Ditto Jack, I wanted a Ten second scratch and a 10 second out of holds count. Whether losing or winning it should be the best dog to win. I never cared for those dragged out affairs. Sometimes it was because some one bet more money than they could afford to lose. Loved the money more than the dog or their pride got in the way.

Ozzie Steven's story on Homer is a good example of not loaning out a very good dog to some one else. When you are a good conditioner yourself and the stakes were set to high. Ozzie told Sonny, Matt, and self one night in a motel room all about it. You could hear the hurt in his voice from losing Homer. To make matters even worse not many days after that conversation Ozzie's wife died. Two hard blows to a very good dog man.