Flashing, Ignorance and Snarling Dogs

Flashing, Ignorance and Snarling Dogs
by
Richard F. Stratton

As I recounted many years ago in my very first book on Bulldogs, This is the American Pit Bull Terrier, Pit Bulldogs are often not taken seriously--at least, it used to be that they were not. That was because the pit dogs were nearly always small as compared to the more common (in those days) German Shepherds and the like. Bulldogs, as often as not, had untrimmed, silky ears and were of a mild and playful disposition. In my story, which was absolutely true, Pete Cain, a plasterer by trade, in Denver, had brought his favorite dog, Dusty, to work. Pete's fellow workers liked Dusty, but they just couldn't believe that he was a fighting dog. You could talk about things like that in those days, and Pete had explained that these were the real fighting dogs, and not the Bull Terrier show dog that was usually proffered as the gladiator of the canine race. The fellow workers kidded Pete that a Cocker Spaniel had his dog backed up under the wagon where Pete had him tied. By happenstance, some mongrel dog got within Dusty"s reach, and Dusty got hold of him. The same guys who had been kidding Pete (a lot of whom honestly believed that little Dusty, with the friendly disposition, could not possibly be a fighting dog) then spoke of the dog as the most vicious thing that they had ever seen alive. The silent intensity of Dusty as he was trying to shake the life out of the bigger mongrel got to all the workers, but the thing that bothered them the most was that he actually enjoyed committing such mayhem! Pete explained that Dusty was used to other dogs that liked such contact, too. In spite of the horror, the guys took a special interest in Dusty, and some of them even got some of his pups.



Today, things are different. Everyone knows what a Pit Bull is now. At least, they think they do, and what they know isn't good. No wonder the public is willing to go along with any demagogue who advocates outlawing the breed! Because things are different, we have to make sure that no one sees a Bulldog get hold of some cur dog (just about any other breed). It used to be fun to let a Bulldog whip the town bully, but that is a luxury that can't be afforded any more. So I would urge all Bulldog enthusiasts to be responsible dog owners. Keep your dogs on a leash, and don't let them get hold of a cur dog. Usually, this is not a problem, as almost all dogs of other breeds will not approach a Bulldog that is locked onto them visually, as nearly all Bulldogs do. Most don"t bark or growl, and they certainly never snarl. And that brings me to another point.

There is an old Welsh prayer: "Lord, save me from my friends, and I will look out for my enemies myself." The reason I mention this is that some Bulldog people are doing things that are counterproductive to the welfare of our beloved breed. One of the things I have just mentioned, letting a Bulldog get hold of someone else"s dog. Just as bad, although more subtle, are the posed pictures of Bulldogs snarling. (These have been seen in all dog magazines, and I am not picking on any particular person or magazine.) To a pit dog man, such pictures are laughable. He knows that it is not in the nature of the Bulldog to snarl; in fact, the ones that do are usually the ones that are getting ready to quit. For that reason, a picture of a snarling Bulldog simply looks like a cur to a knowledgeable pit dog man. I know that the dog is not necessarily a cur; the picture was probably taken in a special way, with a dog just outside the camera's view, and the dog in the picture is in the midst of trying to grab him.

But the bad part is not that the picture makes the dog look like a cur. If that were the case, I would certainly say nothing about it. The really bad part is that such pictures reinforce the public's view of the breed, and you can be sure that its enemies, which are many, will make sure that they get wider distribution than just one magazine.

I have friends that I helped when they were neophytes that use such pictures for advertising. I hope that I have convinced them not to use such depictions, for they will bring the breed even more trouble. And, Lord knows, we don't need any more trouble! For that reason, I hope that I can convince my friends, and even those I have not yet met, not to even take such pictures, let alone publish them. And, while I have your attention, there is one more matter on which I would like to wield some influence, and that is "flashing."

Very few experienced pit dog men do this (as a matter of fact, I can only think of one!) but it is common among neophytes. It consists of letting a dog get a hold before taking him to a match. The idea, I guess, is that it gets the dog riled up, and he has the entire trip to build up pent up energy, which he will release upon his opponent. Even a novice should realize what nonsense such a strategy is. For one thing, one of the goals of a knowledgeable pit dog man is to keep his dog as quiet as possible. This can be a bit of a chore, especially if the dog knows the routine: the washing, the weighing, the waiting in the pit. If flashing really resulted in pent up energy, a lot of it would be wasted during that entire routine. Another theory is that flashing helps the dog to get off to a fast start. But the dog usually knows the best strategy for him, and part of the make up of any ace pit dog is that he knows when to rest and when to pour it on. In fact, a good dog knows that better than any handler. A further disadvantage to flashing is that the dog may get a bit of a nip on his jaw or nose that could be quite sore by weigh-in time. A good pit dog man doesn't want so much as a pinprick on his dog before any match.

Again, why is it my business if some ignoramus thinks that flashing is a good way to proceed? All he is doing is hurting his dog's chances. The problem is that the word about doing this has spread to all the young kids that don't have anyone to guide them with the dogs. They think that flashing consists of getting some lesser Bulldog and letting your dog whale on him for up to five minutes prior to a match. I am worried that the next step will be actual baiting. That is, I am concerned that the kids will start kidnapping people's dogs and letting their dogs kill it. There is absolutely no purpose in that, and the stories about that were never true. And I don't want them to become true for two reasons. First, I don't want anyone's pet dogs taken and then allowed to die in the iron jaws of some Bulldog. Second, I don't want the publicity of such a thing to be able to be documented. An added reason is that I don't want people who would do such things in the Bulldog fraternity. I'm not for kicking them out, but let's educate them and not give them any counterproductive ideas.

I have always defended the pit dog game, because I knew it as it really was from the time I was a youngster. I knew that people who criticized it didn't have any real basis for making a judgement. I am not one to make it seem a perfectly benign activity. Dogs do get hurt, and some of them die or are killed (albeit rarely). But racehorses, coonhounds, and Border Collies die, too. There is no absolutely safe path for any of us, or our dogs either. And the best Bulldogs come from pit stock. I know that no knowledgeable Bulldog person will argue with that statement. And I think that most will agree with the rest that I have said, too. Finally, I would like to ask the reader to forgive me for getting on my soapbox. The only reason I do so is that I like Bulldogs a lot. And I am truly concerned about their future.






article in a past issue of: The Pit Bull Reporter Magazine

 

Good and true post^^ thanks for posting it!

 

yeah i have that book...I like that story...but my fav is thae one when a tramp fighter takes his buckskin to a bar and bets against this huge yellow dog that was a bar dog...well for a moment he was concerned but thru caution to teh wind...so they went ant the yellow dog mopped the floor with the APBT and so the guy asked the bar keep whered you get that dog and he said my uncle sent him over from africa...yeah every year he gets this huge ring of hair around his neck but we just shave it off..
It was a lion....lmao...and I bet an APBT would hit it like it was a steak too...thats a good book I have used it for all its worth ...I might consider giving it away if I find someone who wants it someday...you know trying to help people in search of literature....

 

hell I don't have the book and would love to read it.If only I could find someone willing to part with a copy lmao

 

PM me your address.... shipping aint too much ill send it to you...Ill even sign it and kiss the first leaf with bright red lipstick on...lmao
But you better give me props or good rep points or something...and having my back EVEN IF IM WRONG is a bonus...haha J/K
Yeah the sooner the better...you can have it faster

 

will do,misterdogman are you realy misterdogwoman? if not the red lipstick is not nessasary lmao. props yes rep points yes got youre back yes if youre wrong ye....well I dont know about that one

 

yeah I know but it was worth a shot to get some much needed backing if I ever make myself look dumb....im just try ti create my own Stockholm syndrome and get my debtors/hostages to take me side after I did something dumb...it was just a feeble attempt...gotta try ya know

 

Good story Suki. You know, this has had me thinking. I don't personaly much care for the matching of dogs, I'd have little desire to even see a match. But the more I think about it, the more sure I am that outlawing cajun style, formal contract matches has backfired bigtime. Its resulted in an increase in dogfighting and in particular an increase in punk street fighting. I don't know, but I'm bet dollars to doughnuts that 90% of "dogfighting" is punk kids who have little to no clue as to what they are doing just facing dogs off to fight to death. And, not knowing what they are doing, they learn from sources like the HSUS, do things like bait with kittens, put gunpowder up their dogs butts to make them mean, ect, ect. If cajun style matching were legal, and regulated, with vets at pitside, I'd bet some of the crimminal glamour would be gone and some of the worse of the streetfighting scene would dry up. At matches they could screen people coming in for drugs and guns and remove that as well. Just a thought, the laws in place have backfired in a big way.

 

I heard the same joke years ago with a "short legged, long green dog" that turned out to be an alligator.

 

nice post. i liked it.

good read.

 

eg-freakin'-zactly!!! I've been saying that for years now. It's what's called a "self-fulfilling prophacy". HSUS makes these stories up to draw more attention to their organization, and all the young punks out there buy into it and do exactly what the media tells them is the "correct" way to train fighting dogs.

 

I am with you all the way...I relate dogfighting to rooster fighting (which is still legal in louisiana)...Theses guys really take care of their birds better than some people take care of their family...And if that becomes illegal will it stop... no...what will happen is it will go underground and the only ones doing it will be street punks not even having a clue... If you have ever been to the fights down here you will see mostly mid class, blue collar men, that do it as a sport not a money making endevor... just like dogmen of old, they respect their warriors...

 

good post. Nice run. Mister good to have you on the short bus with me. lol

 

But misterdogman, I was under the impression that you were NEVER wrong...Annoying sometimes, but wrong? Perish the thought!

 

I had been walking my Dog one day and as i was passin a buddy of mines house he stopped me. So we were there shootin Hoops when sum Mark ass hoodrat in a Cutlass stops and says "you wanna see a real Fightin dog" He pulls this Lil short Wide Headed dog out the car. So then he ask me "you wanna fight yer Dog" I answered sternly "nah cuz get him outta here" Then he said "oh you dont think my dog will fight" and proceeds to call to his dog gettin him all Rowled an snarlin. I mean puttin on a real good sho. But his dog wouldnt Stare at Pressure. Hed look slightly off then glance, all the while Pressure Keeps calm and collective not Breakin Sight, Swayin watchin how the other dog was gonna Move. He let his dog lunge at mine, and i snatched my dog back untill they backed me against a trailor and with no place to go that finale lunge Pressure Swayed his head to grab the other Dogs nose. We both snatched tha dogs and the other guys dog sustained a few wounds to the cartilage of his nose. But anyways tha point to my story is Snarlin and all that carryin on is jus not cool. Before all tha drama i asked him If he faught tha dog alot, he "all da Time!" But i made a mental note that tha dog was unmarked, not a scar. He also said tha dog was a Hog Dog. Hogs=mean,wounds But it makes soo much sense that snarlin is a sign of not wantin to fight, Its an intimidation move. But all i was doin was chillin at my boi's house shootin tha ball and this Punk Brought all this "flash" to make a big Scene. Everybody later said that guy showed his ass for sum Neg attention.
Nothin he did made any sense, Ignorance, he put his dog into harms way for nothin, Kids or passerbyers seen Stupid shit right in a Driveway that lots of lil kids play ball in on occasion. Ignorance. It makes ya wonder bout this world of ours. Dumb shit

 

That is why I carry a 45. I don't live in a city but there are still dumb asses out here. I eleminate the problem so my dog doesn't have to be involved. Let them come after me if they have the nerve.

 

perfect answer attila, im a fan of the 45 my self

 

Great post, Suki. I always love Stratton's stories. It is so sad his fears about the future of Bulldogs is weighing in because irresponsible people don't heed the warnings or listen to what they are being taught. What's worse: people have lost the zest to learn from an elder, and have no appreciation for the wisdom that is offered from them. They question the elder trying to teach them, and fail to pass on priceless knowledge, thinking they know everything. The phrase "new and improved" usually means "cheaply made and won't last very long".

Reps to ya, Suki :p