If you had the chance to spend one evening talking dogs with any dogmen past to present, who would it be and why ?
The name that first comes to mind for me was Don Mayfield. As to why, it's pretty simple really...whether he was full of shit or spot on, he had a real love of these dogs and he was a genuine conversationalist and story teller, not to mention all the history he had within the sport.
https://youtu.be/JoEuEZJCiJw
That may be my pick too. Maybe a close second would be Ozzie Stevens.
These would be my picks more so for the dogs they matched and their innovative ways (ahead of their time) when conditioning the dogs.
EWO
Danny Burton
I feel that he would be able to answer most any question that I could ask of him, and more importantly, answer them with firsthand knowledge that he has actually gained and applied personally.
Ozzie would have been right up there as well....also my number two.Originally Posted by EWO
Mr. Burton would have been a solid choice as well.
It is the conditioning and matching that interests me most. All my questions would be along those lines.
EWO
It would be interesting to hear all his stories about Earl Tudor as well.
There are a lot of old time dogmen that would be a treat to talk with….
In no particular order -- Floyd Boudreaux, Howard Heinzl, Ozzie Stevens, Andre Giroux, Harry Hargrove, Lester Hughes, John Colby, Maurice Carver, Earl Tudor, Al Brown, Pete Sparks, Bert Sorrells, James Crenshaw, Randy McCollum, Jack Kelly, Frank Rocca, Gary Hammonds, Randy Fox, Weldon Stockton, Danny Burton, Bobby Hall, Bennett Clayton, Bobby Smith, and I am sure I am leaving out many others. All of these men have worked with bulldogs in the best days of the breed.
I am glad some of them have written books or done interviews as once they have passed away their knowledge and experiences are gone forever. It would be a pleasure to meet with and listen to any of these old dogmen, as their histories with the breed are priceless.
I hope more books will be written by some of them before it is too late. But sadly not so many folks read anymore, they are all on Facebook and such which is just a fleeting flash in the pan. You can hold a book in your hand and read it, a cell phone or computer can lose its data forever in an instant…
Common sense isn't so common these days.
Andre Giroux would have been right up there for me and would have been my second choice for sure. The fact that he was held in such high esteem by so many of his contemporaries says a lot.
http://grandchamp.co.za/2014/11/andre-giroux.html/
Precisely why I choose Danny and also Ozzie...
You cannot find the information to read/learn about those things to the level that you could absorb it from those two. Their knowledge comes from trial and error of the application (key word here) of that knowledge.
It was good talking with Earl Helms and learning a little from him. I also discussed the Art of it all with Irish Jerry . I had the pleasure of sitting with Jack Kelly and also was able to get a little historical info from Ed Mullins. Jerry Beal was a great guy as well that came with a wealth of history as well. I very much appreciate those that practiced good or bad before me and look forward to making the sport better starting with better people first then the Bulldogs will follow.
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