Quote Originally Posted by creek_bottom View Post
Say a man has a dog that he feels is an exceptional animal and that dog has proven himself throughout schooling and has made his mark locally, now said man is wanting to travel outside his circle and is wanting to go into some top notch competition so that he can do right by his dog, should he expect to have to come off a large amount of money to do so? If this man is your average working class fella that realizes he is gonna have keep expenses, travel expenses, etc. are there top notch competitors that are still out there for competition and the dogs or is it becoming all about the paycheck? I hate the idea of a dog not getting deserved recognition or the opportunity to prove his ability because "elite" dogs or "elite" kennels have extremely high price tags that come with them. All thoughts and opinions welcome.
YIS,
Creek Bottom

This is an often-lamented fact of life (and discussed subject) in the sport of dogs.

First of all, most really topnotch dogmen are NOT high-rollers
Secondly, most really high-rollers are nothing more than undesirables (drug dealers/thugs/criminals)

Sure, I know of a few topnotch dogmen that are both drug dealers and pretty good fellas ... Ken Allen was one of them (and I know a few others).
I also know of some bonafide legit millionaires who have all the legit money in the world to bet ... yet none of them always insist on "lots of money" for a damned dogfight.
These folks COULD bet tens (and even hundreds) of thousands of dollars ... but they usually don't (or didn't) ... because they really just want to see good dogs go ...

The simple fact is serious money tends to add an extra hassle/stress/danger of seriously big purses to the deal.
Don't forget, WestPenn died because too many people were there or knew about his big $50,000 purse, and he met his end from the subsequent home invasion looking for it.

Truly smart people stay away from that kind of bullshit.

Truly normal, smart men (rich or poor) typically bet $500 to $2500 on a dog deal.
And typically, there's no stress, no rubs, no bullshit.

Also, it is easier to pick up a game, losing dog on a $1,500 bet ... because the dog is worth more than the bet ...than it is if you bet the mortgage on your family's home
Reasonable money bet is simply the way to go ... and it is best to surround yourself with reasonable people

If you need more money than a $1500 to $2,500 bet, then have your camp (or local friends) back you;
Just remember that ALL these people need to be onboard and understand that you may have to pick up and lose their money.

Or, you can choose to stick to your guns, and only bet a reasonable, "sporting" amount of money.
People with a lot of money understand not everyone has a lot of money.
Those people can choose to come down to your income level ... or they can choose only to look for another guy with a lot of money also.

Always remember three things:

1) Truly good DOGmen tend to choose good, clean competition over "big money";
2) Only gamblers and rif-raf tend to choose "fast money" over facing truly good competition;
and finally
3) The guy with the most money is always the one backing out of a good fight over money ... he can come down and make it happen ... if he wants it ... whereas not everyone can come up

Cheers and good luck,

Jack