I recently had the chance to reflect on this lifestyle that we have become so addicted to. Whether it be a magazine, book, article, forum post, or common conversation, Dogmen seem to hate each other. Various camps have their names blemished, hounds are discredited, and achievements are wrongfully downplayed.
Some of the verbal sparring sessions are efficient when the recollection of the events are corrected. On the contrary so many of these same recollections are totally asinine. So many hounds are caught in the middle of these rifts, to the point where the competition is placed to the waist side while tongue wrestling merits more. We have now approached a time where one of the main characteristics of this breed is the last thing sought after: THE GAMENESS of THE BULLDOG!!!
I want go to deep into the topic of the hounds, this is a write about the "Modern-Day APBT Owner. To do this we are going to look at the top three afflictions that plague the aforementioned.
1. Trepidation Of Competition
2. Seeking/Keeping Hounds in an Inoperative State
3. The State of Awe
Trepidation of Competition
“You are giving away your power: There are a group of Kenyan runners who purposely run at odd, varying speeds. The goofy foot rhythm screws up nearby competitors since fellow runners naturally try to keep up with them. The confusing patterns screw the competitors enough so that they can easily pass by them. In short, they set the pace. Focusing on your adversary gives them a tremendous amount of power, as resources and decisions could possibly be wasted on benign actions.” 1
I noticed that a lot of big name kennels (who fear the hunger of the newcomer) find ways to call the “janitor” a “environmental service engineer.” The same way that this term awes the one who may have never had a job, it allows other janitors to call bullshit on the prestige term.
This very awe, which is possessed by a lot of today’s young bucks, is leaving the competition captivated. We have come to call it “the cement boots of the APBT.” In this instance you have allowed the normal to become so foreign that the average is now a thing to fear. Letting the bark outweigh the bite isn’t a thing to be ashamed of anymore, it seems to be a thing that solidifies the presence of the new-comer.
What most fail to realize is that this effects the breed in a way that kills it from the inside out. When you enable a warrior from competing he loses his main identity…in a sense this turns the warrior into something different. When this behavior becomes a trend, culling becomes a lost art, and “breeding with purpose” becomes a thing of the past.
This habit allows sellers to breed for color, pedigree stats, money, and names…while ignoring things like gameness, wind, durability, line representation.
What does this have to do with not competing? These are the things that allow kennels to remain in these hounds while not competing, not culling, or seek progression in this breed. The new comer not having standards and being in awe allows the old timers to become lazy and money hungry. Opponents become scarce, and peddlers can stand next to breeders without the slightest distinction.
Competition comes in many different forms. The APBT is one of the most fluid breeds that there are. Ways of competing are endless, when you put the time in. The American Pit Bull Terrier is a pleaser by nature, hard worker to the core…allow them a chance to show you…if you dare.
* Weight Pulling
* Schutzhund
* Obedience Training
* Lure Coursing
* Hog Hunting
* Agility
* Racing
Seeking/Keeping Hounds in an Inoperative State
You're starting to see so many hounds that don’t originate from breed standards, haven’t proven themselves to meet bulldog standards, nor have they conquered any form of show ring sports. Ironically these dogs and their offspring will be sought after far and wide. The sire/dam weren’t proven on any level, the offspring weren’t proven on any level, now here is the start of a non working line of dogs. How often do you see this today? Dogs of the Year who are talked down on when the topic of producing come up. APBTs are being bred because their GRANDsire was a Grand Champion or Champion. An even crazier practice is “dogs that are being bred as brood stock. Even if the pedigree was put together to bring a particular dog in heavier, that litter should have to prove itself like ay other dog. I often tell people my brood bitch first showed the performance that made me want to place her on my brood list. Upon hearing this i can tell a lot of them don’t believe me. Brood stock isnt a term to be used as an excuse for being inactive, its a term given to the special ones you trust with the job of being torch passers.
Many a times i’m asked “so you wouldn’t breed to a cold dog, a cur, or a loser?” My replies are simple.
The Cold Dog - Why would i breed to one that showed no interest in doing something he’s bred to do? If i told you right now that I was a mechanic, would you accept the fact that i couldn’t take the gas cap off your car? No you wouldn’t, half of you guys would want give me a slap for waisting your time! I view my hounds the same way. Show me that you are an APBT. I look at the cold dog like a spoiled kid that the family can’t trust to inherit the family business. Sad and pathetic.
The Cur Dog - Never would I. I can’t understand how a cur would even be able to mount or be mounted. Once again you were bred to preform and be durable. The cur possesses neither. Like the guy thats tell you he has your back but runs when things escalate, the cur is the liar of the breed. The cur is the coward of the breed. Most are going to say “but how many greats were bred down from curs.” Well I do not know the answer nor do i care, I vacate the presence of the liar, as they want to obstruct your reality of the truth. Just as the cur will pop up later and obstruct your line of being pure performers. To each his own, but i have no use for the cur when building my line.
The Losing Dog - This isn’t the quitting dog, this isn’t the cur dog, or the cold dog. This is the dog that had the heart to show but was just outclassed. Unlike the cur, you can’t convince a losing dog that he is in fact losing. He loves to compete and will rather be shown and lose than to be on a chain winning at nothing. For this reason I’d breed to the loser any day of the week.
Competition has to be respected in a breed built on competing. Without it you’re missing a big part of what you should have when you own an APBT. Would you own a Ferrari with a Nissan Sentra engine? No you wouldn’t! So why would you want a APBT from non achieving stock? Why would you feel ok with keeping a warrior from proving himself?
The State of Awe
Many “big-name” kennels are able to keep shoveling shit to the public, because of the mesmerization they are able to hit the public with. Son of Grand Champion such and such soon to be ROM. Forum thread titles reading “25x Grand Champion such and such. Stud 75% Champion such and such. What happens now? The general public by these animals and follow the same title that tricked them into spending their money on some non proven super dog. The trick continues round like a peddled bike tire. Its a shame that a lot of times this behavior is started by people that are respected in these dogs, or the breeders with big followings.
Most of the offspring from these breedings go to folks that are only going to be guilty of trepidation of competition which will result in keeping the hounds in an inoperative state. This is the very cycle that kills this breed daily. Most hounds that make the news are result of this awe. Hoarding and over breeding are results of chasing the money that the “awe victims” are willing to dish out.
You have to watch the sellers that want to promote a dog, his pics, and his lineage, all while not discussing achievements, productions records, or offspring traits and habits. Most of the kennels have to call their customers to know how their studs produce. They couldn’t turn that “awe money” down long enough to evaluate their own line. How can i sell you what i don’t don’t know of. If the breeders believes what he is saying, why doesn’t he have some of the special dogs that he wants you to have? Why are you, as a stranger, given the rare opportunity of owning his stock?
These are the questions that “the state of awe” strips from your mental. I wrote this article for the new APBT owner and the Old alike. Sometime the new need a good start, and the old need a refresher course. Ironically this can be achieved on the same playing field by both groups. Will the old be humble enough to accept, and will the new be hungry enough to receive.
For the sake of the APBT i hope so.
YIS
Yardboy PHAB
