CH. Crenshaw's Honeybunch (3XW) ROM

Before I go any further, Kane is fine and is recovering from his surgery. The student actually dropped the phone as she was talking to me because she was trying to hold onto him and he was moving around. So. I can already tell this is going to be a fun 4 months! She said his miniscus wasn't torn, which was something they were concerned about because of the clicking his knee made when the joint moved. I pick him up tomorrow at 3. Yes, there will be pictures.

Now onto other things to keep my mind occupied.

It's been over a month since I've made up a post about the history of the fighting American Pit Bull Terrier. We've gone over a general history of the APBT and the Official (Cajun) Rules of Dog Matching. Now we delve into the dogs that made the APBT the breed it is today.

CH. Crenshaw's Honeybunch (3XW) ROM

Honeybunch is, without argument, the most influential dog in the American Pit Bull Terrier history. It's safe to say that if you follow any (well-bred) APBT's bloodline all the way back, you will find Honeybunch blood somewhere in there. She was the best producing bitch of all times, producing so many champions it makes your head spin.

4 GENERATION PEDIGREE
First	Second	Third	Fourth
(Sire) WALLING'S BULLYSON (2XW)(1XL)	BOUDREAUX' ELI (2XW)	BOUDREAUX' SCRUB (1XL)	BOUDREAUX' BLIND BILLY (1XW)(1XL)
			BOUDREAUX' LENA
		BOUDREAUX' CANDY	BOUDREAUX' BLIND BILLY (1XW)(1XL)
			SHERRER'S TAMMY
	BOUDREAUX' SPOOK	BOUDREAUX' BOZE (1XW)	BOUDREAUX' SCRUB (1XL)
			BOUDREAUX' RED
		BOUDREAUX' PENNY	KINARD'S YOUNG ROCK
			BOUDREAUX' PEGGY
(Dam) CARVER'S AMBER	CH CARVER'S CRACKER (3XW)(1XL)	TUDOR'S DIBO (3XW)	HUBBARD'S BOUNCE
			HEINZL'S BAMBI
		CARVER'S BLACK WIDOW	CANNON'S BLACK SHINE (2XW)
			HANSON'S AMBER GIRL
	TRAHAN'S BEAUTY T	GR CH TRAHAN'S RASCAL (6XW)	HUBBARD'S BOUNCE
			CORVINO'S MAKE UP
		CARVER'S BLACK WIDOW	CANNON'S BLACK SHINE (2XW)
			HANSON'S AMBER GIRL

As you can see from her pedigree, she has heavy Boudreaux blood on both her sire's side and her dam's, which is a little less obvious. Some of Trahan's stock comes from Boudreaux blood, and Boudreaux has stated that he has the papers to show that GR. CH. Trahan's Rascal is registered under his name. The Corvino and Carver dogs also come from Boudreaux blood.


General History:


Ch. Crenshaw's Honeybunch ROM was born at Maurice Carver's Kennel and was a daughter of famed Walling's Bullyson ROM and Carver's Amber ROM. Both dogs belonged to Maurice Carver. In 1972, James Crenshaw bought Honeybunch as a puppy from Maurice Carver and told him: this puppy has everything to become a fundamental pivot in American Pit Bull Terrier selection, and she did do justice to this notion. Honeybunch established her reign in dog matching, winning 3 games against the best bitches of that time (in :51, :28, and 1:19; the last bitch having scratched back twice).


James Crenshaw coupled Honeybunch 7 times with the best pit bulls of that era:


Finley Ch. Bo ROM; Crenshaw's Ch. Otis ROM; Crenshaw's Ch Rascal ROM; Gr Ch Adams' Zebo ROM; Irish Jerry's Trim Moody ROM; Wood's Oso Negro ROM (her only lack-luster litter in terms of producing game dogs); and Arevalo's JR ROM.


Many champions and grand champions resulted from these litters, most notably Crenshaw Ch Jeep ROM (another pivotal dog in APBT history). Other great dogs are:


Crenshaw's Ch. Charlie ROM; Gr. Ch. Irish Jerry's Weehunt ROM; Gr. Ch. Brabham & Singletons' Snake; Buchanan's Jessie ROM; Creppel's Ch. Punk ROM; Crenshaw's Ch. Crypto ROM; Crenshaw's Dolly ROM; Crenshaw's Missy ROM; Crenshaw's Holly ROM; Crenshaw's Sandy ROM; Crenshaw's Sugar ROM; Garrett's Lady Mira ROM; and Crenshaw's Ch. Rascal Junior ROM.


If you sum up all the matches of Honeybunch's offspring, you discover the figure of 65 fights without any losses.


The Story of Champion Honeybunch
(as told by Irish Jerry in American Gamedog Times)


The story of CHAMPION HONEYBUNCH is written as all fighting dog stories, and that is the dog themselves. What can be added to the accomplishments HONEYBUNCH has made as a winner, a champion and a producer. HONEYBUNCH today is regarded as the most influential factor in the history of dog fighting, her amazing ability to produce has proclaimed her the very top producer of all times. It is with great pleasure that I recall some of the events of her life in this exclusive story for the American Gamedog Times. I purchased HONEYBUNCH from Maurice Carver in 1972 as a five month old pup. She was very active as Maurice had told me, I placed her on the chain and watched as she developed into one of the best looking bitches I have ever owned. HONEYBUNCH was a looker, super active on the chain and when rarely caught standing, stood like a great show horse with her legs spread wide apart. HONEYBUNCH was a great looking bitch, but was every bit as good as she looked. Over the years I have had many people and many fanciers to ask questions in regard to HONEYBUNCH'S record, ability, style and general behavior. I will try to answer some of those questions in this story.


THE PIG PICKIN: Some matches were held in the Carolinas in the mid seventies. There was a pig pickin (this is a cliche for BBG) before the matches were to take place. This show was significant because both the great CHAMPION RASCAL and CHAMPION HONEYBUNCH were confiscated as a result of a bust after the fights were held. The complete story of the rescue of these two great a not be told at this time, but both HONEYBUNCH and RASCAL were saved from the wrath of the authorities and were returned to the friendly pit bull dog environment. The complete story of the rescue has been told ad will be documented later. 


RECORD: CHAMPION HONEYBUNCH was matched three times, winning all three! She was conditioned and handled by me in all three of her fights. I have read some advertisements saying she was a five time winner in some old magazines, these ads are sometimes confused with a dogs actual record.


ABILITY: Many great dogs have been criticized for their ability for one reason or another. No dog man that ever saw CHAMPION HONEYBUNCH in action can say that she cut any slack to any of her opponents. In all her matches she took charge from the word PIT and dominated her opponents. No dog could or would scratch back into her after forty minutes. HONEYBUNCH was what we call in the game a main player. Like Tyson in the boxing world, you may not win them all, but the opponent had better come to play.


One person who can testify to HONEYBUNCH'S biting power is Rex B. Rex was the judge for HONEYBUNCH'S second match and was accidentally bitten by her while unfanging her. Rex was working with a breaking stick when HONEYBUNCH clamped onto his thumb. When it appeared to me that the dogs were free I quickly turned HONEYBUNCH from her opponent when Rex said, "Jerry, she still got my thumb". It had been quite a struggle to separate these two fast mouth bitches and I didn't realize HONEYBUNCH was still clamped tight to Rex's thumb. The Old Man on the Mountain replaced Rex as a referee and the match resumed. Rex who is the kind of man who would not yell out in protest or make a big scene, but for the next few days he realized why the Hispanics call the thumb, "Fat Finger".


A LESSON LEARNED: A valuable lesson was taught to me by HONEYBUNCH when she was still a young gyp. A well renowned dog man of the area came to my place to roll a female when HONEYBUNCH was 18 months of age. I was eager to show off my latest Carver acquisition so I took HONEYBUNCH off the chain and faced her up with the experienced brindle bitch. The brindle crossed, took hold of HONEYBUNCH and started to shake, HONEYBUNCH just rolled her big dark brown eyes at me to say, what's going on. The bindle's handler yelled, "I'd shoot that bitch, she won't even fight". I was to proud of my bitch to resort to anything like that, after all she came from the "Old Master" and I placed her back on her chain and decided to wait until another day to show her off.


PRODUCTION: HONEYBUNCH was blessed with the amazing ability to bestow upon her offspring's her own ability to perform as well as produce. HONEYBUNCH was easy to breed, produce large litters of puppies ad raised most of them. This trait coupled with the uncanny ability to reproduce her likeness, has proclaimed her the greatest producer of all times. Her mating career was started after the poor showing verses the brindle female previously mentioned. The choices of studs to be bred to her would also play a large roll in her rapid advance to stardom. The excellent selection of CHAMPION BO, CHAMPION RASCAL and CHAMPION OTIS by James Crenshaw coupled with some older brothers and sisters off of TRIM MOODY and OSO NEGRO from my place caused a pyramid effect and spread the HONEYBUNCH fame around the world.


I bred HONEYBUNCH to TRIM MOODY when she came into heat the second time. TRIM had a very impressive win in 56 minutes before the mating. During the match TRIM suffered damage to his private parts, but came from the bottom to win. I had tested TRIM MOODY before this match ad determined that he was dead game. This mating produced only three surviving males ad all three males became match dogs they were GRAND CHAMPION WEEHUNT, JOKER and BULLY BOB. After HONEYBUNCH weaned this litter I tried her again and really liked what I saw. She was as rough as any female I had ever witness. Her test was her first match and she proved her worth by taking out a very good opponent and scratched so hard that if her foe did not meet her half way, they would be knocked back to the corner wall.


I contacted Dr. Kimsey Wood in an effort to try breed my supped-up little match bitch to OSO NEGRO, I asked if he would agree to a pick. It suited the Doc "OK" and I was just as pleased as OSO NEGRO was building a reputation by kicking bull dog asses around the circuit, at the time. We stuck these two together and produced a litter of nine pups, but only two males. When the picking time came, the doctor said, "Jerry, I sure would hate to take one of those pretty males, I would just as soon take two females". I sent Doc home with two bitches that produced several match dogs as well as reputable producers.


FACT: HONEYBUNCH returned to the four squares to win two more impressive battles. The second of these was the Pig Pickin match famous for the big bust. The opponent in this match was conditioned and handled by Scotty Todd, he was using a good little black female at a weight of 38 1/2 lbs. This was a little heavy for our heroine, but I felt that I would spot a pound or so. I was right, she cut this one down in twenty-eight minutes. One of the pleasures of owning CHAMPION HONEYBUNCH was the superior feeling obtained from watching her work. She was always the same in all her matches, rolling, controlling and always dominating her victim. By the mid-seventies I decided to sell off some of my stock, but didn't want to put HONEYBUNCH on the open market. James Crenshaw had a deep interest in the Carver family as I did, he was very dedicated and a known eye for a good one. HONEYBUNCH'S fighting days were over, but she was in the prime of her producing life. James and I reached an agreement of sale and both of us reaped the harvest of the fruits of his great vine even up to today.


TRUTH: The world of THE AMERICAN GAMEDOG was upgraded by the life of CHAMPION HONEYBUNCH. The dog fraternity will continue to improve as a result of her existence. The augments in regard to her offspring will continue for years to come.


QUESTIONS: The question has been asked many times which of HONEYBUNCH'S litters was the best? Which of her offspring was the best?


These questions will still be asked after all of us are long gone. Crenshaw and I agree on the complicated nature of this question, even after seeing the results of each litter.


My view is, how do you or where do you find a litter that can compare to the records of champions JEEP, CHARLIE and HOLLY? Eleven wins and no losses were recorded by the trio. HONEYBUNCH'S first litter however in which all three males were matched, won ten and lost only two. The accomplishments of GRAND CHAMPION SNAKE can not be ignored either in the search for the best, OTIS also produced others of recognition, in this litter.


When it comes down to the big question of which offspring was best? It really puts you in a bind. Crenshaw and I agree CHAMPION CHARLIE was a better athlete than JEEP, but that the JEEP dynasty is now in a full bloom with the prime status and the unprecedented 15 point ROM ranking and is sure to go higher. 


GRAND CHAMPION WEEHUNT can not be overlooked either. Although he was an impressive, barn storming type of dog. he always gave me his best and won six consecutive matches verses the competition of the time. His first win was at Crenshaw's place when matched into a five time winner called TIGER. TIGER was a veteran of six matches at the time. The Florida boys told me that TIGER had been matched when he was 18 months old and was picked up after making a good showing against the older and possibly better dog. TIGER returned to win five and met WEEHUNT for his seventh time out. WEEHUNT took a pretty good beating and came from the bottom to win in one hour and twenty eight minutes. I was once accused of picking a soft spot for WEEHUNT when I agreed to match into a one time winner in the Volunteer state, instead of a two time winner in the Low Lands. Well as fate would have it, WEEHUNT defeated the one time winner, the two time winner from the Low Lands lost to another two time winner. WEEHUNT then went on to beat the winner of that match when he went for his fourth triumph. I once won two matches in three weeks when I substituted WEEHUNT for another male I had matched at 38 1/2 lbs. I matched WEEHUNT at 37 lbs just three weeks earlier. He got lucky and ran DD from Florida's entrant out of the square in 5 minutes. 


WEEHUNT'S record was six and zero, but to say he was the best in the company of CHAMPION HOLLY, CHAMPION JEEP or GRAND CHAMPION SNAKE is a dilemma that defies a simple solution. CHAMPION HOLLY ranks among the best bitches I have ever seen and in my mind may be HONEYBUNCH'S best offspring. HONEYBUNCH also produced litters from OSO NEGRO, RASCAL and TRIM MOODY. Yielding brood stock that in turn produced the famous MOUNTAIN MAN'S CHAMPION HOMER strain, SNAKEMAN'S GRAND CHAMPION PEDRO, FLIM FLAM, CHAMPION BUBBA, CHAMPION SANDMAN (SANDMAN was also a grandson of JEEP as well as RASCAL JR.) and many more.


Every time you open your Sporting Dog Journal there is a new champion with our star HONEYBUNCH in the third, fourth or now fifth generation and another notch or two added to JEEP'S ROM status. 


CONTROVERSY: Yes, even the greatest of the great must also be subjected to the possibility of someone who may enter a bogus name onto a pedigree. the last question I will try to answer in this story and the bottom line of the is: "OK Maurice, If HONEYBUNCH really was sired by a Spanish Pointer, could you please send me one more just like her!" After one of HONEYBUNCH'S impressive wins I called Maurice to brag of her win. I told Maurice, "She sure can bite" he replied, "Well God Dam son, she's got a license too." 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The fame of HONEYBUNCH would not be as vivid had it not been for the many contributions of several breeders including Crenshaw and myself. The others that were key breeders of this family have been James Garrett, Gene Smith, George Wilcox, M. Stover, E. Reece along with a host of others who believed in this line and has helped in the advance of this famous strain of dogs. Last but most, The San Antonio Rose as Don Mayfield called him, The Immortal Maurice Carver.


FUTURE: It has been said that HONEYBUNCH could produce match dogs from a German Shepard and I can't deny or confirm that. I will say, "I guess there will never be another one like her". We will continue to breed and somewhere in the back of our minds we will hope to find one who will fill her collar.


In closing, I want to relate to you something that happened the other day as I was recently visiting a local Wal-Mart. I overheard a conversation between two young men, one of them was a apparently a Pitbull owner and the other youngster a friend of an owner. The conversation went something like this: "Your friend got good dogs man?" Reply: "Yeah man, he has got some real rollin stones". Owner: "He got any Dibo blood, Blood?" Reply: "Yeah man, I don't know if I heard of that one or not." Owner: "How about HONEYBUNCH?" Reply: "Yeah man, I've heard of that one." I nodded to them as I pushed my shopping cart loaded with Ole Roy by them as my mind went to remembering the great CHAMPION HONEYBUNCH R.O.M.


I do not promote, support, or condone any violations of the Animal Welfare Act of 1976, and/or any other local/state/federal laws. I am not affiliated with dog fighting in any way, shape, or form; I am simply a pet owner and enthusiast of the American Pit Bull Terrier and the great history and legacy handed down through the generations. I believe it is important to know where we come from to see where we are going. The articles posted are strictly for historical and educational purposes only; I do not necessarily reflect the views expressed within these articles.

TPLO

Things have moved very quickly with Kane's leg. Have some bullet points!

• Kane had his consultation last Thursday at MSU.
• The surgeon palpitated the joint, manipulated Kane's leg this way and that, and diagnosed him with a partial (if not complete) cranial cruciate ligament tear. He quoted me an estimate of $28-$3200 for the TPLO surgery.
• My mother is awesome enough to split the surgery between her Care Credit and a credit card, and then I'll pay her back.
• The surgeon was concerned enough about the way the joint felt and the quick muscle loss in the two weeks between my visit with Dr M and MSU, that he wanted to admit Kane that day, do the surgery last Friday, and then release him the next day. I told him I couldn't do it because of my work schedule, so he agreed to admit on Monday (yesterday), surgery today, released on Wednesday--despite the fact that they were fully booked this week.
• With this in mind, I took off Wednesday and Thursday of this week from work so I could be home for him the first two days.
• MSU ended up calling on Friday while I was at work and left a voicemail, basically saying "Oh, whoops, heehee, surgeon isn't here on Tuesday like he told you, so we went ahead and re-scheduled your appointment to drop-off Tuesday, surgery Wednesday, released Thursday. Please call to confirm!" Gee. Thanks.
• Called them back on Friday initially, but they'd already closed. So, I called them yesterday. The receptionist said they were fully booked this week, but they had a cancellation on Thursday, would I like to take it? I said, "No, you don't understand. The surgeon said it was okay if we did the surgery despite you guys being booked." She replied, in a slightly uppity voice, "Well, it'll be easier for you to take the cancellation on Thursday, and I'll have to confirm what you're saying with the surgeon, but ok."  ...... Seriously? Like I'm just inventing the fact that the surgeon said he'd get Kane in even though they were booked? Why would I just come up with that? But everything worked out, surgeon confirmed, yadayada.
• I dropped Kane off today for admittance at noon.
• He took a huge crap in the middle of the hallway. Yes. Yes, he is That Dog.
• When the student handling his case leashed him up to take him to a kennel, she went one way and I went the other. Kane dragged her to keep up with me, but after some encouragement on the student's part, followed the student with one last look over his shoulder.
• She called me earlier tonight to tell me that Kane was being a model patient and was one of the favorites at the hospital. They'd already gotten the radiographs and measurements done for tomorrow. And, he also ate his dinner without a problem.
• She'll call tomorrow morning to tell me how the night went for him, again before his surgery at 1pm and then after, and finally one more time later that afternoon to tell me how he's recovering. This is a lot more communication than I expected from such a large teaching hospital, but it's very helpful for my nerves. :-)
• I pick him up at 330pm Thursday.
• Then we begin the fun part -- 8 weeks of strict crate rest with leashed potty breaks only, radiographs taken at 8 weeks confirming the surgery is healing properly, and then 8 more weeks of a gradual return to exercise. But still no running or jumping until a minimum of 16 weeks after surgery. Oh joy. 4 months of no exercise for a highly active, not-quite-2-year-old puppy. Because, I'm sorry, but leashed walks up to 20 minutes is not exercise for Kane.
• I have a runner between Kane's crate and the enclosed porch so he doesn't slip on the hardwoods. Then my stepdad is building a ramp for the three steps down from the porch to the front yard with some indoor/outdoor carpeting so that Kane doesn't slip on that either. For the most part, Kane will be getting around with a jerry-rigged towel sling.

Wish him luck in surgery tomorrow!

Rollercoaster Monday

So, I've got good news and bad news about Kane.

We'll go with the god news first because it's short and so amazingly awesome.

Kane has his CGC!!!

Yes, you read right! My bonehead puppy passed his test last night with flying colors. The AKC representative even wrote: "Awesome job! Great ambassador!" on his sheet. He got a super-cool CGC bandana; all I have to do is send in the form and the fee, and the AKC will send me his official CGC document in a frame. He's now known as Kane Denator Puppers, CGC.

Today, I took him outside and tried to get some nice photos of him showing off his bandana. Unfortunately, even though he has his CGC, he couldn't resist the allure of deer poo in the backyard. Just pretend the brown smudges aren't there. ;-)

Kane doesn't know what all the fuss is about.

It took only two good rolls in the deer poo to get his bandana to that level of dirtiness.
My stupid, delightful, doggy boy.

Kane decides eating grass is preferable to this photo shoot.

Kane is still not impressed.

Was that a squirrel? Lemme chase it, lemme chase it!

It's sitting right there! Staring at me. Taunting me!
Lemme go teach it a lesson. Please??

Oh, jeez, mom. Now it's up the tree!
You let it get away!

It's so hard being a Super Star. Just ask Kane.

Notice how is left rear leg is cocked underneath him
and his right rear leg is stretched out to the side?
Bad news time.

So, for the bad news.

Earlier yesterday, I took Kane in for what I thought was going to be a quick and easy vet appointment. He has a bump on his front right paw that I thought was a histiocytoma (although Kane's is nowhere near as bad as the one pictured on that webpage). Dr M examined the spot, told me to soak his paw in Epsom salts twice a day, wrote a script for an antibiotic, and then asked me about his limp.

And then from there ... it grew into something so much larger and terrifying than I ever thought.

Kane has had an on and off again limp since late April. It would get better with strict crate rest, and then it would pop up again two or three days later. I didn't think anything of it. Turns out he has a partial cruciate ligament tear in his right rear knee. More commonly known as a cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) tear.

Dr M had Kane do some Sits and Downs for her. Each of those times, his right leg was stretched out to the side. She 'hmmm'-ed and then had him lay down on his side so she could manipulate the leg. She felt some swelling in the knee as well as grade 1 "drawer movement". Basically, what it means is that instead of his knee moving only in a hinge movement, it's moving forwards and backwards across the joint like a drawer. An uninjured CCL prevents that sort of drawer movement, keeping things nice and tight. Grade 4 drawer movement is usually indicative of a complete tear.

She thinks his grade 1 movement shows that he has a partial tear, but it's never a 100% guaranteed diagnosis because she's had a dog with grade 1 drawer movement get into surgery and have a complete tear.

Dr M wants me to get Kane in to see a specialist as soon as possible. Even waiting 2 months can be detrimental at this point, because this CCL tear has likely been going on since April. (She'd initially diagnosed his lameness as a pulled muscle since she couldn't feel any swelling or drawer movement in his knee, and she was hoping for the less serious injury.) Unfortunately, with a partial CCL tear, the longer it goes on, the worse it gets. The frayed ends of the ligament end up rubbing against the cartilage in the knee and wearing it down, causing arthritis; and usually the end result of a partial tear, if left unresolved, is a complete tear. At this point, she said he is guaranteed to have some arthritis in his knee when he gets into his senior years (usually around 8+ for pit bulls).

There are different kinds of surgery available to repair the CCL. One is known as an extracapsular imbrication; this is the traditional form of surgery, but, unfortunately, even though Dr M can do it and it would be so much cheaper, it is now (usually) reserved for those dogs who are under 25lbs and/or are senior and/or have a low energy level.

Kane is none of those things. Even though he is no longer willing or able to use his right rear leg and is thus hobbling around on three legs, he is still bursting with energy and sometimes it gets the better of him. I still have to prevent him from doing zoomies around the yard, I still have to hide his chuck-it ball so he doesn't pester me with it, and I still have to keep him from launching off the porch on his potty breaks.

Our other options are either a TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy) or a TTA (tibial tuberosity advancement). These surgeries are basically the same; they focus on changing the angle of the tibia and how the femur meets it, and using a bone plate to stabilize the bone's new position. However, the TTA is a more recent (~2004) variation of the TPLO and cuts through a different part of the tibia. It's less invasive, and thus has less of a recovery time, and is also usually cheaper. TPLO/TTA surgeries restore mobility to ~97% after recovery, versus ~93% for the extracapsular imbrication.

The only problem is the cost. Dr M referred me to MSU veterinary school and they quoted me an estimate of $2600-$3300.

Yes. That thump you heard was me hitting the floor in a dead-faint.

Based on my research, that seems a little high (as most estimates I've seen are more in the $1500-$2500 range for a TPLO), but I'm not sure of the reasoning behind that estimate either (what they're including, etc, that I could potentially cut out or have Dr M do at her practice to save money [bloodwork, etc]). I have a consultation set up with MSU on the 25th of this month at 830am to discuss our options.

However things work out, he will either have the TPLO/TTA surgery done or his leg taken off if it's cheaper. I know Kane and he won't care whether he has that leg or not. He'll still be my wild and crazy puppers, careening around like a madman. Of course, if he does end up a tripod, there will go my dreams of titling him in Rally or Obedience. Or trying out dock diving with him.

Someone said to me that "a bullet is cheaper", when I told them about the cost of Kane's potential surgery. I wish I'd been able to punch them in the face. Who the heck says that sort of thing? Really?

CGC Class -- Week Three

Ok, guys, the Kanedog and I are still here, I promise!


We skipped his second CGC class session (two weeks ago now) because his soft tissue issue came up yet again. This is a recurring issue for us it seems, since it's been popping up off and on since May. I don't think I've been tough enough on him with crate rest. Right around the third day, we both start getting crazy and I figure that maybe I don't have to enforce the leashed potty breaks and off he zooms around the yard and I can only laugh and laugh as he jumps and twirls and does the butt-tuck boogie and acts like a complete doofus. And then he gets back inside, I put him in his crate, and the next potty break, he's limping again.


We'll try it again and this time I'm really going to buckle down.


Last week, his class went very well. In fact, he did spectacular. I need to stop thinking of him as a doofus puppy with a few bricks short of a full load, because he's not. Well, ok, he definitely isn't the smartest dog in the world by any stretch, but he's got enough smarts to know what to do and when, and if he doesn't, he is so eager to please that it makes up for his mental abilities. He seems to understand when I want him to work and hen he can goof off now, whether that's because of the energy he feels from me or just because he's put two-and-two together on the class location, I'm not sure. But either way, I'm still amazed at the focus he gives me.


I was floored when he recalled to me across the room, through a line of dogs on either side. You could have knocked me over with a feather. The lines started out at a distance of 5 feet, then moved closer to 3 feet, and then, finally they were only 2 feet away. He was the only dog who recalled to their owner every time, without hesitation and at speed. Except for once, when he caught sight of another owner giving her dog a treat for a good SitStay and he briefly debated going over to her to see if she'd give him a treat too. But I kept recalling him and he eventually decided he'd have better luck with me and recalled without ever completely making it over to the other owner. He got lots and lots of praise and extra noms for working through that extra distraction.


The only hiccup during the class was when the instructor brought out a ball to show the goldendoodle owner how they could use things other than treats for a reward. Kane has always been a toy-driven dog; honestly, I'm surprised he's not aggressive about them. But he has a special love for balls.


And sure enough, the ball came out, Kane saw it, and I was dead to him. No amount of poking him in the butt, waving a hand in his face, rubbing a piece of steak on his nose, nothing got his attention and re-focused it back to me. I'd warned the instructor that while he was a food hound and would happily work for it, he was head over heels for balls. I simply cease to exist for Kane when there's a ball in his presence unless I'm holding it. I'm debating whether I should work on that or not. I want to try flyball with him eventually, so I'm not sure I will.

The instructor spent some time on leash corrections while she talked about loose leash walking. This was very interesting to me as she described how to do a leash correction properly and made certain we knew that leash corrections didn't work for every dog or trainer. She hasn't used leash corrections in over 20 years. But she demonstrated the difference between dogs using the Samoyed, who is very independent and stubborn, versus Kane, who is softer and more easygoing.

It took four corrections for the Samoyed to get over her stubbornness and leave the chunk of steak on the floor and not touch it. It took one for Kane to not touch the steak, and actually the second time she tossed the steak on the floor, he actually backed away from it.

I almost cried watching him do that. It brought back very bad memories of my previous abusive, dominance methods. He  looked so cowed and scared, avoidance behaviors out the wazoo, ears back, lip licking, the works. I wanted to run over, pick my puppers up, and reassure him. If only I could still pick up his 50 lb fat ass. ;-)

The instructor pulled me aside after class and asked me about my reaction to it. I explained to her Kane's past with my abusive dominance methods and how seeing it reminded me of that. She comforted me and said it was the reason she explained that leash corrections weren't for every dog, and that it was a similar history with her dogs which caused her to stop using them. Back when she had first started training, it was very crank-and-yank. When positive methods started being introduced, she saw the difference in the happiness of her dogs and how much more they enjoyed training. She said I definitely don't have to use leash corrections with Kane if I didn't want to; that even though they're more effective in stopping a behavior, for some dogs, they're overkill and Kane may be one of them.


That was last week. I've been working on his heeling with the "you're in line with my leg, so you get treats shoveled in your mouth" method and things have been going well. I think we're almost ready to start proofing it to places other than the backyard. Maybe on his walk today, we'll try it.

CGC Class -- Week One

A few days ago, I signed Kane up for a CGC class run through the doggy daycare he used to go to. I was going to wait until he was 2-3 years old and had finished maturing, but after Ellie and with my renewed purpose towards Kane, I decided now was as good a time as ever. Many of my friends are aware that I was just a little (or maybe a lot) nervous about how well he would do. He's never been in a formal class setting; everything he knows, I've taught him myself, and I wasn't sure how well he'd do with other dogs in such prolonged contact with him. He's reactive towards other dogs, in a friendly manner, and I was so sure his brain would liquefy right out of his head and I'd be one of THOSE owners with one of THOSE dogs.

But it went remarkably well overall, and I'm super-proud of my puppers. I'm exhausted so I'll copy-and-paste the rest of this.

There were two other dogs in the class: a lab/golden retriever mix and a samoyed. The lab mix was hyperactive, easily excited, and mouthy as all get out; he'd actually bruised his owner from his mouthing. The samoyed was better than the lab mix, but still easily excited and prone to the zoomies and she loved to BARKBARKBARK, especially when her owner wasn't doing what she wanted, lol.

Compared to those two, Kane was a saint, LOL. I'm a lot more confident in Kane's ability to pass the test now; I'm amazed at how well Kane did overall, considering this was his first class setting.

There was one incident at the beginning that has given me a lot to think about, though. I had agreed with the Samoyed Owner to allow our dogs to greet, also under the instructor's direction and supervision. The Samoyed was friendly, exuberantly so, and after doing a polite mutual sniff of genitalia and butts, she shoved her face right up into Kane's to sniff. Kane, however, did not appreciate that and stiffened and growled a warning.

I immediately redirected Kane, the Samoyed Owner did the same with her dog, and everything was cool. The instructor liked that we were both quick on the draw so to speak, but the incident had riled Kane up a bit and he was losing whatever focus he'd initially had (which wasn't much since this happened within the first 5 minutes of Kane's first class EVER). The instructor saw this and asked to take Kane.

He was having none of it. He wasn't shrieking or lunging back towards me, but he kept trying to pull towards me (I was only ~4-5 feet away during this entire episode). The instructor did a couple of leash corrections (not even hard enough to be termed a "pop") and he flattened his ears and plopped his butt down into a sit and licked his lips at her. Noticing this, she immediately stopped the leash corrections, reassured Kane with a couple soothing strokes to his ears, and then gave him a few "easy" commands to follow. He warmed back up to her a little, enough to happily respond to her clucks and follow her around for a bit, but it was obvious he still wanted to be with me instead. He was panting harder than he should have been, focused entirely on me except for when she clucked or waved food at him, and he always sat with his back to her.

After she got him settled to where he wasn't panting as hard or pulling towards me (although he still had his back to her), she asked me if I'd realized that even though he was a physically strong dog, he was mentally very soft. I said yes, I had, and explained to her why I thought he was that way, going into vague detail about my prior "training methods". And boy was that humiliating to say in front of everyone, even if the trainer reassured me that everyone makes mistakes and I'd obviously learned from them. She said that I was probably right about those methods causing his softness to some degree, but also thought that he was probably soft to begin with and those methods had simply exacerbated it even more. She trains mostly positive, using food as the primary motivator, but she does use leash corrections sometimes. That being said, however, she advised me to use leash corrections as a last resort, since Kane was so easily motivated by food and his ball, and the corrections might hurt his ability to focus. She also reassured me about Kane growling at the samoyed; that likely happened because this was Kane's first time in a class setting and he was a little worked up about everything, though she made a point to keep him from getting close to the other dogs after that.

I'm still worried about the growling. Kane is 19 months in two weeks; he's approaching adulthood as a bull-doggy and growing out of his puppy friendliness with everyone and everything. I'm 100% sure he'll be friendly to people for the rest of his life, but this is the second time he's growled at a rude dog in as many months (the first time was ~3 months ago when a lab also got in his face). Maturity is a prime time for his dog tolerance to change and I think that's what's happening. Any opinions?

After that it was smooth sailing!

I really can't get over at how focused he was. Once he realized he was there to train (despite the new setting and other dogs), he was 100% focused except for when the other dogs did something crazy. Like the Samoyed getting the zoomies, jerking her leash out of her owner's hand, and zooming around the room to do some impromptu agility obstacles while BARKBARKBARKing at how awesome everything and everyone was. Or like when the lab mix also short-circuited and decided that his owner wanted to be mauled and humped and tangled up in the leash.

Did I mention Kane was practically a saint compared to them? LOL.

Things I need to work on with Kane:

1) Heeling. I still haven't taught Kane heeling. The trainer was AMAZED at how well Kane did when I told her he didn't know how to heel, AFTER she told us to loose-leash/heel walk around the ring. And he did do a good job, although there were the occasional moments when he switched sides on me or decided he'd had enough of what I was asking him to do and he sat in front of me. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to teach him that when he's on just the flat collar, he has to heel; when he's in the harness too, he can do whatever he wants. Right now, he's the opposite; I have to work to get him to walk nicely on his flat but he automatically does great in a harness. Too bad you can't use a harness on the test. :( We're miles ahead of the lab mix who still pulls on the Gentle Leader his owner has him in.

2) Not auto-greeting in the friendly stranger and friendly stranger w/ a dog tests. He seems to think that if I talk to the person, it's okay for him to greet them (and their dog). Looking back, I reinforced that without being aware of it, so that'll be something new for the both of us.

But that's IT. Everything else went so smoothly!

Mountain Goat Day.

These videos were taken as part of a small, on-going competition amongst friends. This round was showing a cued sit; the harder the sit (whether due to placement or back-end awareness), the more arbitrary points you get, up to the full 6 points.

I initially started by having Kane sit on my car.

Except Kane found it way too easy to sit on my car, so I had to think of something else.

And came up with the idea of having him sit on the 4-foot-tall, foot-wide tree stump in my backyard. Suitably armed with the necessary temptations/rewards (a chunk of turkey sandwich meat, his favorite Bil-Jac liver treats which I didn't end up using, and two chocolate chip cookies [one of which I accidentally dropped in the beginning of the video and made him Leave It]), I set out to see if Kane could actually accomplish what I was asking him to do.

This is definitely filed under: "Hmmmm ... I wonder if my dog will ..." :-)

Yes, I did initially help him get his balance, but I could tell he was going to sail right over the other side because of how top-heavy he is and once he got his feet up under him, he sat on his own. :-)

When you think about the fact that this is a 50lb, clumsy puppy-brain pit bull trying to sit in a foot of space, I think he did an amazing job!

The Official Rules of Dog Matching.

These are the Cajun rules of dog matching (which, if you want to get into the technical side of these terms, is not the same as "dog fighting".) In countries where this sport is still legal (or not as heavily enforced if it is illegal), these are the rules they follow to make the match legitimate (with some variation). I will highlight the rules I think are important, as well as explain some terms and rules in brackets, but otherwise let the rules speak for themselves.

Rule 1: The principals shall select a referee who is familiar with the rules and who is satisfactory to both sides. The referee will then appoint his timekeeper. Each handler will select a man to act as his chief second or cornerman, whose duties are to wash the opponent's dog, and to remain near this dog's corner as an observer.

Rule 2: Each handler is to furnish two clean towels and a suitable blanket, to be used by his opponent. Either handler may demand that the opposing handler and his cornerman bare their arms to the elbows; also the handler may taste his opponent's dog's water before or after the contest (up until the referee has rendered his decision on the contest). [This is to prevent any cheating, such as rubbing the dog down with something foul-tasting or poisonous, or adding pain-killer or steroids to the water.]

Rule 3: No water, sponges, towels or any other accessories are allowed in the pit at any time, except the referee who shall have in his possession an adequate breaking stick and a pencil; also a copy of these rules. The pit shall not be less than 16 feet each way, whenever possible, with a canvas-covered floor, upon which has been painted or chalked on, 12.5 feet apart, and with a center-line half way between the scratch-lines. [Scratch-line refers to "a line drawn across the corner of the pit from which the dog must not cross until the referee says to let go".]

Rule 4: The referee shall toss a coin to be called by the handlers. The winner of the toss shall decide which dog shall be washed first and also have the choice of corners.

Rule 5: The dogs shall be washed at pit-side in warm in water and some approved washing powders and then rinsed. The first dog to be washed shall be brought in and held in the tub by his handler and washed by the opposing cornerman. When pronounced clean by the referee, the dog shall be rinsed clean in a separate tub of warm water and toweled dry as possible, then wrapped in the blanket provided and carried to his appointed corner by his handler and accompanied by the man who washed him. These are the only two persons allowed near this dog until the dogs are let go. The other dog shall now be brought in and held in the tub by his handler and washed (in the same water) by the opposing cornerman. When this dog is pronounced clean by the referee and rinsed clean and toweled dry, he shall then be carried to his corner by his handler and accompanied by the man who washed him.

Rule 6: The referee shall now ask "Are both corners ready?" If so, "Cornermen, out of the pit"..."Face your dogs"... "Let Go" The timekeeper shall note the time and write it down for future reference.

Rule 7: Any dog who jumps the pit is automatically the loser of the contest and no scratches are necessary, and no dog is required or allowed to scratch to a dead dog. The live dog is the winner. [Scratch refers to "a dogs willingness to cross the pit and take hold of his opponent according to the rules of the match agreed upon".] 

Rule 8: Should either dog become fanged [Fanged refers to when a fang has punctured the dog's lip and become caught], the referee shall instruct the handlers to take hold of their dogs and try to hold them still so the handler can try to unfang his dog. If this isn't possible, the referee shall separate the dogs with the proper breaking stick and then unfang the dog using a pencil. The referee will then order the handlers to set their dogs down near the center of the Pit and approximately two feet apart. The referee will then order "Let Go". This in no way constitutes a turn or a handle and has no bearing of the future scratches. [Turn refers to "when a pit dog turns his head and shoulders away from his opponent. Official turns are described different in various sets of rules"; a handle refers to "manage a pit dog in a pit contest; the tail, looks similar to a pump handle and has a hand grip after the root, in line with the croup. Once held to start and stop a contest".]

Rule 9: This is to be a fair scratch-in-turn contest until the dogs quit fighting, then Rule 13 shall take over. The first dog to turn must scratch first; thereafter they are to scratch alternately (regardless of which dog turns) until one dog fails to scratch and thereby loses the contest.

Rule 10: To be a fair turn, the dog accused of turning must turn his head and shoulders and his front feet away from the opponent and regardless of whether or not the dogs are otherwise touching.

Rule 11: The referee shall call all turns, although either handler may ask for a turn on either dog. If the referee rules there has been a turn, he will instruct the handlers to "pick up free of holds" [hold refers to when a dog has grabbed their opponent] as soon as possible, and should either dog accidentally get a hold again, the handlers shall set the dogs down immediately and make a continued effort to pick up the dogs, free of holds. When picked up, the dogs must be taken to their respective corners and faced away from their opponent. The timekeeper shall note the time and take up the count (not out loud) and also the referee shall notify the handler whose dog must scratch.

Rule 12: At 25 seconds, the timekeeper shall call out "Get Ready". At these instructions each handler must toe his scratch-line and face his dog toward his opponent with his dog's head and shoulders showing fair from between his handler's legs, and the dog's four feet on the canvas floor. At the 30 seconds, the timekeeper calls out "Let Go" and the handler whose dog must scratch must instantly take his hands away from all contact with his dog and also release all leg pressure from against the dog's body. And the dog must instantly start across and the handler must remain behind his scratch-line until his dog has completed his scratch or the referee has ruled upon it.


There is no time limit on the time required to complete this scratch. But, when released at the words "Let Go" the dog must start across at his opponent. He may waver from direct line, fall down, crawl...drag or push himself across, so long as he makes a continued effort and DOES NOT HESITATE OR STOP until he has reached out and touched his opponent. The opposing handler may release his dog any time he sees fit after the order to "Let Go" however, he must do so as soon as the dogs have touched each other.

Rule 12A: This is an alternate rule for those handlers who wish to have their dogs counted out in the corner. It is the same in all respects as Rule 12, except that after 30 seconds, when the timekeeper calls out "Let Go" the referee shall count our loud, at as near one-second intervals as possible, ONE...TWO...TIME (three seconds), and the dog must be out of his corner and on his way before the referee calls "time" or lose.

Rule 13: If the dogs have apparently quit fighting, whether they are helpless, tired out or curred out [cur refers to a dog which has given up], and regardless of whether both dogs are down or one dog is down and the other dog is standing over him, but neither dog has a hold, the referee shall ask if they are willing to scratch-it-out to a win or not. If so, they shall proceed to do so, but if either handler is unwilling, then the referee shall instruct the timekeeper to note the time and call time in two minutes.


If either dog breaks time, then nothing has changed, but if, at the end of the two minutes, the dogs are in the same relative positions and neither dog has a hold, the referee shall order the handlers to handle (PICK UP FREE OF HOLDS) their dogs. When picked up, the dogs shall be taken to their corners and the corner procedure is the same as in a normally called turn and handle. If there have been no previous turns or handles to establish the order of scratching, the dog who has been the longest without a hold (usually the down dog) to be scratched first, then, as soon as free of holds, the dogs shall be picked up and the other dog scratched.


Should one dog fail or refuse his scratch, then the dog who failed shall lose the contest. If both dogs fail to scratch, the referee shall call it a no contest, but should both dogs make their initial scratches, the handlers by mutual agreement may ask the referee for a draw decision. The referee will then rule it a draw.


Otherwise the contest shall continue, but in this manner: any time the dogs are not in holds and not fighting, the referee shall order the dogs to be handled and scratched alternately until one dog fails to scratch and thereby loses. No attention is paid to turns (after Rule 13 is invoked) except as a possible chance to handle.

THE REFEREE HAS FULL AUTHORITY AND HIS DECISION IS FINAL IN ALL MATTERS.

Rule 14: Fouls that will be just cause for losing a contest:

A. To leave the pit, with or without the dog before the referee has ruled. 
B. To receive anything from outside the pit, or allow anyone outside the pit to touch or assist the dog. 
C. To push, drum, throw or spank, or in any way assist a dog across his scratch-line, except by encouraging him by voice. 
D. To step across a scratch-line before the dog has completed his scratch or the referee has ruled on it. 
E. To stomp on the pit floor or kick the pit sides, yell at of give orders to the opponent's dog, or (in the referee's opinion) do anything to distract or interfere with either dog while scratching or fighting to affect the outcome of the contest. 
F. To interfere with the opposing handler or touch either dog until the referee gives an order to handle the dogs. 
G. To use a "Rub", "Poison", or "Hypo" on either dog.

Rule 15: If there should be any outside interference before the contest has been concluded, the referee has full authority to call it a "NO CONTEST" and shall name the time and place the contest is to be resumed and fought out to a referee's decision. (The same referee shall preside.) Also, the referee shall insist that the dogs be washed and weighed (in the referee's presence), and the dogs shall weigh at the weights specified in the original articles of agreement, and to do this as many times as necessary to conclude the contest.

CAJUN RULES VARIATIONS

Instead of Rule 12A in which a dog has three seconds to leave his corner, he is usually given ten seconds to cross to the other dog.

A 30-second out-of-hold count is generally used, and the down dog must always scratch first (unless both dogs are down with neither in a position of advantage).

The pit may be covered with carpeting rather than canvas (Rule 3), the scratch lines may consist of some of the modern tapes, and the central line between the scratch line is often omitted.








I do not promote, support, or condone any violations of the Animal Welfare Act of 1976, and/or any other local/state/federal laws. I am not affiliated with dog fighting in any way, shape, or form; I am simply a pet owner and enthusiast of the American Pit Bull Terrier and the great history and legacy handed down through the generations. I believe it is important to know where we come from to see where we are going. The articles posted are strictly for historical and educational purposes only; I do not necessarily reflect the views expressed within these articles.