Quote Originally Posted by wrknapbt View Post
Okay so I have been reading thru some of the post and I gotta say that I admire the fact that no one really talks down another person's family of dogs here. I've seen on other boards where someone who post a ped or dog and the "old timer" would be fast to jump on the person saying that the dog is notbred that way or just really jumping on the person who bred the dog all t make them seen as if they have the exclusive rights to the bloodline of the dog in question. Instead of syaing hey Ihave some really nice dogs that would match up well with that pedigree.

Well, thank you for noticing, and that is what this place is for: reasoned, mature dog talk.

Inflammatory language, and the refusal to see the good in other lines, makes having a reasonable and productive discussion between fanciers impossible.

That said, it is human nature to talk-down our opponents ("X football team rules/"Y" football team sucks, etc.). In fighting, people have styles that they like, and styles that they dislike, and again it is human nature to play-up what we like and down-talk what we don't like.

However, when a little maturity and perspective is gained, it has to be admitted that all legitimate lines produce winners and losers, great dogs and lousy dogs (as do different mixes). Same thing with all styles. I do believe some lines produce more lousy dogs than good dogs, while other lines produce more good dogs than lousy dogs, but within those extremes there are still good and bad in all bloodlines. (Again, same thing with all styles.) In the end, with a little maturity, there can simply be appreciation for "rival bloodlines" doing well. That is called good sportsmanship, and this can only happen in a civilized environment

We all have our biases and our prejudices, and it is easy to get caught up in them and say things we shouldn't, but in the effort to sincerely call ourselves "bulldog fanciers" keeping an open mind to the effectiveness of lines/styles different from our own preferences, and an honest eye on other people's dogs, is always better than the reverse.

Jack

PS: Jack Kelly had a funny article in the old Journal years back called, "That's My Dog Syndrome," which was one of the funniest pieces on dogman kennel blindness I have ever read