Book of Interviews Extracts from conversations

Victor Aycart

"I met an English gentleman, Mr. Stanley Moss; he had two Staffordshire dogs imported from England. They were
Baron and Sussy, when I saw those two dogs they represented exactly what I was looking for in a dog for years. They were compact, strong, electric dogs and they are fighting machines. Of course they fought against nothing but street bred mutt dogs of Salinas, Ecuadorian Beach. Immediately when they had pups I bought two of them; one I male I named Killer and the female Bonnie. I match with those little dogs; they beat all kinds of breeds of dogs, German Shepherds, Dobermans, etc..."

"Then I got a subscription to a magazine called The Gazette (ADBA) and imported some Pit Bull conformation show dogs into Ecuador. He was line bred on the great Going Light Barney, then we started competing in Ecuador. In a few months we realized they were nothing, no gameness was there."

"That match was hooked at sixty-five pounds. We made a mistake on his last feed and we were at sixty-five an a half pounds, just a half pound over weight, so we had to pay the forfeit. Mr. Tant was ok with that; he still wanted to do it. At sixty-five pounds, a half pound would not make that big a difference; we paid it and started to wash Mayday. Toward the end of the wash, Mr. Tant started to look at Mayday and he started saying, ‘That is a nice looking dog, he looks just like my Yellow dogs. Is he who I’m thinking he is?’ At this point we were getting edgy, then he asked us directly, ‘Is this dog Champion Mayday?’ Well, what could we say, we had to admit it. He was very upset, I couldn’t blame him. He said he didn’t want to go into his dogs. I told him that yes, Mayday is off of Grand Champion Yellow, but you weren’t the breeder. The breeder was Mr. Hollingsworth who paid the stud fee. All you did was collect the money. He is only 50% your bloodline, the other 50% is Hollingsworth’s careful blend of Bolio/Tombstone. Anyways, after he collected our forfeit, he ran out of the place with his dog and left us there with Mayday all wet."

"The attributes that I look for in any male or brood bitch are as follows: #1- Gameness, #2-Durability, #3-Stamina, #4-Wrestling Ability, #5-Intelligence, #6-Mouth."

"One more factor, it is not only important what kind of style your dog is, or how good he is, but always remember it is 50% you and 50% your dog. If you bring him in great shape, you already make your part; but sometimes I have to see great dogs, deep game, in very poor shape lose a contest against inferior dogs, but in better shape.
So it’s not only how god is the dog, but it is very important too, how good a Dogman is his or her owner"

"Champion Dragon Lady, the best fighter, smartest and gamest dog I have ever seen."

"I believe that Mayday is your favorite dog of all times, am I right? Yes, you are right, he is a “once in a lifetime” dog. The best I ever saw and of course my favorite, Southern Kennels’ Victor."
The American Gamedog Times April-May 1999

 

Floyd Boudreaux

"One time, he was matched into Mayfield and came in overweight, but Mayfield said he would fight anyway. Carver refused and then sold his dog. That’s how Carver was; Maurice was always trying to make money with the dogs."

"Do you think he misrepresented those papers to keep that a secret? I’m sure he did to some degree. But in those days it was pretty much common knowledge that he did, and everybody that needed to know, knew about it"

"Maurice would exaggerate a lot, all the time; and he was smart enough to tell you a lie. Don’t get me wrong, Maurice was a nice guy. He told me one time that he worked for the Mexican government, the border patrol, and even told my wife he worked for the Foreign Legion. But one thing is sure; he was a hell of a ladies man and could convince you that black was blue. He sure was a good salesman."

"What was the best dog you ever owned? They ask me that all the time, it’s tough to answer but I think I’m partial to my
Boze dog. I probably had a few that were as good, but I always liked him a lot."

"I am telling the truth about how them dogs are bred just like I always told before. Eli was a pretty good individual and after his match against Jack Smith in Cleveland I brought him home. We doctored him up and then a sheriff from Mississippi tried to buy him, but I wouldn’t sell him. Then, the next day, Raymond Holt of Texas and his wife Sharon came by to buy him; but I gave Eli to my friend Jr. Bush from Alabama. He loaned Eli to John Cotton from Chattanooga Tennessee; they were friends at the time and that’s where somebody stole Eli. I gave Eli to Jr. because he is a real high class Dogman, a good example for a lot of other “so-called” Dogmen. When Eli got stolen, Cotton gave Jr. $1,000 and told him to go and buy another dog. He said that if there was a dog he liked that cost more, he would make up the difference. There are a lot of stories about what happened after this, when Eli got stolen from Chattanooga. I think he went from Chattanooga to Memphis, and from there on, I just don’t know for sure; but I feel that some of that bunch in Memphis had something to do with it. I just don’t know what happened with Eli but I feel very strong about this. And I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t believe it myself. I truly believe that Eli was also the sire of that Grand Champion Zebo dog."

"Red Walling was the owner of Bullyson when he was matched into his son, Benny Bob. Maurice conditioned him, but he was not fit to fight, this is what happened; Maurice had Bullyson and bred him to a bitch named Beth at his place. A few weeks after that, Bullyson got bit by a rattlesnake and his head was as big as a Texas hat. Also, there was this big old dog at Maurice’s place that got off his chain, and Bullyson, who was in a kennel, was fighting with this dog through the fence and messed up his teeth and gums. Just before the fight with Benny Bob we checked his blood count and it was down to 33. Benny Bob was a brindle dog and Bullyson a black dog, the match was at fifty-two pounds but Bullyson was only a forty-eight or forty-nine pound dog. The fight was reported in Pete Sparks’ magazine and also in the book that Mayfield put out at the time; but it was not until Mayfield wrote that little book called ‘Rednecks” that he came out with all that nonsense about a black dog against a white dog. I think he was confused by another match between Danny Burton, who had a black fifty-four pound dog, and Raymond Holt, who had a white dog called Lightning IV."

"I remember one incident with Bullyson when he was at my place; Jerry Clemmons brought the dog to me to be tested and one day while I was cleaning up around his chain, he tried to bite me. Before he could put his mouth on me I hit him hard with a shovel and knocked him out. After this happened, he never, at my place anyway, tried to bit anyone again. If a dog is a man biting dog I don’t like them and if they try to bite me or my family, it’s a dead dog."

"At one time I gave a nice red puppy to Jerry Clemmons; he is a friend of mine and I still think a lot of the man. He took the pup, kept him for six weeks and then sold the pup. He came here and I gave him another pup that I had here in the blacksmith shop, I called that pup Spook. She was out of a litter that killed each other when they were still very young."


"I don’t think you can change a dog a whole lot after he is born. All you can do is sharpen his ability a little bit but you can’t make him game."

"There is just one Ace in every hundred or so and the rest are just mediocre dogs, that’s something you always have to keep in mind. What happens now is that all these fast lane dogs with hard mouths are doing away with all these old game dogs, going right through them. But I still prefer gameness more than anything else. Anybody can breed dogs that will bite hard and are rough; but it is more difficult to breed dogs that will stay. With a game dog, you have a shot at the money and there is no monopoly. There is nobody that has cornered the market on these dogs,"

"If a dog doesn’t perform at an early age there is nothing you can do about it. My dogs are basically late starters and as a rule of thumb, your late starters make a better dog. I want a young dog to show a pretty strong interest in what we are doing before I start then out. This is how I schooled my dogs: They must be ready to understand what is going on and have a desire to do it."

"One bit of advice to young men that start out in these dogs would have to be ‘learn to have patience”. Let your puppies grow up before you make a decision on them. You can’t expect a child to do a mans job, you have to give them a fair shot. If I was to use a dog for serious money I would wait until he is two or two and a half years old, at least, I would certainly not use him sooner than that. The oldest dog I used was nine years old, but you can use them up to six years old easy."

"The moral of this story is that we really gave Country Boy a second chance after he quit against Nan. Most other men would have shot him but age really helped this dog, that’s the hardest thing to explain to a young man who is coming into the game. I’m not making excuses for a dog that quits and I’m not like some Dogmen, who are despite their ways good people, but will sell you a pup for $2,000 or $3,000 and tell you to wait four or five years on it. A lot of dogs are retired at that age, good or bad. No, I don’t make excuses, but in turn, I had some of the best that were late starters."

"Both Leo and George put in some big shows, but Leo’s were always a little bit better. He had a real nice place, nice building and he kept more Bulldogs than anybody else in those days; he had about two hundred and fifty dogs. Leo had a friend named Frank James and this Frank was an interesting person; he was namely the brother of the notorious Jesse James, both Frank and Jesse were well known outlaws. Jesse was killed; Frank got amnesty and later moved to Meridian Mississippi and worked in a restaurant. Leo told me that Frank Fitzwater was a son of that Jesse James."
"Leo was a great Dogman, I knew him when he had $65,000 in his pocket and later when he had less than $1 to spend. It didn’t make a difference to me because he was my friend and that never changed."
"Leo was a special man and a very good, honest Dogman. His wife Sarah was sick, she had cancer and Leo took her to the best doctors in the country. They went to New York and he did anything for her, he loved her dearly. He told me he spent more than $125,000 on her without much result. When she died it broke him, then later on the state bought some of his properties but they never paid him and he died broke. We sent him some money every month, I was working and he was not. The last time I saw the man he walked us to the car and shook my hand. He didn’t say much, but he was crying and so was I. He died of a heart attack; I believe he was sixty-seven years old when he died in 1976"
- floyd speaking about Leo Kinard

"Is your good stock mostly Corvino? Yes, what I did was, my Blind Billy dog was born in 1952 and I bought him in 1953. My uncle had four Ace roosters and we traded them with Earl Tudor for Blind Billy. He was a son of Dibo and he wouldn’t fight until he was two and a half years old."

"We didn’t get the trophy that day but Billy was the best dog in the show and from then on they called him Blind Billy. Like I said before, his sire was the Dibo dog and I believe Howard Heinzl had something to do with that dog. Dibo was stolen when he was a young dog and sold to a black man who owned a restaurant. Dibo’s real name was Runt and when he started at the age of four they picked him up again and matched him."


"Now Rascal wouldn’t start when he was a young dog, and as a matter of fact, he was stolen one time but because he wouldn’t fight, they turned him loose."

"These dogs are just flesh and bone like anything else; most men don’t even recognize an Ace dog when they see one. A lot of fellows will take all the good out of a dog when he is still young, and then later condemn him for not being a good one. They try to condition a dog on a treadmill when they are half drunk and watching TV."

"Breeding dogs is a heartbreaking experience because when you have something good it will practically never reproduce the same. You can raise anything easier than Bulldogs, like chickens, horses, etc.....There is so much you’ve got to have in an Ace dog. You get them with talent and they are curs, you get them that are game but they can’t fight. Hitler tried to breed humans, but he also didn’t succeed. He had them built like he wanted, but they didn’t have the brains."

"What would you say to a young man just starting out in these dogs? Stop, don’t do it! I would try my best to discourage him. This is a bad disease, when it gets in your blood it stays."

The Times January-February 1989

 

I like the boudreaux one. Why the fuck would he breed them then if he cared so much give them to these POS for money. If i was a breeder and i gave you a dog i would have somthing setup where you signed if you did somthing dilibertly to jepordize the health of that animal i get your wife, house, car what ever you got. Dont keep em like wussies but dont lead them astray either.

 

Nice read from FB, thanx! I think a lot of great dogs tight bred got put down from either starting late or being pushed to start! Another dog was Snow, his pups were so hot, people expected them to be grown at 12 months or so!!! Either that or they got rolled to death!

 

I hope we have come a long way with nutrition, care, rasing bla blah so many articles on the subject any thing after this deserves a kick in the balls evey morning depending on your level of stupidness(that is a word)

 

Danny Burton

"That’s how I met Earl Tudor for the first time in my life. Earl lived on something like twenty-three acres and Earl was....well, it’s hard to explain but Earl was very cocky, he looked just like a bad dog. When I saw Earl that first time, I remember I was really scared of him. He walked all around me and didn’t say a word. Earl’s place was like heaven to me. He told me that he was almost out of the dogs, and that he had no more than forty-two dogs left at his place. His dogs were vicious, not that they would bite you, but when a stranger came along, they were all excited like you turned that switch that makes them go off!"

"Where do you believe that rumor started? I believe Don Maloney spread the rumor because he was a jealous man and couldn’t accept the fact that Earl took a liking to me. And of course, I had Tiger Dan which was a son of Nigger. Don Maloney was a friend of mine, and a good Dogman, but he never could accept that somebody else would have dogs as good as his. I personally don’t even breed dogs to sell, and you will never see me run an ad in the magazine trying to sell pups or whatever, but the truth is that Nigger never quit! Nigger was a producing dog, and the best fighting dog that ever lived was his grandson on both sides of the pedigree. This was the Pit General dog. He was by far the best and most devastating Bulldog I’ve ever seen in my lifetime."

"Back in Earl’s time, which was around the turn of the century, there were no airplanes, etc. He told me this himself, if somebody would send him a bitch to breed to one of his males and he liked the bitch he wouldn’t send her back, but just keep her for himself. Most people were too afraid anyway to come and pick her up, because in those days that part of the world was pretty much outlaw territory. I’m sure that’s how he got some of his good dogs."

"Earl was a very smart man, but also a strange man. For instance, he had no children because he didn’t want any and he once told me that the world was getting sorrier every day and he didn’t want to bring anybody in a world like this. When Bernice got pregnant, I was scared to tell him, and I didn’t. Don Maloney told him.
What made Earl so bitter, so disappointed in life? I don’t know. Everybody respected Earl as a Dogman, but he would say the strangest things. His philosophy was to treat everybody like a son of a bitch until they proved themselves differently. I remember I was really scared of Earl when I first met him. He had been breeding and raising these dogs so long that he picked up some of that courage; and the older he got, the worse it got. One time he told me he wanted to go out guns blazing, that’s what he said, ‘I want to go out in style’. I remember Earl and his brother Bert got into an argument once over some dog magazines, when Bert was real sick and laying on his deathbed, his last request was to see his brother Earl. But Earl didn’t go and he didn’t go to his funeral as well. That was his way of life. To me, Earl was a special man and he taught me so much about the dogs, the conditioning and that kind of stuff."

"Earl would usually take all the females out of a litter when they were born and kill them. He didn’t want anybody to be able to breed to his stuff and he didn’t sell many dogs. Earl was never in the dogs for money."

"Did Earl like Maurice Carver pretty good? I’m going to tell you what Earl told me, he said he didn’t like Maurice. Earl could sit down with somebody for five minutes and figure somebody out pretty good. He was blessed with that gift. Earl was like a mind reader and thought Maurice was a bullshitter. I really didn’t understand the relationship they had at the time, but he never spoke too bad about him or spoke highly of him either. Maurice was the kind of man that could tell a story and you knew it was a lie, but it was so damn good that it really didn’t matter if it was true or not."

"Do you believe that it was pretty much accepted in those days to steal a dog from somebody else? Well.....yes, maybe so! Earl told me that if you want to be good at anything, the first thing you need to learn is how to cheat. Because if you know that, then nobody can cheat you. He taught me how to cheat first, but I have never done anything like that in my life, my pride won’t let me."

"You could spot a Nigger bred dog a mile away. Their characteristics are that when you walk up to them they would piss all over themselves, nine out of ten will. They were some kind of shy and would roll over on their back when you touched them."

"But anyway, Earl gave that puppy to Bernice when she was four weeks old; she was the only pup in the litter. She was out of Nigger and was solid black. Later, we bred her to Tiger Dan and this breeding produced the best dog that ever walked this earth. His name was Pit General; this dog was a true superdog. I have never seen anything like him again in my life after he got stolen. Tiger Dan won two fights for me, but Spookie would never fight; she was a cold bitch. We had two males and seven females, the females were all cold, wouldn’t hit a lick. But the males.....Oh Boy! They were something special. Pit General had a brother that I liked better than him; his name was Satan. One time when I was at Sam Kennedy’s place, Satan got off the chain and killed three hogs, then he jumped on a dog called Killer that had won four fights, they killed each other. Pit General was a forty-two to forty-four pound dog and at his weight, he was unbeatable."

"The next day Don and Phyllis Mayfield came up here and all the dogs were in their houses except General. He was the only one standing outside on his chain. Don said, ‘What did you do Danny?’ I told him I rolled some dogs yesterday and he said, ‘Why did you roll them all against each other and not into this black dog?’ I said I rolled them all against that black dog! He said, ‘What! How much do you want for him?’ I sold him the whole lot and that’s how he got General."

"He was so aggressive that he wouldn’t breed a bitch. One time while Don went to town to do some shopping, a bitch that was in heat got loose off her chain and ran up to General. He killed her while she was in full blossom. Jimmy Wimberly found the bitch and he told me that he thought he was going to throw up when he saw how General was standing over her * .I know now who stole General and several have told me this was true, but I don’t want to tell who it is because it would do no good now."

"Randy Fox had a dog called Alvin The Dog and he was a black and white Lightning bred dog. I matched into him with a dog I found in the park one time."

"I’ve met Fitzwater a couple of times but he was always a drunk. I don’t believe he was a conditioner, but more of a breeder than anything else. Jim Taylor was a perfectionist with bitches and a good conditioner and that’s why they called him the Bitchman. I’ve learned a lot about conditioning from Earl and Mayfield, I’ve been real fortunate to be around some of the best. Ralph Greenwood, I think he was a good conditioner too. I’ve seen him put some dogs down that were in superb shape. Don Maloney mostly couldn’t stay away from the party life and he had somebody else work his dogs for him. He was a ladies’ man, and that got him killed too. Ronnie Anderson was also a good conditioner, but he is somebody I just didn’t care about. We never had any words or anything and we speak to each other and say ‘how are you doing’, but that’s about all. I’ve seen Floyd Boudreaux set a dog down called Napoleon, that was on the same day that Bullyson fought. Floyd, to me, is the foundation where all the good ones come from. I’m real glad you did an interview with him because he really deserves it. Like when you take a look at pedigrees far back, even Carver’s pedigrees, you’ll see they practically all start with Boudreaux’ dogs and Floyd will tell you something that is true. I have the highest respect for Floyd."

"Now, the steroids, I know they are controversial but I think they work. You tell me why all these athletes use them if it wouldn’t make any difference? I’ve tried all the steroids and I don’t claim to have the key answer, but I honestly believe they make a difference."

"Meat is a good source of protein and it contains a high percentage of fat. A man that I consider as good as any other conditioner, and that’s Don Mayfield, told me that it’s best to stay as close to natural as possible. A dog is a meat eater, and basically, I think that is what you should feed him."

"Now dogfights are legal in Taiwan and they bet an awful lot of money. These people are very, very dedicated and serious. They are so serious that it almost takes the fun out of it. The treadmills they make over there are huge because they have these Chinese fighting dogs they call Tosa-Inu. Johny Lai was the first man to bring Pit Bulls from the USA to Taiwan and he is also the man that wrote the rules over there."

"Do you believe the Taiwanese people are more honest than the American people? Oh yes, absolutely! To these people it’s just a matter of pride and principals. I’m not taking away from America, but these people are different. Over here, it seems like the general Dogman is more interested in money than in the dogs. They are extremely honest and big gamblers at the same time. That’s why they fly these people to Las Vegas for free. The whole deal over there is very organized and you would never have to be afraid of somebody trying to put a rub on you. They have something like two or three thousand spectators, and they gamble hard. I’ve seen them bring in the money in suitcases, never seen anything like it!"

"Do you think they have good dogs in Taiwan now? They have been buying a lot of dogs, and now if they buy something, they come over and take the dog back with them when they leave. It’s just like with those people from England, they have been cheated by American people so bad, that now they come and take the dog back home. I believe they are getting better dogs all the time. I couldn’t take advantage of someone’s trust, but some people will. The people from Taiwan and Europe wouldn’t do anything like that, because to them, it’s a matter of pride."

"To me, Earl Tudor and Pit General were the best and I will never forget them as long as I live."

The American Pit Bull Terrier Times March-April 1989

 

James Crenshaw

"Who was the gamest dog you’ve ever seen? The gamest dog I’ve ever seen was Homer. Who was the best combat dog you’ve ever owned? Once again, CH Charlie."

"If you did not have any dogs and wanted to get back in the game, which bloodlines would you look up? I am partial to the Rascal/Honeybunch line; I guess because I done so well with them. But I like the dogs that come out of Homer, also the Red Boy crosses have been looking good in the last few years."

"Do you believe in steroids?
No, I have never used them!"

"What type of Dogman was Rick Sorrells? Rick is the epitome of what a Dogman should be. He knew everything about dogs, from breeding to conditioning, to handling and most importantly doctoring. It was funny because Rick could answer questions that some veterinarian friends of mine couldn’t answer about the dogs. He was a very good conditioner and helped me understand the keep. Rick was also a nice guy, he used to come down and visit me quite a bit. The most important thing he ever taught me was that in order to breed good dogs you must know exactly how they’re bred."

"Who in your opinion was the greatest breeder of modern times? Well, that’s a tough one. There’s two individuals that would be in contention for that honor, Maurice Carver and Floyd Boudreaux. In my opinion, those two were the best, hands down. But I’d have to give the edge to Maurice Carver. That’s just my opinion and there’s many people that would say the opposite. My reason for saying that is Maurice started so many winning strains that it’s unbelievable! The Pistol/Miss Spike strain, the Stomponato strain, the Buster line, the Snooty line, the Chinaman line, the Bolio line and the Rascal line. There’s so many I could go on for days. On the other hand, you have Floyd with the Bullyson strain, the Eli Jr. strain, Midnight Cowboy strain, Nigerino strain and the Dutchboy lines. It’s funny because these two gentlemen’s lines cross exceptionally well together."

"Mean Jean fought with an intensity that had to be seen to believe. I matched her once and she won convincingly, but she hurt her rear leg on the chain and it never healed up. She was crippled for life. Her name fit her as she was so mean that she would kill her puppies. Out of all of her litters I only had six dogs live to maturity. Out of those six, two went on to become Champions out of a litter of five. So as you can see she was an excellent producer as well. I had a lot of dogs at that time and didn’t have the energy that was needed to make sure the puppies were not killed. I now regret not spending more time saving them, as they turned out to be some great dogs. She actually had seven pups, but one was killed by his littermate brother at ten months old. I bred her to Gatorson ROM and he produced two Champions. When that litter was thirteen weeks old, if you let them they would scratch into a grown dog! It was hilarious watching a ten pound puppy trying to shake a forty pound dog’s leg."

"What was the most number of dogs you ever fed at one time? I once counted one hundred eighty-seven dogs on my yard. However, I consistently had between one hundred fifty and one hundred seventy-five for years. Or I should say before my unwanted vacation."

The American Gamedog Times November-December 1998

 

Bob Pitts

"Everyone has their own reasons for getting into Bulldogs, what exactly about Pit Bulls attracted you to them? What first impressed me about the dog is their manner in the pit. It amazed me the way that a handler could break the dogs up from fighting without any thought of being bitten by one of the participants. With other breeds of dogs, if you try to break them up from fighting, you would be scared that you would get bitten. These dogs also could be hell on wheels one moment, and then be as gentle as Bambi the next. The biggest difference between a Bulldog and any other breed is their sixth sense of being able to feel exactly what you want out of him."


"What was your most active year in the dogs? Well, there was one year that I personally matched and conditioned sixteen dogs. I went through $30,000-$35,000 in the dogs that year."

"I developed an electric treadmill that would allow me to condition the dogs with minimal time and maximum effectiveness. I will tell you though, that I lost a couple of dogs when I first started with this type of mill, because I walked away for a minute and the dogs fell off the mill and hung themselves."

The American Gamedog Times October-November 1992

 

Sonny Johnson

"Rosie was a bad bitch; she was our house dog and a big ole baby with us, but the house, the yard and our car belonged to her. My wife had a little wreck, she had just gotten her drivers license about a month before and ran into the back of another car, nobody was hurt. While the cops were looking over the car, she went back into the house for a minute and left the back door open. Rosie flew out of the house and hit one of the cops right in the arm; he needed twenty-seven stitches."

"Maurice got Buckwheat, he got off the chain when he was fifteen months old and killed a dog he was working for a match, he was a bad little dog."

"Stompanato was named after a gangster friend of Maurice’s, Johnny Stompanato. Johnny Stompanato was “connected” and into gaming in Las Vegas or Hollywood. He was killed by Lana Turner’s daughter.”

"He then told us about Pat Carver, “Pat was a real nice lady, she went to all of the matches and kept track of the pedigrees on the dogs. The bedrooms in Maurice and Pat’s house were always spotless, but the living room was always a pigsty. They had some visitors one day, some Dogman and his wife or girlfriend. Apparently the mess must’ve gotten to her, she picked up a broom from the kitchen and started sweeping. Maurice yelled at her, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ She said she was just trying to help out, sweeping up a little; he thundered back, ‘It took me twenty years to get the place this dirty and I don’t want nobody messin’ it up!"

"I got into the dogs when I was a kid, my daddy had them when he was young and had told me an awful lot about them. I got my first one when I was about eleven years old; I paid $10 for it, which was a lot of money in 1937. It was a little solid brindle female. The day I bought her my bicycle had a flat tire; I put the puppy in my coat and pushed my bike all the way home. I loved that little dog; she was a small dog and weighed about twenty-eight pounds."

"I got a ten month old black and tan dog that weighed about fifty-five pounds. I had him about a month and he got off his chain one day and somebody poisoned him."

"He explained that one day Maurice came over with an old Mexican man and said the old man wanted to buy Beauty. He finally agreed to sell her for $75 as Maurice told him that was all the money the man had. After hearing what we told him, he realized that apparently Maurice had gotten the bitch for himself and sold her to a man named Carpenter up north. He then said, “Well, I guess Maurice really didn’t cheat me or anything because I always told Maurice that he could have anything on my yard, but Maurice probably had more fun doing it that way.”

The American Gamedog Times July-August 1992

 

Gary J Hammonds

When talking to somebody who owns a Pit Bull Terrier, it is unavoidable that the subject of pedigrees comes up. Pedigrees make up a very important aspect of breeding any animal, but especially so with high performance animals such as Pit Bull Terriers. When it comes to breeding and raising puppies into full-grown healthy dogs, some people seem to have more success than others. Anyone who has experience in this field will tell you that it takes a lot of time, money and patience along with plenty of common sense before any good results will come of it. Unmistakably, Gary J. Hammonds from Texas is one of the very few that can look back at a very successful career of breeding a high percentage of good dogs. Some of the better known dogs that he bred are dogs such as Fritz’s Champion Spike, which turned out to be one of the best producing dogs in
Europe; Ronnie Anderson’s Champion Spade, Champion Smiley, and Champion Goose. But the dog that Gary gained the most fame with is without any doubt the Rufus dog, who proved to be one of the best producing males in the world. Gary id known to be a very scientific breeder and is most famous for his Alligator line of dogs which are still playing an important role in the breeding program of many serious breeders around the world.

"Gary, why have you chosen to breed the Alligator bloodline? Years ago, I had access to a bunch of dogs and I had mainly Bruno/Heinzl dogs. I could have taken good Bullyson and good Corvino bred dogs, but I’ve seen the Alligator stuff and I really liked what I saw. The main thing that I liked so much about these dogs: Soko, Renee and Alligator, was that they were smart dogs, they were hard to hurt and they were real game dogs. This was ten or fifteen years ago. The mom and dad to these dogs were not really impressive, they were Nigger and Satin Lady, but together they certainly produced some good dogs. I didn’t like either of them as individuals but they sure produced. At this moment, I have about one hundred and ten dogs; most of them are bred from this bloodline."

"How did you get started with these dogs? When I was three years old I had a Bulldog that saved my life. He pulled me out of a bar ditch that was flooding and without that dog I would have drowned. He was not a full blooded top of the line Pit Bull, but he was 3/4th Pit and 1/4th farm dog. He thought he was 100% Bulldog and looked like it too, he would jump on anything. His name was Tipp. That’s how I got started with Pit Bulls and I have had a love affair with them ever since."

"I think that part of the reason for Maurice putting out bogus pedigrees was to keep the secrets to himself." "But I will say this, in the 1970’s Maurice Carver was the BEST breeder in the country. He bred more dogs in those years, first class dogs, than any other five top breeders in the country. But the pedigree thing, I really sincerely believe, is no more than Maurice’s way of keeping his secrets a secret. He would sell you the cake but keep the recipe."

"The thing that I’ve seen happen with Bulldogs is that the popularity has grown immensely and a lot of people get Bulldogs that don’t need them. We have seen a lot of bad media on the dogs with the result that the general public doesn’t look at Bulldogs as any other breed, but see them almost like a great white shark; a wild animal that is looking for something to mouth, something to kill. We have to change that image in the public eye, for whatever reason, and if the breed continues to exist we have to do that. The main thing that I think is a problem, and probably will be until the dogs are gone, is indiscriminate breeding. What started out with a genetic pool of very, very few dogs that were man aggressive, has changed into a situation where we’ve now got several first class dogs that are man aggressive. That’s a trait that the old timers surely wouldn’t have carried on. I don’t know if it is all that bad a trait, but when it is an uncontrollable man aggressive trait it sure can cause serious problems. Man eaters, in the wrong hands, are also bad for the breed."

"Breeding Pit Bulls is probably the hardest animal to breed in the world. I feel certain that dogs from game stock make better pets than the scatter bred stuff in somebody’s back yard. The real dogs are just better dogs."

 

Lester Hughes

THE OLD MOUNTAIN MAN KENNELS GAME AMERICAN PIT BULLDOGS
This was the home of Lester Hughes, a man who, in the words of Tom Garner: “Is a living encyclopedia on the subject of the American Pit Bull Terrier”.

“A few years back some boys drove down from the Bronx, New York to buy a grown dog”,
Mr. Hughes told us one time. “They didn’t have enough money with them to buy the dog they wanted, so I let them go ahead and take the dog home and send me the money later.” Mr. Hughes shook his head and smiled, “Everyone told me I’d never see the money, but the rest of the money came in the mail from New York, just as they’d promised.”

"Mr. Hughes’ philosophy is that they’ll all quit, just some will quit a lot sooner than others. He has also taught us a lot about WHY different dogs quit. He saw the old CH Rascal dog lose a match and win several others and said of the loss “It was a quit because of the heat, he was not afraid of the other dog. In fact when they got him cooled down, he was struggling to find his opponent.” It does make sense that a dog who fails to scratch because his senses are beginning to fail him (because of heat, severe injuries, exhaustion or shock) should not be placed in the same category as a dog who stands the line because he does not want any more of what his opponent is dishing out."

"Back then everyone had some kind of dog, and there was always a dogfight going on somewhere around here. I had a big collie then, supposedly a purebred, but looking back I imagine there must’ve been some Bulldog in him because he had a big ole head with big lips and must have weighed about seventy-five pounds, his name was Jack. We used to take him all over the county and he had had whipped just about every dog in the area that anyone had. "One day, me and my uncle were sitting with Jack on the riverbank by the road". "Anyway, after a while a man came down the road with a shorthaired dog. He was from Tennessee and we’d heard his dog was supposed to be a real mean fighter. He went down the road to the old country store down the hill I guess, and a little while later we saw him coming back up the hill. He spotted us sitting there with our dog watching him and called out, “Boy, hold your dog, this is a pretty bad dog I’ve got here.” Me and my uncle looked at each other,
kinda grinnin’, and my uncle called back “I believe this one can take care of himself.” “Hold your dog”, he repeated, “This one’ll hurt him if they get in a fight.” I believe I sort of put my hand on Jack’s neck, like I was gonna hold him, and the man walked past us. I waited till he’d gone another twenty feet or so; let go of Jack’s neck and said “Get him Jack!” And Jack did, but it was the worst mistake Jack ever made.”

"That ole dog’s name was Duke. He was a big, black son of Big Boy who Huey Hicks owned, and the only way he’d fight was country style. Evelyn worked him for that fight.”
At this point Mrs. Hughes spoke up, “He was so big he could have dragged me off, but he’d been obedience trained and would just stand there while you put the harness on him. Then he’d jump up on the slatmill and work it like crazy. He was as big as a calf.”
“He was so well trained a woman or child could handle him.” Mr. Hughes adds, “Except when it was time to take him to the pit. It took William Cable, Bruce King and myself to bring him.” His wife chuckles, “They all three had to carry him, one his middle, one his back end and one his front. And the one that got the front had to hold his head real good. If his head was turned loose, he’d bite you.”

“Old Ranger, I don’t know how many HE won country style, but he whipped everything we ever put on him. That son of a bitch would attack me, if I didn’t do what he wanted. I remember one time I had him on a twenty foot chain out behind the barn, I approached him and noticed as I came up he had a wild look in his eyes. I wasn’t really sure if he intended to be friendly or bite me, but as I got close he came at me wide open, and I saw he was going right for my face. At the last minute, I turned away. Evelyn had gotten me a new winter coat for Christmas and Ranger hit the collar of the coat and tore a big strip about five inches wide down the back. He had it on the ground shakin’ it for all he was worth.”

His wife makes a fist and imitates hitting someone with a right hook. “When Ranger lunged at him a second time Lester hit him like this, and that dog’s eyes rolled back, his tongue fell out of his mouth and he fell flat.”
“I knocked him out cold and thought I’d killed him. When he came to he was just as friendly as a puppy. I believe that dog had flashbacks or something. Most of the time he’d love me to death, but every now and then he’d look at me like who the hell are you?! One time I was coming along with the feed bucket, back then those five gallon pails were metal not plastic, and he went after me again. I swung that bucket and hit him over the head so hard I thought I’d killed him, knocked him out cold-AGAIN. He woke up and acted like nothing ever happened.
“Another time, I was working him on what we call “The Merry Go Round”. I’d put a chicken in a cage on it for him to chase. He ran it hard, got it going so fast the whole thing came apart in pieces. I beat him to the chicken, but he decided he was going to take it anyway. MAN! We had a terrible fight that day!”
Mrs. Hughes added, “You could never turn your back on Ranger, at least I never did. You never really knew what was going on in his head.” She turned to her husband, “Remember that night Ranger got loose and jumped on a dog down by the river?” Mr. Hughes nodded, “It was pitch dark and the middle of winter. Ranger had just about drowned the other dog. I waded into the creek and near froze to death getting them apart.”
Up to this point Mr. Hughes had been smiling and chuckling as he reminisced about Duke and Ranger, but now he turned serious again. “I didn’t used to see much danger in one that was vicious, I knew a Bulldog could hurt a man but I don’t think I realized how bad, I wasn’t afraid of one. Now I’m a lot more wary of a maneater, they really can hurt you, even kill you. I honestly don’t believe that a grown man could get a sixty-five pound Bulldog off without a weapon, if it decided to attack him."

"The very first time I saw Zebo, he bit me” Mr. Hughes began. “Me and William Cable had come to Lonzo’s house to look at his dogs. Lonzo had his dogs tied along a narrow path, and if you got one step the wrong way, they could reach you. I started walking along the path behind Lonzo towards the dogs and stopped and asked him if any of the dogs could get to us. “No, and they wouldn’t bite you no how” he answered, and we kept walking. We went a few steps further and a black dog hit the end of his chain and grabbed me by the arm. I swung my fist and punched him in the jaw, knocking him off, and that was the very first time I laid eyes on Zebo."

"I was eating breakfast the next morning and looked out the window to see Dave Adams’ car pull into the yard, he’d come for Zebo. He wanted to get Zebo off the chain himself, a few moments later I saw him running away from Zebo’s spot. Zebo had almost bit him and ran him off. I had to load Zebo in their car myself. They hadn’t brought a box or crate with them, and when they left Zebo was riding in the front seat between them, looking out the window. I was wondering if by the time they got to Ohio either of them would have any face left"

"After that was when Dave Adams’ son got hurt, and Zebo did bite that boy. I saw his face and Zebo bit him pretty good and he sold Zebo to a feller named Johnson."

"Zebo would bite, he’d bite you or he’d bite a stranger. Not every time mind you, there’d be times he was just as friendly as a puppy. But if you walked up to him and his eyes got real wide and round, the only way to keep from getting bit was to get the hell away from him fast! When he bit, he didn’t just chomp and turn the hold loose. He’d work it like he was on a dog, hold and shake.
One time some big ol’ boy from South Carolina was here to look at the dogs with some friends. I guess he weighed about two hundred and fifty pounds; big, all muscle, you know? We started to look at the Bulldogs, and he went right towards Zebo. Back then we had him chained out there by the old apple tree. I called after him, “Don’t touch that dog, he’ll bite you!” He answered, “I train dogs for a living, and there aint a dog in the world that I can’t pet.” And I told him; well, you can’t pet THAT one. He looked at Zebo and said “this little dog is friendly, look at the way his tail’s a waggin’!” I said; he’s just anticipatin’ how good he’s gonna enjoy biting you!
Me and the other fellers walked up the hill towards the other dogs, and we didn’t get but about ten feet before I heard that boy scream. He was holding his arm up and there was Zebo hanging from it, shaking. I had to get a breaking stick to get him off, I don’t believe there was any way that boy, big as he was, could’ve got Zebo off and eventually Zebo would have gotten him down."

“I don’t believe you could have reached out with your hand and touched me on the shoulder before Zebo’d have your finger,” Mr. Hughes goes on, “I was walking him in the parking lot before the fight in Alabama and Junior Bush came up to shake hands with William Cable. When their hands met, Zebo had both of them by the hand, didn’t put much pressure, just grabbed their hands quick.”

"I used to have all sorts of pieces of bone from dogs jaws, and teeth that Zebo and Homer had tore out of other dogs mouths. I believe I gave them all away to some feller who wanted to make a necklace out of them."

"Tony Marks got one of them, and I got Spookie and another female. I don’t remember what I called her, but she was a real good one and I always thought she could beat Spookie. Tony didn’t like the one he had, and told me to come and get her. But he decided to take one more look at her first, and after that he wouldn’t let her go at any price; She got killed in a yard accident and a tree fell on the one I thought would beat Spookie and killed her."

"Another dog out of Sparky got loose, and the three of them fought until they all died. Both Evelyn and I were both away working, and I came home and it was a mess. All three of them laying there not quite dead, but dying."

"Buford had enough put on him to make any dog quit, but never did. When he and Homer were both on Bruce Mathes’ yard, Buford got off his chain and jumped on his daddy. Homer killed him, and of course that’s the only way that fight could have ended, as Buford was only a thirty-six pound dog, six pounds smaller than his father."

"I traded Gee Whiz to Bruce and she got killed in a yard accident too."

"Someone else had a male off that litter that hung himself on his chain, and Bruce shot the one he had."

The American Gamedog Times October-November 1990 ©The American Gamedog Times December 1990-January 1991 ©The American Gamedog Times February-March 1991

 

Sonny Sykes

"Heinzl and a man named Bud Morelli stole one of Joe’s dogs when Joe’s son, Joe Jr., was walking the dog down the street. The dog was called Blackie, and after Heinzl stole the dog, he sent him to Earl Tudor. Joe found out about this and Earl also knew what happened, but he never returned the dog to Joe. Joe and Earl were good friends, and they remained good friends; but the friendship was a little cool after this incident."

"What is the best dog you ever matched yourself? A dog called Bob; he came from a man called Eichen in New York. He was a black dog, forty-six pounds and sired by Clouse’s Stabber. I beat Teal and Cotton’s five-time winner Playboy with him. Prior to that, he won over Komosinski in 1:40. He was, by far, the greatest dog I ever handled. Several people owned him before I got him, and I found out that he was matched in five different states, all under different names. He and my Snubby bitch were poisoned and he died in my hands. He and Snubby were two of my best."

"What can you tell me about that Cassius Clay dog? Where did he come from? O.K., Cassius Clay was bought from a preacher by Pat Bodzionowski for $10. The preacher was from Southern Illinois, just south of Chicago, and he got rid of the dog because he was killing dogs on the street and then dragging them back to the church. He was driving the preacher crazy! Nobody knows how Clay was bred, and he for sure was not out of Teddy or any other Corvino dog." "One time, when Pat still owned the dog, I asked him to give me the dog so I could work him and match him. He gave him to me but the dog was trying to kill me because he did not like me. Even when I came close to feed him, his eyes would turn green and he was going crazy. So, I called Pat and said get that son of a bitch out of here!"

"Let me tell you what kind of man Maurice was, if he knew I had a good dog he would be on the phone asking me if he could breed to him. Carver told me he made a mistake by breeding to Bullyson and that he wanted to breed to a dog called Boots the Blacksmith. Carver was with the border patrol and he had two .44 magnums. He gave one to Eddie Klaus and the other one to Hernandez. Hernandez gave me that .44 after Carver died. Earl Tudor was a very active dogfighter, but people that say he was just a fighter don’t know what they are talking about because he bred some real good dogs too. Joe had a friend who worked at the post office where Tudor got his mail. This was a black man, his name was Silvers, and this Silvers would open Tudor’s mail and tell Joe what was in the letters. It’s incredible, but Joe got Earl’s mail before he did!"

No source date mentioned

 

Bobby Hall

"Famous dogs of the past; legendary warriors.....they’ve lived and died but still live on in the minds of thousands. Who has never heard of the Big Bad Black Bullyson dog! A myth? Perhaps, but if there is one man who can tell us the inside story on the renowned Bullyson it is Mr. Bobby “Bullyson” Hall from Houston Texas. This story is about a man and his dog, Bobby Hall and Bullyson. A pair that made the world shiver."


"Do you know what happened to Benny Bob after his match against Bullyson? “Yes I do”, Bobby answered. “He went back to Willie
Brown’s yard and was later matched into Ralph Greenwood’s Jimmy Boots. That was the most vicious match I have ever seen. It was like you were watching two grown men with ice picks and you knew it just couldn’t go any further, then that five minutes would pass and then you knew for sure it was impossible to go another five minutes. The whole match was like that; you knew it had to be over because no two dogs could take that kind of punishment. I have never been in a match like that before."

The American Gamedog Times November-December 1997 Issue #6 of volume #11 printed January 10th 1998

 

I wanna meet db before he passes, I missed him(thx to work smh) at the last bbq...

 

I like how he was described as looking like Mike Tyson if he had a tan.

"For those of you that have never met Danny before, and don’t know what he looks like, let me tell
you that with a little suntan it would be hard to see the difference between Danny and Mike Tyson."

 

If anyone wants to read the full book here it is, unedited.

http://workingcaninesofthepastandpresent.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Book21-interviews_first_edition.pdf

 

all great reads,,, particularly the sonny sykes one,,, where can we read the whole interview???...

 

looks like you might have just read my mind,,, thank you agian...

 

You're welcome. I hope you got those other downloads of the facebook site. They have been there since 2014 so ain't going nowhere.

 

Thanks for sharing Roberto, I'm enjoying all the stuff you've been sharing, keep up the good work.