Jack the Brindle Bulldog

Jack is one of the first characters we meet in Laura's "Little House" books, and rightly so, for he was Laura's first friend. Although he is a dog, he is one of the most beloved characters in Laura's books. We first encounter Jack on page three of Little House in the Big Woods, lying guard by the door to protect the family from wolves. 

In the stories, Jack followed the family from the Big Woods into Indian Territory. He nearly drowned in a swollen creek, causing the family several days of sadness before he found his way back to them. 

Jack took his role as protector very seriously, which sometimes was more of a hindrance than a help, particularly in Indian Territory. Pa had to keep Jack tied up to prevent him from biting the Indians who sometimes visited the Ingalls home and causing trouble for the settlers. He proved his worth, however, when he saved the family's lives. 

When the family contracted fever 'n' ague (malaria) on the Kansas prairie, they were all too sick to go for help. It is likely they would have died before anyone realized their predicament. However, Jack saved their lives by running to meet Dr. Tann as he rode down the trail past the house, begging him to come in. 

While the stories told about Jack in Little House on the Prairie are true, in real life, Jack's adventures with the Ingalls family ended as they returned to the Big Woods. Jack liked to spend his time with the ponies, Pet and Patty, and when Pa traded them for horses, Jack wanted to stay with them, so Pa let him go. 

After returning to the Big Woods, the family got another dog, this time a black and white spotted puppy which they named Wolf. Wolf was probably left behind when the family left the Big Woods the second time, for the family did not have a dog when they lived on Plum Creek. There was no need for a dog there, because it was settled country. Because the children loved Jack so, Laura continued to include him in her stories in On the Banks of Plum Creek. 

When she began writing By the Shores of Silver Lake, however, Laura decided that Jack must no longer continue to be part of the story. She used this opportunity to help make the transition from the child Laura of the previous books to the young lady Laura she has now become. 

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In addition to showing how the Little House books were crafted, this first part of the book also draws an in-depth portrait of Wilder's childhood and adolescence. The childhood that Hill's research reveals provides good insight into the Ingalls family, particularly to those who are not familiar with "Pioneer Girl." As Hill herself notes, perhaps the most disconcerting piece of information is the fact that Jack the bulldog did not die peacefully shortly before the family set out for Silver Lake. Instead, he was actually given away by Pa during a horse trade (10). Tidbits like this make for interesting reading while also offering some perspective into what elements Wilder felt appropriate for a child audience and necessary to a good story. Hill brings in correspondence between Wilder and daughter Rose Wilder Lane that discusses different editorial choices and shows that Wilder had a clear vision of how her story should be told and what it should ultimately convey.

The fact that Wilder made choices at all when telling her life story is one of the major issues that scholars have with her work. Are the books fiction or autobiography?

Idiot Dog vs. Cement Pig

Another stupid pit bull trick - attack a talking concrete statue of a pig.

So…was this most intelligent and people pleasingly obedient pit bull thinking it was attacking a pig? or a person talking from inside a pig? or an inanimate object?

No worries, do not let this shake your confidence in nanny pit bulls. They can always distinguish small talking animals from other animals, people in costumes, and talking statues - always.

August 10, 1986
Boulder, Co. - Slick the talking pig, a concrete porker voted Boulder's best art work, has regained its voice following a mauling by a pit bull terrier.
"That pit bull broke from the leash, growling, snarling and attacked the throat of Slick," said Don Ray, owner of Oh, Caroline pit Barbeque, where the pit has stood since October.
The dog struck Thursday night as Slick started talking to a customer leaving the restaurant, Mr. Ray said.  "He completely ripped out the speaker under his throat and it was on the ground, teeth marks and all," he added.
After the incident, the woman walking the terrier regained control of the dog and left without a word Thursday night.

(Seriously, do pit bull owners get a manual to own these things that stipulates that any show of responsibility will get them kicked out of the nutter club?)

Mark and Claudia Kelly

Apparently it is easier to put a man on the moon than to educate people about the dangers of gripping dogs or hold them responsible for the mayhem their mutant grippers create.

Claudia Kelly and Shiner

During a family vacation on Laguna Beach, the gripper belonging to CLAUDIA KELLY, daughter of astronaut MARK KELLY and stepdaughter of Gabrielle Giffords, over powered her in order to attack a baby sea lion on the beach. CLAUDIA and two other women halfheartedly worked to free the federally protected marine mammal from the gripper's locked jaws while men from above videotaped the mayhem and instructed her to hold her ugly dog under water to get it to release. The incensed princess promptly fired back "what the fuck".

Daddy to the rescue
Astronaut MARK KELLY intervened and shook the ugly mutant off the dead seal and high tailed it out of there, while another woman consoled his blubbering princess, all caught on video. Law enforcement failed to issue any citations to the traumatized little princess and her celebrity dad citing, "It was legal for her to have the dog on the beach this time of year, and she did have it leashed. It was so strong that it pulled free of her when it saw the sea lion." Capt. Jason Kravetz

Like the border collie that herds ants, this purpose bred dog will exercise its gripping DNA on whatever is handy, there is nothing accidental about it.


Daddy and Shiner on the Walk of Shame

MARK KELLY and Gabrielle Giffords are behind the non-profit americans for responsible solutions calling for a tightening of gun laws while endangering our public beaches with vicious gripping dogs.


Daily Mail


Please sign the petition to hold the KELLYS accountable.

Beware the Bulldog

   

"Beware the Dog"  John George Brown - 1861



thank you Safe Dog Society!

George Herman Ruth Jr aka Babe Ruth aka "the Bambino" aka "the Sultan of Swat"

The Bambino learned the hard way about the danger of
pit bulls and switched to the watered down pit fighter.

February 6, 1895 - August 16, 1948

Babe Ruth is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time but few realize that The Babe is also found among the ranks of famous pit bull owners. The Babe's pit bull hobby didn't last long. He retired from pit bull ownership when he learned the hard way that it was much harder to keep pit bulls safely contained on his property than it was to knock the ball out of the park.

“The farm definitely had become more nuisance than nirvana.  An adventure raising chickens had fallen apart when the chickens died.  A second adventure, raising pit bulls was disbanded when one of the dogs got out of its pen and attacked and killed a neighbor’s cow.”

page195 The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth, Leigh Montville

"Ruth used to tell his wife he was going fishing, then come home tipsy, carrying a store-bought fish still wrapped in paper. The day his neighbor Henry Ford (who wanted to build an industrial village in town) complained that Ruth's pit bulls had killed his chickens, Ruth went to the barn, and "all Dorothy heard was shotgun blasts as he killed every dog."

http://www.thehistoryhound.com/babe-ruth-piano.html

Young Babe Ruth: His Early Life and Baseball Career from the Memoirs of a Xaverian Brother, Brother Gilbert

 
The Bull-Dog
The Bulldog (Canis Anglicus), is said to be an original English breed, and Colonel Smith suggests that this dog rather than the mastiff was the one which flourished in England in Roman times. Not indeed the breed as it at present exists, but "one little inferior to the mastiff," "but with the peculiar features of the bull form more strongly marked." "The bull-dog," says Colonel Smith, "differs from all others, even from the mastiff, in giving no warning of his attack by his barking, he grapples his opponents without in the least estimating their comparative weight and powers. We have seen one pinning an American Bison and holding his nose down till the animal gradually brought forward its hind feet and crushing the dog to death tore his muzzle out of the fangs, most dreadfully mangled. We have known another hallooed on to attack a disabled eagle; the bird unable to escape, threw himself on the back, and as the dog sprang at his throat, struck him with his claws, one of which penetrating the skull, killed him instantly, and caused his master the loss of a valued animal and one hundred dollars in the wager." "The bull-dog is possessed of less sagacity and less attachment than any of the hound tribe; he is therefore less favoured, and more rarely bred with care, excepting by professed amateurs of sports and feelings little creditable to humanity. He is of moderate size, but entirely moulded for strength and elasticity." He never leaves his hold, when once he has got it, while life lasts, hence he has become the type of obstinate pertinacity; and unflinching courage.


The Mastiff as Protector
Mr. Jesse gives the following story which he reprinted from a contemporary newspaper:  "A most extraordinary circumstance has just occurred at the Hawick toll bar,  which is kept by two old women.  It appears they had a sum of money in the house,  and were extremely anxious lest they should be robbed of it.  Their fears prevailed to such an extent that when a carrier whom they knew was passing by,  they urgently requested him to remain with them all night,  which,  however,  his duties would not permit him to do;  but in consideration of the alarm of the women,  he consented to leave with them a large mastiff dog.  In the night the women were disturbed by the uneasiness of the dog,  and heard a noise apparently like an attempt to force an entrance into the premises,  upon which they escaped by the back door,  and ran to a neighboring house,  which happened to be a blacksmith's shop. They knocked at the door,  and were answered from within by the smith's wife.  She said her husband was absent,  but that she was willing to accompany the terrified women to their home.  On reaching the house,  they heard a savage but half-stifled growling from the dog.  On entering they saw the body of a man hanging half in and half out of their little window,  whom the dog had seized by the throat and was still worrying.  On examination,  the man proved to be their neighbor the blacksmith,  dreadfully torn about the throat,  and quite dead.

From The Universal Natural History, by Alfred H. Miles, Dodd Mead & Co., 1895

Ira Glass and Anaheed Alani

IRA GLASS and ANAHEED ALANI

Ira Glass reveals his dirty little secret on his national radio show This American Life. The secret: he and his wife not only harbor a dangerous pit bulldog that has bitten 6 people, they dote on it.


This American Nutter: The Piney Files

This American Life

The I Love My Bad Dog Blog

Act five: HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

This is where the couple resides.