Originally Posted by BME
I can't believe I missed this question ... so my apologies for the delay in response!
First of all, every single match I lost was because I failed to get the weight right:
- I matched Truman at 55, but he came in at 52;[/*:m:2manb3kw]
- I hooked Mack at 42 but he really was a 40;[/*:m:2manb3kw]
- I hooked Poncho at 45.5, but he really was a 47-48 (which I knew), but I thought I could get away with 45.5 ... but instead he came in at 44[/*:m:2manb3kw]
The last match I had was over 15 years ago, and I effed-up so bad when I was doing these dogs, this might have you wondering what in the hell qualifies "me" to speak with any kind of authority on the subject of getting the weight right. Fair question!
Well, let us just say that, though I haven't actually matched any dogs since then, I have not been living in a plastic bottle all through this time either. Back then, the only "top dogmen" I knew weren't in my corner, they were my competition. Since that time, I have made acquaintances with many top dogmen all over the world, the most important of whom was a man who has been doing dogs since the mid-60s and who has owned/co-owned (or gone into) more all-time great Champions and Grand Champions than virtually any other dogman alive. I am talking about Gr Ch Melonhead 17xW (lost to him in 2:40 with Gr Ch Dooley 8x) Gr Ch Tornado 10xW (part of the A-Team), Gr Ch Robert T 9x (part of the A Team), Gr Ch Sampson 5xW (lost to him with Gr Ch Zinc 9xW), Gr Ch Outlaw 7xW (lost to him in 2:00 with a Champion), Gr Ch Milo 5xW, Gr Ch Junior 6xW, Gr Ch Leroy (6xW), Ch Robert T Jr (stopped four 4xWs from making Gr Ch with him), etc., etc. So, let's just say the guy has been around some good dogs
Well, I stayed on one of his properties for 4 years, and when I say this guy is "active" I mean active ... like he did dogs damned near every weekend, and like I said he has been doing dogs like that for over 40 years. And one thing this man has learned is how to pick a dog's weight, and he taught me pretty much the best way to do it ... and that is essentially handwalking them down to it.
However, with that said, I am going to throw a couple of flies in the ointment: 1) you MUST have experience seeing dogs "at their best weight" in order to develop an eye for it, and 2) different dogs have different levels of tolerance to losing weight; in other words some dogs can be pulled rail-thin and still be strong, while others need to keep a little weight on them. You simply need the experience actually seeing dogs get pulled down to their best weight, and you have to actually know the dog in question (his style, strengths/weaknesses) in order to perform that judgment call.
In the same way that no "book" can teach you how to surf (you simply have to get on the board and try it--and you WILL fall), no book or "post" can give you the eye of experience in calling a dog's weight. Even if I exactly state the procedure, you still need to do it in order to develop your own bearings, in exactly the same was as a surfer (even if he reads all about the best techniques) still has to actually go out there and do it in order to become a good surfer.
So, with that preamble, I can tell you that as you draw your dog down in weight, the main thing to make sure you NEVER do is to let him lose any mass in either his neck or his back end. As the old man told me, "Jack, if you lose your neck you lose your dog ... if you lose your ass end, you lose your dog." In other words, dogs do all of their fighting and biting with their necks and head muscles, and so if you draw a dog down so fine you lose his neck/head mass/strength, you've blown it. Even hold-out artists use their neck strength to hold-out a dog, so if you take that from them, you ruin them. (In fact, that is exactly what I did with Poncho, took away both his neck and his ass-end strength, and he couldn't hold-out Leonard at 44 lb like he could hold-out a dog at 48 lb. At 48 lb you could never get your mouth on Poncho; at 44 lb, he was already losing his ass-end and falling "sitting" because his backend was so weakened at that low weight.)
Anyway, what I learned from the old man was that the dogs "ribs" don't matter, his "spine" doesn't matter ... the only thing that you should be watching for are his NECK (head) and his ASS-END ... and, while all other aspects of the dog can shrink, you never want the neck or ass-end to lose any muscle mass at all ... for, as he said in his thick southern accent, "If you do, you lose your dog."
One final thing to mention is TRAVELING. What I learned the hard way with Poncho is, never "leave your home" with your dog at his best weight ... because, by the time you get to your destination (especially if it's a 6 hour trip), your dog will lose weight! All of these things take professionalism and experience to learn, which is why it really is a good idea to get with a really good, successful dogman for mentorship.
Books (or reading) can't teach you everything. My book is the best APBT book on the planet. It has stuff in there that even these old timers don't know. The old man I told you about has absolutely no knowledge of nutrition, nor even what most of these new drugs can do. But what he DOES have is a helluvan eye for a bulldog ... and the ability to judge its best weight ... and these things canNOT be taught in a book; they must be gained by experience.
Hope this helps,
Jack
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