Dogs of today - better or worse?

I agree....

 

Very well put, I completely agree

 

^^^^ Right you are (just my opinion) I'm new to pulling up all these kennels online looking at some of the breeding claims, some are breed as tight as gamecocks, I'm probably wrong but I cant imagine how they can be healthy!!! Years ago I saw A half Staff make champion, a huge number of gyps breed to him, not one (at least as far as I know) pup worth feeding at least for what they wanted them for. There have been some exceptional dogs throw thrown the last 15-20 yrs. then again look how many are in the pound! I have give'n A few away that looked great and well mannered as pets all but one was fixed first. The ratio of pitbulls have to be 10-1 from what it was 20 yrs ago! I just hope these fine dogs just don't go the way of what looks good on paper!

 

Not really knowin,lol, I would say that the overall amount has gone up and the ratio of good ones has to be less then it was in the yesteryears...
But I am also a strong believer in evolution and I do think these bulldogs are evolving to another level...

 

.....SOMETIMES going back can be a good thing,esp;..if it's something that you have lost....

 

I agree wit Slim. Dogs are better IMO now, dogmen were better then. Both on a sporting basis, not casual owner

 

I like that analogy...
Like I mentioned, ther has always been undesirables in the sport as the compitition and gambling seem to bring...
In the early part of last century it was the new york five that were gangster and thiefs in Armatages book...
Maurice Carver was possibbly the best example, besides while in the milatary and on the yard, he never worked a day in his life... pure huslter...
cheat...liar... thief... killer...etc...
Joe Corvino was as gangster as it gets in chicagos heyday, yet the honest reverend Howard Heinzl was said to have stolen Joes dog/s...
Ther are plenty of good dogmen also, but unless they beat those undesirables, they hardly get noticed...

I feel that say Mayfield, Anderson and Burton learned from Tudor, combined with evolution of say DEX, helped them be better than earl could be...

Same with the dogs there were the freaks, the aces and the dead game dogs but they were more rare cause of the population...

Now those dogs might be of equal calibre as the dogs of today, but do to the evolution of say understanding of nutrition has to make them have an edge just as you would if you were using the best in your keep...

I also agree with Slim that say most the bullshit you buy in a store isnt better than the natural fed chickens of yesteryear, so grow your own...

With all that, I do think the bulldogs being strickly bred for combat for another hundred years have evolved into better athlethes...

 

I asked someone that has bred many CHs and Gr Chs why they never got frozen off any of thier great dogs of the past.They simply said the object of breeding is to get better dogs.I think the dogs now days are better jmo..Look around at some of the folks that have frozen semen and see how many are open to the public.Personally I see no sence in breeding backwards and if you have lost that much from your original stock , then I would say thier was some wrong choices made somewhere.JMO

 

I believe today dogs are better. I believe this for many of reasons.
No matter how great a dog is you can find an area that has a short coming. Be it performance or production.
I believe that years of weeding out each generation the impurities & building up on its strengths you develop thru evolution a better dog than the original .
You have many of families of dogs that have produced dogs far better than the original dog that it's based on. Some such as Frisco & Bolio to just name a few. Families based on good dogs & had many of Grad Ch's but dogs that were not Grand Ch's themselves. Breeders know this.
That's why they make the choices per generations. They do out crosses based on weeding out the short comings.
I believe the purer the dog is on something the better it can reproduce like or better than dogs.
A purer version of a dog has less flaw's than it's original version.
So does the breed of dog becomes as a whole.
Over the years more impurities as a whole have been weeded out.
Dogs are just like everything else over the last 50 yrs. Body Builders have different physics , Cars have better material, designs & even drivers for there purpose. They far exceed cars of old. So do Air craft & so on.
IMO saying dogs are better 50 yrs ago than today is saying that the 1st grade is better than the Masters degree.
So much as changed.
Dogs were just more freely used with less problems than they are today which gave a more different aspect of them.

 

Imho people in the past didn't have connections or travel as far and made do with the dogs they had. That is why I laugh when people try and claim the APBT is the original pure Olde English Bulldog with no terrier. Such a romantic way of thinking thanks to Stratton and the like reinventing history. People used what dogs they had and it has been made clear that the old butchers dog or bulldog didn't have the speed or dynamics to make an exciting dog against other dogs.

 

I disagree wit the first part. I feel ppl were MORE connected as the "group" was smaller. They seemed to know who had what and at what weight to get the shows done. I feel there are more avenues of communication today, but connections were stronger back then. "Famous," by today's standard, dogmen stealin from each other AND KNOWIN WHO HAD THE DOG tells a lot for me. How many dogs get stolen and used FOR YRS today? Guys shootin at each other one match, then a phone call or 2 later, they're "cool" at the next match! Hundreds of ppl at a weekend CONVENTION?? Bleacher seats and concessions? Outside at that! Capitol connections and more trust, a lil bit, than we have today.

 

All that still relevant today. That's been the narrative since people have been scratching these dogs.

 

Touch*. Can't argue that. I should have worded that better

 

Well imo it would seem that dogs in the 50-70's era were better because probably 95% of matches were reported and had someone there write a narrative about them. When in today's era that is not the case, at least not stateside.

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Witch hunt now days my friend.Word gets out you the witch lol

 

Right not many these days walking around saying I got the baddest 42 pounder who wants some. Even if they think that

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The chance of two greats geating together today,,,far exceeds the past, making for better compitition which would make the dogs better...

 

I believe a good dog from the past would be just as good now. Actually the good dogs from any era would be as good in any era.
Taking nutrition, supplementation, science and knowledge about the working of a canine athlete or warriors body and its needs into account, given access to the same the dogmen of old would excell with their warriors of old.
Its just my opinion that when making a comparison between the great dogs of the past and the great dogs of today then nutrition, supplementation and methods of keep shouldnt be an issue as the comparison should be done as if the dogs are being worked, kept, fed, etc the same or very similar.
In anycase the comparison is merely opinion based and not factual, but it is an entertaining topic