A.P.B.T....

[gaza 508]

Never go on the general talk, only did for the expected queen topic but good read this

[South hams hunter 8,921]

2 hours ago, YOKEL said:

Like a lot of the early kennels/owners, they started off with Stafford's before the apbt was a big thing. M Dann, springview etc, all had sporting staffords at the start, once the apbt took a hold and started showing their superiority, most serious kennels moved over. Tho some still kept a decent staff, and they would, on occasion, best their transatlantic cousins....

Yokel

I can remember my old man saying he bet on gar against an Irish staff and gar lost

[YOKEL 2,228]

Just now, South hams hunter said:

I can remember my old man saying he bet on gar against an Irish staff and gar lost

He did, but it wasn't as straight forward as that. Think the staff was called "charcoal" maybe wrong, but it was a Timed match. The bet was something like, gar would stop the Stafford in half an hour, he took a bit longer, so although he beat the dog he lost the match....

Yokel

[Francie 6,368]

50 minutes ago, YOKEL said:

He did, but it wasn't as straight forward as that. Think the staff was called "charcoal" maybe wrong, but it was a Timed match. The bet was something like, gar would stop the Stafford in half an hour, he took a bit longer, so although he beat the dog he lost the match....

Yokel

Was gar a staff to yokel?

[YOKEL 2,228]

34 minutes ago, Francie said:

Was gar a staff to yokel?

No, a.p.b.t from Mayfield lines....

Yokel

[gnasher16 30,046]

7 hours ago, Neobliviscaris1776 said:

A good read if you can get your hands on them.

 

 

I was clearing the garage out a while back and came across 3 black bin liners full of Journals and stuff i forgot i even had !

Back in the 80's/90's virtually as soon as your match was over you would send a match report in to the SDJ it was a Yank mag but internationally it was pretty much the only way you could see how other dogs and kennels from foreign countries were doing...........at the time you had to be vouched for so it was reliable but towards the end anyone could get it and you ended up having match reports sent in that had never even happened !

 

Edited September 19, 2022 by gnasher16

[gnasher16 30,046]

5 hours ago, Bosun11 said:

I grew up with bull terriers, of both types, in inner-city Liverpool. My school days were filled with Footy, The Jam, Adidas and bull terriers, so many of us owned (and worked) them. Time dims memory, but i remember both types were 'better' than the dogs of today.

In the early 80's i first heard about those Yank APBT's, and it wasn't long before i seen my first, at those early Wigan lurcher & terrier shows. I was smitten and at the same time Ed Read started advertising both his stock, and his collars in E&M.

I was still living at home and owned a lurcher, terrier, an EBT and about 6 ferrets, so there was no chance of owning them 'real deal' dogs. I could only send off for 'Reids brochure' and bought my dog a collar and lead set (which i still have).

Within 12 months, the APBT had become so popular they had their own ring at local L&T shows. Names like Maurice Dann came to show their stock and it seemed half the country had a game bred dog and a 'break stick' hanging out their back pocket..!

Some of those Reid dogs, those off Skipper in particular, could throw huge animals. Dogs that would struggle to find matches.

They were great times and i learned a lot about the breed, and of those that owned them... 

Bloody good thread this, please keep it this way...

 

Nice read that was i couldnt " like " it for some reason....i think the pit bulls were addictive a lot of young lads of our generation had a healthy respect for their physical prowess and that was good enough for most i just happened to be one of them " in for a penny in for a pound types " 

I wasnt raised around dogs it was something i fell into in my late teens through having a few dubious associates a little bit older and wiser than me at the time....but from the minute i saw the dogs in action and spent time around them i was hooked and was like a sponge in my learning in every area of the game....my sister was married to a South Londoner who had a pub and i had some kennels and stuff in the back yard it was one of the most enjoyable times of my life being a young boxer and having these super athlete dogs to train....this was back when pubs closed between 3 - 5.30 so that was my main time with them i had every piece of kit you could imagine out the back human or animal i might be jumping rope or hitting the bag while a dog was running a mill or working a springpole it was just so exciting almost feeding off each others energy,feeling yourself and your dog coming to a similar peak it was a really enjoyable period of life....all in the past now though.

Edited September 19, 2022 by gnasher16

[dytkos 17,784]

4 hours ago, fireman said:

Bit guilty of stoking that fire myself   and deffo one of the most interesting threads iv'e read on here about a subject i knew very very little about or was interested in if the truth be known, like you say from someone who walked the walk and it's sure educating me......

 

Two of us mate  

Cheers, D.

[South hams hunter 8,921]

Some of you gents may say this is shit but when Gnash said about cleaning them out we would always replace a 1/3 or 1/4 of the dogs food with soaked bran flakes pre season for a week or 2.

Something my old man got from WS I think and it would remove the internal fat you couldn't see and give you a blank canvas to build up.

[MH1 1,870]

Is it all fitness and conditioning or is there "sparring" & technique etc?

Seems a bit of a waste its the fittest/most game but just a crap fighter?

[mC HULL 12,277]

6 hours ago, South hams hunter said:

Some of you gents may say this is shit but when Gnash said about cleaning them out we would always replace a 1/3 or 1/4 of the dogs food with soaked bran flakes pre season for a week or 2.

Something my old man got from WS I think and it would remove the internal fat you couldn't see and give you a blank canvas to build up.

i took it as gnash meaning wormed and flead etc shh i always do it end a summer even if they are good 

[gnasher16 30,046]

No Mchull wormed and flead should be second nature all year round regardless,nobody should start any form of exercise with an unhealthy dog.....im talking about preparing a dog for hard work i used to pre keep a dog on a very low fat diet maybe cooked chicken,chicken broth,small cup of all bran,sometimes a couple cloves of chopped garlic...some folk used to say raw garlic was slightly toxic and was too hard on the dogs stomach lining but i found if you cooked it there was no problem and it was a natural anti inflammatory.

Getting rid of what we called the gut fat was essential to do before working a dog hard but it wasnt just about the intestines it was all the internal fat around the heart,lungs,liver....id hand walk a dog around 5 or 6 miles every day for those first 4 weeks you want to bring his weight down within easy reach of his show weight without stressing his cardio system then once the pre keep was done you'd gradually start upping the fats as the real work starts.

All dogs are different id say theres nothing worse than following a hand written keep all dogs progress at different rates all keeps should be tailored to the individual dog but pre keeping a dog is set in stone in my opinion it has to be done right in the same way the foundations of a house have to be done right....but build the house however you like.

I could talk conditioning for days i love the subject but i dont want to sound too anal about it all......oh ok too late 

Edited September 20, 2022 by gnasher16

[gnasher16 30,046]

1 hour ago, MH1 said:

Is it all fitness and conditioning or is there "sparring" & technique etc?

Seems a bit of a waste its the fittest/most game but just a crap fighter?

You'll get dogs who work differently you might get a defensive dog thats going to hold out on the ear and frustrate the other dog....you'll get the barnstormers that are just going to find their way to the chest or neck....you might get a stifle dog who works out that the other dog doesnt have the reach to pull him off...y...or yes you might just have a low ability dog who cant fight but still wants to win thats the beauty of gameness.....you'll get all types but you cant make a dog fight in any other way than what he knows theres no sparring....every contact a dog has takes out of him so you're not going to get him bashed up for no reason.

Gameness is everything regardless of fitness but my view is that supreme levels of fitness can hide the cur in a dog and ultimately mean the inferior dog can possibly beat his more talented opponent or outlast a gamer dog.

Edited September 20, 2022 by gnasher16

[stonewall 1,913]

should answer a few lads interests in different styles.

[MH1 1,870]

48 minutes ago, gnasher16 said:

You'll get dogs who work differently you might get a defensive dog thats going to hold out on the ear and frustrate the other dog....you'll get the barnstormers that are just going to find their way to the chest or neck....you might get a stifle dog who works out that the other dog doesnt have the reach to pull him off...y...or yes you might just have a low ability dog who cant fight but still wants to win thats the beauty of gameness.....you'll get all types but you cant make a dog fight in any other way than what he knows theres no sparring....every contact a dog has takes out of him so you're not going to get him bashed up for no reason.

Gameness is everything regardless of fitness but my view is that supreme levels of fitness can hide the cur in a dog and ultimately mean the inferior dog can possibly beat his more talented opponent.

Cheers, that's what I was getting at lol. Suppose there's no preparing for an opponent as if you would boxing etc and it's just what happens on the day