there are idiots who practice this latter kind of stupidity on every single match of their foolish and unsuccessful dog careers.
As the tragic story above showed, even the best God-given genetics in the world won’t overcome enough incredible stupidity as an owner. There are many dogmen who would have lost with GR CH Buck or GR CH Yellow had they put their dogs through what this poor dog went through. Good genetics are important, but your managing the intangibles in your dog’s favor is even more important :idea:
There are many, many, many people in these dogs who will take a good animal, genetically, and then through an odyssey of their own incredible stupidity as owners, they will reduce that animal’s chances of winning, step-by-step, by mis-managing the intangibles, step-by-step, every step of the way.
A “good dogman” is simply one who manages every intangible effectively to be in his dog’s favor, while a “stupid dogman” is one who manages every intangible ineffectively to be against his dog’s best chances. It really is that simple. Always remember, it is your dog’s job to be good and game, yes, but it is your job to manage that good dog with competence and wisdom, and not with incompetence and stupidity.
The dogmen who succeed long-term, and on a large scale, are those dogmen who consistently manage the intangibles effectively, to be in their dogs’ favor—while all of the habitual failures in these dogs are perpetually mis-managing the intangibles and stacking every single hidden factor against their dogs’ chances at success. Such imbeciles will always be spotting weight, spotting age, they will pull dogs off the chain, the will skull-drag their dogs either too hard or too young, they will feed lousy feed, they will not control parasites, etc., etc.
The bottom line is this: if you want to be a good and successful dogman, long-term, you will always and forever make it your business to manage the intangibles to be with your dogs and not against your dogs.
Conclusion
I hope my efforts at writing all of this do not go unnoticed. I hope that some of you found yourselves nodding your heads at the power of these 5 Key Traits that cut a deep gash and defining line between the successful and the unsuccessful in these dogs.
We all have violated one (or all) of these 5 Key Traits, at one point or another, and thus we have all failed at one point or another. That is not the lesson here. “Failing in the past” is not the mark of an ultimate failure, but continuously-failing is. Some of the most successful people in every walk of life started out as total failures, but through renewed effort and renewed habits, they slowly-but-surely gained success for themselves, one step at a time. Failed practices will always yield failed results. And one definition of insanity is to continue to do “the same things” and yet to expect “different results.”
The true success in dogs is not content with failure and the true success is always striving to do better. Therefore, if you want to achieve “better results,” then you have to habitually-employ “better practices.” This article here defines those better practices.
If you are already living-up to every single one of these principals, then you are already a successful dogman. Success can’t help but come from good practices. If you live up to none of these practices, however, then you are a total failure as a dogman. Likewise failure can’t help but come from violating these practices.
If you have not been succeeding so far in these dogs, but if you have a sincere desire to do well and to be successful (that is, if you have the #1 Key Trait, which is a sincere love of your dogs), then getting the other 4 elements in order will spell your eventual success in dogs. Key #1 is the most important trait in a man, just as gameness is in a dog.
If this article helps even one person use his #1 trait more effectively, to motivate him to see the other 4 traits more clearly, and to then follow these Keys to Success with clearer vision and perspective, then I will have done my job as a writer and I will have “passed the torch” to another willing and capable runner. And in so doing I will have benefited another yard of dogs somewhere—and as such I will be very content that I have done my job.
~ California Jack
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