Gameness

Again it is perception and subjective opinion.


The breeder....sees what he considers gameness is his animals and breeds for that trait. He will have a yard full of game dogs. But if does not select the right game dogs with the abilities and talents to win he will still have a yard full of game dogs, but it will at the same time it will be a yard full of punching bags. Game plugs.


The matcher...he will breed game dogs and buy dogs bred to be game but he will match the dogs with the talent and the ability to win. Especially the ones so talented and with so much ability that their gameness does not come into question. Especially because his gamble is his knowledge and his experience. He could beat the shit out of that talented dog with a lot of ability to see if he is 'game' but if he is that talented with that much ability by the time he displays gameness it will not be enough left to match. Defeats his intent of matching dogs.


the rest of the crowd....will do a little of both but not fully committing to either. He will beat the shit out of dog to "check him". And will at the same time breed another because his Mom's brother's Uncle was a heck of a dog. He will skull drag the next man's blood but will coddle and make excuses for his own. He will match a dog here and there and 1 or 2 wins means he has arrived....like royalty...especially to the ones who do not know any better. In time he has a small cult following and a line ins created on falsehoods, hopes and "woulda-s"


the professionals....they have their own line(s) of dogs based on the blood, sweat and tears (and of course criminal activity) of another. They put their dogs in places for direct profit (puppy sales) and for indirect profit (puppies sold because Bob and Joe down the road won with dogs that came from the professional). And takes advantage of the fact most people new to the game will jump on the next band wagon that comes by...grasping for anything shiny.


All three of these people deal in game dogs. Game bred dogs. Dogs bred to be game. All three have a different perception of what gameness is, where it factors in to the grand scheme of things and the importance/priority it plays in going forward with their individual plan.


It takes all things good and bad to make the bulldog world go round.


S

 

Another great post, Slim.

 

I fell into the group of a matcher. The guy that turned me onto dogs only matched dogs. Maybe bred 5 or 6 litters in 20 plus years. People placed their dogs with him to see where there program lined up. He in turn rode up and down the road with the dogs that were worth his bet. You leave out on Saturday night with the ability to win not to find out who owns a game dog.


Since this is what I was introduced to I was naïve in thinking every one had the same plan. The I met a guy who maybe had the gamest strain of Eli dogs ever. If a dog was two years old he was as game as any one anywhere. In a number of years he never matched but a couple-three dogs. The truly talented ones with the ability to win were pummeled until they showed gameness or until they quit. The Saturday night matches were lost due to so many Sunday morning rolls, if that makes sense. In the end he had 30 plus game dogs. In all the years I knew him he had 1 win and 1 loss. In the hands of the matcher there were 50-60-70 wins right there on that yard but it was a shoulda-woulda-coulda.


At the same time I fell into the hands of a guy who kept 8-10, maybe 12 dogs who were open to the world 24/7 and 365. There was always at least one dog in keep with two or three others in pre-keep in case a weight was called or became available. If one has ever done a keep the right way imagine the time and effort of a continual 52 week keep. It is more like being married to the dogs.


Then I met people who sold a lot of dogs. I met a man once who sold so many puppies, brokered and sold so many dogs his employer would call every 6 or 8 months and ask him to cash his checks (pre-direct deposit days)so they could balance the books. He was never without puppies and his networking (and pre-internet too) was such that what ever you were looking for he knew where he could get it. He would even buy your litter of puppies to sell.


With all that said I can't define gameness. I can define what it means to me but that and a dollar will not buy a cold drink.


S

 

I will try to post the pedigree later. My buddy/partner had a male dog Bolio/Red Boy. I had the littermate sister. I am not sure where it cam from but she could bite shit in half. She had another brother that could do the same. The other brother was as talented and smooth as any dog ever. The entire litter proved to be game.


The one male sold was sold for peanuts because he had zero mouth. I mean he gave cotton mouth a brand new meaning. I always said he struggled with dry dog food. It was that bad.


He was intense. He stayed right between the eyes. He was as slick as glass. A real smooth operator. And most importantly he could breathe underwater. He won two times into really good camps with really good dogs. It took him two hours each time as he did little damage, like a boxer with a really great left jab. He continually tags your nose til you just can't go anymore and he never landed that big over hand right. Just jabs. This dog only had jabs.


So what my buddy did not see as suitable, another man saw the value and made some cash. I would have not made the choice he did.


That is how it goes sometimes.

 

They ran a bunch of really hard mouthed Ch. Tyrone dogs. The guy that had him went on one of those state sponsored vacations and we lost track of the dog. Not sure. S

 

I can't think of any ways. Hog hunting and catch work get up close but can't really step thru the door. I once seen an AB down at Dixie Wardogs get half gutted. She never let go, and in my opinion she would have held on forever. They broke her off and put her up on the table for sutures. When they got thru it looked like 20-30 staples. Opened from the cootchie to the brisket. When they took her off the table, she saw another hog and broke at it like nothing was wrong with her. That was getting close but not what I would call game. And with that said that is my perception. I'm sure it was a few there that called her game.

S