"these Ain't The Good Old Days"

“these Ain’t The Good Old Days”

ALL ACCOUNTS ARE FICTIONAL, AND SHOULD BE VIEWED AS SUCH:

The Times (Jan-Feb 1998)

“THESE AIN’T THE GOOD OLD DAYS”

As the publisher of the magazine, I get invited to many dog shows from all over the country and to many in other countries as well. I get to go to many of them, not as many as I would like to go to, but still, quite a few. Up until a few years ago, I could pretty well predict the winner of just about all the matches that involved a novice going into a seasoned dog man. It was never really difficult to do. There was always something missing in the dog that the novice was showing, not one thing you could put your finger on, just a general feeling that the novice’s dog was a little less than at his best. It didn’t always appear that the more seasoned dog man had his dog looking a whole lot better, but he usually did appear to have something that the novice’s dog didn’t have. Of course, many times the seasoned dog man had his dog, in what appeared to be, 100% better condition than the novice.

I supposed I first started noticing a difference in the dogs while watching their owners walk them before the match. The seasoned dog man, or most of them at least, had their dogs looking like their feet barely touched the ground, as they walked way out at the end of their leash, aware of every movement that came within their proliferal vision, ears erect, just looking for something to jump on. The novice’s dog didn’t appear to be a whole lot different, but still, he didn’t have that extra spring in his step and saw mostly just what was dead ahead of him on the path he was walking. He gave the appearance of just being out on a stroll, minding his own business.

Several years ago that seemed to be gradually changing. I can’t always pick the winner when a novice is going into a seasoned dog man. It started to become more noticeable to me while the dogs were being washed just prior to the match. Usually the novice’s dog submitted to the wash, his only reaction seemed to be his apprehension at going into the water. Now, many of the novice’s dogs were reacting much like the seasoned dog man’s dog. Hardly even aware that he was in the water, just looking over in the direction of the wood walls, anxious to get over there to see what was there, but all the while knowing quite well what he was going to find when he got there and just couldn’t stand still waiting for the fun to start.

Then a few years ago I noticed that while the seasoned dog men were still winning over the novices, they weren’t winning as easily as they had been. And in a few cases the seasoned dog man wasn’t winning at all. And in some instances, the novice was not only winning with a dog that was just as good as his more seasoned opponent, he was winning because he had his dog in better condition.

Many years ago, 20, 30 or more, conditioning a dog for a match was a rather inexact science. Very few, even among the top dog men of the time, knew exactly what they were doing. I can remember, as a novice myself, asking every dog man who had won more than a match or two how to condition a dog. It seems I got very little advice and what I did get was, by it’s nature, of very little value. I used to feel resentful that no one wanted to share their vast knowledge with a newcomer. Until I found out why. They didn’t know a hell of a lot more about the subject than I did.

In those days gone by, it seemed the way to get a dog in good condition was to get him as dry as possible and still be able to walk. One very successful dog man told me never to let a dog have more than a few drops of water during a keep. “All the water you can shake off a fork” was how he worded his advice. Another dog man bragged about the wonderful condition his dog was in, because he was caring the dog to the box, he had him bent a little. When he put the dog on the ground the dog stayed that way. “Now that’s what you call condition” the man said proudly. He didn’t have any moisture in him at all. But the scary part was that everyone who listened to him was convinced they were looking at a dog in great condition. And what’s more scary is, the dog won.

The only staple a dog was fed in a keep was meat. Beef. Most conditioners weren’t too fussy about how much fat they trimmed off the meat, if they trimmed any of at all. Consequently the dog was usually getting just as much fat as he was meat. It was a good thing too, at least the dog was getting some limited supply of energy fuel because the required carbohydrate food he got was two pieces of whole wheat toast. I was somewhat more fussy while trimming the fat off the meat. I trimmed it all off, the dog was getting nothing but lean meat and his two slices of whole wheat toast. I couldn’t understand why my dogs were feeling so poorly, the week before the match I had to take them to the vet to find out what was wrong with them. Working them as hard as I was on a diet of meat and toast was damn near killing them. But what is more amazing is that I won some matches with this feeding regimen. I still hate to think what my opponents were doing to their dogs that they were losing. Finally a patent evolved. The vets always told me that what I was feeding the dog was not going to sustain him in something as physical as a match, and to give the dog some rice. These were the days when you could talk frankly to your vet. Then I was hit with a brainstorm-why don’t I feed some rice during the keep and then I wouldn’t have to take the dog to a vet a few days before I matched him. It worked.

Today there are hundreds more people in the game as there were just a few short years ago. The sport gets bigger and bigger. Many of the newcomers are as dumb as dirt and they are in the game for so short an amount of time that they are in and out before more than a few people ever heard of them. The large majority of the ones who stay have learned their lesson well. It seems that in a very short time they are ready to challenge the top dog men in the world and do it with more than just a little success. Novices today don’t stay novices very long. Most of them have been smart enough to take advantage of all the technology available to them in the fields of exercise physiology, nutritional information, and just plain knowledge on how to keep a dog healthy, whether in a keep or just keeping dogs that are brood stock or prospects or pups.

Some of the most recent matches I have been too, you couldn’t tell the novices from the seasoned dog man. The dogs shown by the novices were in every bit as good conditioned as the seasoned dog men they were challenging. Not only did their dogs not run hot at any time during the matches, they seemed to be capable of setting a blistering pace, something that years ago you were not likely to see in many of the matches involving newcomers. Some years back it was not uncommon that an established dog man would win two matches with his dog and then take a match with a novice that was not the dog man he thought he was, and win an easy match to make his dog champion. It don’t look like there are many soft spots out there any more.

Jack Kelly


Gato
YIS

 

Re: “these Ain’t The Good Old Days”

Or maybe the dogmen that you thought were at the top of their game,really wasn't and time showed through them....Great read though,I enjoyed it

 

Re: “these Ain’t The Good Old Days”

Yes , good read, definately. Is Mr. Kelly still around and doing the Journal?

 

Re: “these Ain’t The Good Old Days”

loved this post

 

Re: “these Ain’t The Good Old Days”

The SDJ was raided and shut down 2 or 3 years ago. JK sold the SDJ to F. before it was shut down.

 

Re: “these Ain’t The Good Old Days”

From "Animal Sheltering" Magazine: Activities in recent years have produced major busts of professional dogfighters in Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. And a great team effort in 2003 took down the notorious "Sporting Dog Journal", a magazine that fighters once used to share information and post dogfighting match results. James Fricchione, the publisher, was charged with multiple felonies related to dog fighting; the magazine later folded after he lost his appeal.

 

Re: “these Ain’t The Good Old Days”

kinda makes you wonder about the champs and grand champs from back in the day doesn't it? they could've actually won to a dog that may have just been better than them, if they were kept right.

 

Re: “these Ain’t The Good Old Days”

there's still another good magazine out there. it's called the pitbull reporter. i know there was one that was of the same name years back, but this one has "been in uninterrupted cirulation" for ten years. nothing overt, but a little digging will no doubt reveal what you are looking for. they have back issues of SDJ too.

most of you should like the site, well as long as you have an appreciation for the days of old.