The Colby Line

I'll be 59 this year Mike ... I've forgotten more than I now know :lol:
I'll prolly wake from a dead sleep tonight and scream it out HA !!!

 

You aren't serious with Vick are you?
Look at his number.
You do know Bill Lightner owned dogs for generations BEFORE UKC got started!

 

LOL yes I do know what you mean, you don't have anything on me there.
But I do have an edge, third generation with the breed and as long as you been alive with them.


BTW it was Ch. Fighting Peter. If I remember which Tudor dog it was. lol

 

Another point of interest is that the original ADBA standards did not mention red nose ... only black and I found that very curious in light of the lore and legend surrounding "OFRN" from before the time of the Civil War. Also, I had an interest in red nose dogs (see my avatar and previously posted pics of Rowdy ... the best dog I've ever owned)

... So I asked a friend who was visiting Lou Colby ... to ask Lou about the red nose dogs. I will paraphrase because I got his response second hand ... The red nose dogs became very popular and widespread during the depression of the 1930's and came mostly out of the Midwest. Dogmen like everyone else at that time were scrambling to make a buck and found a popular demand for red nose dogs in the general public. The red nose then was about as much a fad as the blue nose is today. ... that is what Lou said as was told to me but I did not hear it first hand.

Just out of curiosity ... are there any descriptions available of famous matches won by red nose dogs prior to this time? ... my guess is there is and that's why I ask ... seeking knowledge. Thanks

 

Many years ago Broadway Jack and I talked about Colby dogs. He owned Ch. Kato.
Pure Colby dog of 1960 Your Friend and Mine Mag.

Over the years since we have talked many times on the subject.
If I remember right Lou wasn't the oldest son.
Joesph and Mike I think was older.
Anyway, Jack was good friends for many years with the Colby family and knew John.
Jack stated when he first met John he had about 40 dogs and 30 could go to the box.
He always wanted the blood again but there was a certain part of the bloodline he only wanted.
I'm surprise no one knew about the bloodline almost dieing off and the kids sent for dogs that went out west.
Also the Oscar dog was in great debate because he was bred into the dogs a lot but doesn't appear to much if anyin the pedigrees. ???

IMO in truth is this, I personally don't care what you feed and breed, you are the one paying the food bill in the end......yis

 

Yep it was people always refer to the welfare act of 1976 and I was corrected by someone who is much older than I and was told that back then dog fighting was never legal it just wasn't enforced like it was later on. Obviously the penalties today are much more detrimental if u get caught doing dogs vs the slap on the wrist or please move to another spot lol.

 

There was no actual standard with ADBA. You are thinking of AKC and red nose dogs. Or black and tan colored dogs.
They were not refered to as OFRN at Civil War time.
Dan McCoy coined the phrase years later.

I'm not surprise Lou would respond this way about the dogs which carried the gene of the Old Family Reds.
He was like his father who had them excluded from AKC standard.
This wasn't why they sought after, it was their ability to produce a high percentage of game dogs.
ALL modern Pit Dogs have the strain of OFRN in them.

 

That point is well explained in Lou's book. In fact, after the war ... Lou had to actually purchase back a couple of dogs to get the bloodline going again. The book also details each member of the Colby family and their interests and contributions. While I obviously hold "Colby" in a high regard and have NO REASON WHATSOEVER to doubt what Lou Colby ever said, the truth is that unless you lived it ... how much of what is written can be believed.

 

Amen to that! On another thread I read where people were getting less time for child molesting and rape. Some for even man slaughter!

 

My statement was with respect to a book(let) published in 1919 by Eugene Glass called "The Sporting Bull Terrier" ... in it, the "standard" is referenced. Eugene Glass was the editor of a magazine called "The Dog Fancier" ... besides the non-mention of red nose in the book in association with a "standard" ... there is not a single picture of a red nose dog in the book.

 

Yes, I know he wrote this, I do have the one of the largest libraries in the world.
Check out my billboard.
Ah so did Mike.

Don't know how much you can be believed, like Don and Maurice, last to die gets to tell his story over and over.
But he is right on one part, unless you lived those times, who does know.
I know what is what in the last half century.

 

... sorry, "The Sporting Bull Terrier" was first published in 1914 ... not 1919. The book is still available in reprint.

 

Come on. lmao You are going to reference me about "the fancier"?
Most never got that handle. lol
Do you know where he was from?
BTW the Mag was The Dog Fancier.
Go to my billboard you can down the book for free.

 

... Mike are there any stories of famous matches won by red nose dogs in the eighteenth or very early nineteenth century? I really am curious and I apologize for taking this thread off topic. It's interesting none the less.

 

That's exactly what I said :lol:

... and I have a copy of "The Sporting Bull Terrier" ... but thank you for the gracious offer

 

Yes and read what I just implied to you. Did you get it about the Net and the fancier?
Or where Eugene was from?
Think for a minute, how many times do you think I might have read that book, or mag or talked to his family?

 

Well, you seem to have pointed out various mis-information widely available and long believed and while not answering all my questions I greatly appreciate your patience and indulgence in my quest for facts and truth. Thank you. Good Luck Mike and Long Live our Dogs !!!

 

What specifically did you want to know? I thought I answered almost all to the fullest.

 

IronMike thanks for chiming in and clearing this up

 

Finley's Bo was the last Colby dog. I have not seen anything of that quality since unless it was down from him.