Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Boxer circa 1900

The Working Pit Bull by Diane Jessup, page 82

The Boxer is yet another variation on the original Bulldog, but this one was developed in Germany. Early Boxers were almost indistinguishable from the modern-day APBTs, and their temperament too, is similar. The history of the Boxer in Germany is almost a mirror of the Pit Bull in England. First developed as a "gripping" dog for boar hunting. It was later used for a time as a dog fighter. Unfortunately for the Boxer, its flashy appearance and proud nature made it an ideal show dog, and soon a "standard of perfection" which called for a non-functional muzzle and jaw structure was developed. Rather quickly, the Boxer became just another show version of the Bulldog type. Without doubt he is closely related to the Pit Bull, and comes from the same ancestors, simply developed in another country along slightly different lines.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Going Out of Business - priced to sell

These ads caught my eye. They are all from The Dog Fancier magazine 1905.














McLeod was a high ranking member of the pit breeders association.





"On account of removal I am compelled to dispose of my Pit Bull Terriers"

America's Dog: inspiring sarcasm since 1893



Observer, June 3, 1893

On human aggression

Fans of america's dog love to proclaim that their wiggle butt never met a stranger, would only lick you to death, make horrible watch/guard dogs and would help a burglar pick them clean. These comments come on the heels of an attack as they try to convince us that REAL american pit bull terriers are people friendly dogs due to the dogmen culling all of the man biters.

But the historical evidence proves contrary.

As a watchdog he is unexcelled. This book could be written five times on this one subject, in regard to the American Pit Bull Terrier as a watchdog. Only recently the writer sold a dog to a party who had trouble with thieves stealing his chickens and fuel. This party didn't care particularly about the bloodlines or the breed of the dog, just so he was a watchdog that would put a stop to thieves that were carrying chickens and fuel away. The pound had been exhausted of so called watch dogs, but to no avail. Since purchasing this dog, there have been no chickens or fuel stolen. However, this dog is kind and gentle. Not bent on biting anyone who comes along, but has the instinct to know right from wrong in guarding his master's property.

Joseph L. Colby 1936

The Colby name is one of the oldest and most trusted when it comes to America's dogs. You can read more about Colby dogs and his man killer.




Dogdom magazine 1908










The Dog Fancier magazine 1906



The Dog Fancier magazine 1911

That's right. The treasurer of the pit bull terrier breeder association is trying to unload a maneater.


Man Biters

Manbiter Discussion

Dogmen Conversationsions About Man-biters and Man-Eaters


I will add to this

Friday, February 17, 2012

Only fit for the pit



FIGHTING DOGS - DESCRIPTION

The bull terrier is bred from an English hound and full-blooded bulldog, and the best breed are those raised in the north of England.

Bull terriers are used for fighting, rat killing, bear badgering and raccoon baiting. This species of canine derives his name from the fact thatin days of yore he was pitted against bulls, and wagers were put up on such contests.

Bulldogs are generally low in stature, deep and broad chested, and compactly built about the shoulders and thighs. The head of a well bred bulldog should be broad and his nose short,while his under jaw should project beyond the upper one. His eyes should be large and have a peculiar glare, which, with the distention of the nostrils, should make him have a ferocious and determined look.

It has always been acknowledged that the bulldog is the most ugly and unrelenting of the canine breed. He will attack any animal, no matter whether it be a lion or a tiger. It is strange and yet a fact that the brain of a bulldog is smaller than that of any other animal. A Newfoundland dog is intelligent, but a bulldog is devoid of every attribute of intelligence, and he is only fit for the pit.


Richard K. Fox

amazon no longer offers this title. it seems that the nutters were successful at having it removed. soon i will scan the entire book and make it available for free.

The Dog Pit is available at the following book sellers for about $25:

superbookdeals.com

alibris.com

valorebooks.com

thank you cinnamon, you saved my book from a razor blade.

take note nutters: if you succeed in banning any of the books that i own, i will carefully take them apart, scan them and make them available for free.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Bull-dog, an abnormal canine monster, a dog idiot

The bull-dog's image in 1858 is identical to his image in 2012



BULL-DOG (canis molossus), a species of dog said to be peculiar to the British islands, and distinguished almost solely for its undiscriminating ferocity. The dog, generally, by naturalists is distinguished into 3 divisions, to one of which all natural species belong, while to a comvination of 2 or more all the artificial varieties are to be referred. These are the canes sagaces, veloces, and feroces, distinguished respectively for their intelligence, their speed, and their ferocity. The first or highest is represented by the spaniel, to which belong all the pure species which hunt by scent; the middle, by the greyhound, or more properly, gazehound, to which are referred all those which hunt mainly or solely by speed; and the lowest, by the bull-dog, of which pugnacity is the sole characteristic.

The bull-dog is low in stature, deep-chested, and strongly made about the shoulders, which, with the chest and neck, are enormously developed, as are the muscles of the thigh behind, although, generally, the hind quarters are light as compared to the fore part, and the flanks hollow and tucked up, like those of the greyhound. In his head, however, are seated his principal peculiarities. It is remarkable for its short broad muzzle, and the projection of its lower jaw, which causes the lower front teeth to protrude beyond those of the upper. The condyles of the jaw are placed above the line of the upper grinding teeth; and it is this conformation which renders the bite of the bull-dog so terribly severe, and his hold, when once taken, almost immovable. The lips are thick, deep and pendulous; the ears fine, small, and pendant at the tip; the tail thick at the root, but tapering to a point, as fine as that of the greyhound. "He is the most ferocious and unrelenting of the canine tribe, and may be considered courageous beyond every other creature in the world; for he will attack any animal, whatever be his magnitude, without hesitation, either at his own caprice, or at the bidding of his owner. His most important quality, and that, probably, which causes all the others, although we cannot perceive the connection, is the diminution of the brain; which in the bull-dog, is smaller and less developed than in any other race; and it is doubtless, to the the decrease of the encephalon that must be attributed his want of intelligence, and incapacity for receiving education." So strongly marked is this peculiarity, that an able recent writer on the dog considers the bull-dog as a sort of abnormal canine monster, a dog idiot, yielding to uncontrollable physical impulses, now of blind ferocity, now of equally blind and undiscriminating, mandlin tenderness, which renders him more addicted to licking, slobbering, and mumbling the hand, the boot, or any other part of any person to whom he takes a sudden and causeless liking, and whom he is just as likely to assault the next moment, than any other species.

This view is, however scarcely to be regarded as philosophical. All creatures have their places in the scale of creation; and, without any one of them, the chain of existence, and it may be added of intelligence, would be incomplete. It is probably, also, that the intelligence and capacity of this animal to learn are underrated. Men are very apt, because they bestow much pains on the education of one animal, and none on that of another, to pronounce this a wonder of intelligence, that incapable of learning. It cannot, however be denied that the bull-dog does not display the usual intelligence nor the fidelity of the dog; since he will capriciously attack his master, of whom he may, ordinarily, be morbidly fond. A proof of his distinct purpose in creation is his native antipathy to the bull; which is not akin to the propensity of all animals, particularly of dogs, to pursue any thing which flies, but to the instinctive antipathy which induces the ichneumon to attack the venomous snake, the kitten to assail the mouse, and the ferret to hunt the rat – antipathies not connected with the desire of prey, and owned by the one party as intensely as by the other. In proof of this, a thoroughbred bull-pup of 6 months, which has never seen a bull, the first time he beholds one, will run to the head, which is his invariable point of attack, and, seizing him by the lip, tongue, or eye, hang on, in spite of every attempt to detach him, and will suffer himself to be killed or even dismembered – instances of which horrible barbarity have actually occurred in what are absurdly called the good old times – rather than forego his hold. It is clear, indeed, that bull-baiting was the consequence of this natural hatred and antagonism of the 2 animals, not the cause of it.

It was an old saying that 1 bulldog was a match for a bull, 2 for a wolf, 3 for a bear, and 4 for a lion. The latter experiment was tried on a wild, newly imported African lion, in the tower of London, some years since; when, although not one of the dogs showed a symptom of fear, or relaxed his hold, the lion annihilated them all, with blows of his paws, in a few seconds. The very propensity of the bull-dog to run at the head only, renders them useless to attack wild beasts; as it limits the number of those which can attack at once to as many as can seize at one time. If they would only lay hold on all sides, like foxhounds, nothing but a rhinoceros could resist the combined attacked of a pack of bull-dogs. With the of bull-baiting, the demand for the bull-dog has ceased; although he is still found useful to cross with other dogs, to which he imparts courage, endurance, and tenacity of purpose. There is a large cross of the bull-dog, where it would be least expected, in the greyhound, introduced by Lord Orford, to give certain valuable qualities; and the greyhound shows it by always running at the head of large animals, as deer. There is, also, a probably cross in the pointer, shown in the pendulous jowl and rat tail, as well as in the determined character.



The New American Cyclopaedia

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Oh, horrors of horrors



It is unfortunate, if such scenes had to be, that they did not occur in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where a few days ago thousands of white men and women dug a hole in the ground and buried a colored man, all but his head and then, after tantalizing a vicious bulldog to a frenzied state, put him in the iron cage that covered the head of the doomed man and then danced with delight while the maddened brute tore the man's tongue and eyes out and likewise scalped him.

Cayton's Weekly, Seattle, WA, August 02, 1919

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Idiot Dog vs Stuffed Dog



Large bulldog jumped through window of taxidermist store, 2457 Lincoln av., and attacked a stuffed dog in the window. Proprietor shouted. Dog fled.


The Day Book, Chicago, IL, March 7, 1914

Harry S Lucenay


Harry S Lucenay

May 8, 1887 - May 28, 1944

The owner and trainer of the dogs who portrayed Pete in the Little Rascals died at the age of 57. After a long night of a low stakes poker game, Lucenay grabbed and twisted the arm of 71 year old Charles Z. Bailey and accused him of cheating. Bailey claimed that Lucenay "was going to beat him up" so he pulled a gun and shot him in the arm. Bailey stated that Lucenay "kept coming" so he fired again. The second bullet hit Lucenay's heart and he died.

* The Calgary Herald lists Lucenay's age at 47, yet Find A Grave Memorial lists his age at 57.

The man responsible for killing Lucenay was a decorated soldier and a famous California panoramic photographer.

The Calgary Herald, May 27, 1944

Find A Grave Memorial

Find A Grave Memorial

US Militaria Forum (look! more medals than Stubby!!)

California Views

vinatge's favorite military aviation moment



LAKEWOOD, NJ
Tige forsook a landlubber;s life yesterday for that of an air sailor. The choice was fatal, for somewhere in the sandy, scrub pine waste which surrounds the naval air station at Lakehurst Tige lies dead, a victim of his greatest virtue.
True dog of the sea, Tige had a none-month old bull pup's penchant for tugging at rope ends, and his friskiness made him the favorite mascot of the air sailors at the station. Dangling ropes were his hobby, and the strength of his jaws was the marvel of men.
Those bulldog jaws were his undoing when the J-S took off for a short flight. Tige snatched a rope-end in his teeth and tugged as valiantly as any of his human friends holding the craft to earth until the motors started her aloft.
Every member of the landing crew cased off when the signal was given. Tige clamped his jaws tighter and hung on as the ship left the ground.
For several minutes the bull pup held on and was swung back and forth in the air as the dirigible gained headway. Soon the ship was 400 feet over the green sea of pines. Tige had to let go. He hurtled down into the leafy green sea.

Fortunately, Tige plummeting at terminal velocity didn't kill anyone on the ground. ~ vintage

The Calgary Daily Herald, May 6, 1931

Monday, February 6, 2012

The Clinging Death

WHITE FANG
Part IV: The Superior Gods
Chapter 4 The Clinging Death



Jack London

The following is an excerpt from Jack London's White Fang.

There was no escaping that grip. It was like Fate itself, and as inexorable. Slowly it shifted up along the jugular. All that saved White Fang from death was the loose skin of his neck and the thick fur that covered it. This served to form a large roll in Cherokee's mouth, the fur of which well-nigh defied his teeth. But bit by bit, whenever the chance offered, he was getting more of the loose skin and fur in his mouth. The result was that he was slowly throttling White Fang. The latter's breath was drawn with greater and greater difficulty as the moments went by.

It began to look as though the battle were over. The backers of Cherokee waxed jubilant and offered ridiculous odds. White Fang's backers were correspondingly depressed, and refused bets of ten to one and twenty to one, though one man was rash enough to close a wager of fifty to one. This man was Beauty Smith. He took a step into the ring and pointed his finger at White Fang. Then he began to laugh derisively and scornfully. This produced the desired effect. White Fang went wild with rage. He called up his reserves of strength and gained his feet. As he struggled around the ring, the fifty pounds of his foe ever dragging on his throat, his anger passed on into panic. The basic life of him dominated him again, and his intelligence fled before the will of his flesh to live. Round and round and back again, stumbling and falling and rising, even uprearing at times on his hind-legs and lifting his foe clear of the earth, he struggled vainly to shake off the clinging death.

At last he fell, toppling backward, exhausted; and the bulldog promptly shifted his grip, getting in closer, mangling more and more of the fur-folded flesh, throttling White Fang more severely than ever. Shouts of applause went up for the victor, and there were many cries of "Cherokee!" "Cherokee!" To this Cherokee responded by vigorous wagging of the stump of his tail. But the clamor of approval did not distract him. There was no sympathetic relation between his tail and his massive jaws. The one might wag, but the others held their terrible grip on White Fang's throat.


http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/WhiteFang/4chapter4.html

1912 This has to stop!

1922 Dempsey's yard




Besides the monocle and the suit of clothes from the Strand, Dempsey acquired five new dogs from various points in Europe. Two of them are white bull terriers given to him by an English sportsman. They will be added to the pack of twenty-six dogs that Jack already is supporting. The bull terriers are named Light Wines and Beer.


New York Tribune, May 20, 1922

Thursday, February 2, 2012

All american dogs for all american families





THE PEKINESE DID IT!



Reading Eagle 08.31.1923

Ogden Standard 06.01.1919

San Jose Evening News 04.27.1933

Jack Dempsey

Jack Dempsey


click to view larger image of Jack Dempsey and his bulldog King.

William Harrison "Jack" Demspey (The Manassa Mauler)
June 24, 1895 - May 31, 1983

Jack Dempsey's bulldog bit Artemis Geranois (a child) in Shelby, Montana during his training for his famous July 4, 1923 fight with Tom Gibbons. A $10,000 lawsuit was filed against Dempsey and his manager Jack Kearns on behalf of the victim.

Ten years later, Dempsey's sister in law would find herself and one of her bulldogs before a judge. Susan Dempsey was ordered to fork over $3K Claire Hoffman. Mrs Dempsey tried to blame Hoffman's pekinese. Judge Percy Hight ordered the dogs to the courtroom and measured their teeth.

"It was the bulldog, all right."


Jack Dempsey and Jack Kearns

Sources
Reading Eagle 08.31.1923

Ogden Standard 06.01.1919

San Jose Evening News 04.27.1933

Jack Dempsey wiki