Heart of the American Pit Bull Terrier Biography X

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McGee's Panther An article written about PANTHER, by the late BARNEY FIFE who conditioned and witnessed him in action. In my last article titled Greenwood's DELTA, I wrote about the strategy my brother and I used in obtaining good bulldogs. Part of that strategy involved purchasing puppies from repeat breedings that had already produced pit winners. Baker Davis' MIDNIGHT COWBOY (BULLYSON x Long's BABY) had produced winners when bred to his niece Hand's CANDY who was sired by CHIVO out of PIGGY. MIDNIGHT COWBOY was the first bulldog to be judged "Best in Show" in all of his matches. His brother CHIVO won Best in Show in 2 of his 3 wins. We purchased a bitch puppy from the MIDNIGHT COWBOY x CANDY breeding and named her SEA TRAIN after a popular rock band. While still a puppy SEATRAIN was sold to S.T.P. Kennels who raised her to maturity. At that time I was breeding ZEBO and VINDICATOR dogs and this line was producing pit winners. ZEBO had already sired Stinson's RUBY, Stepp's WILLIE and Nelson's ZIPPER, who were big league match dogs. Those three completed their championships and were joined by Fitch's DIAMOND JIM who was the 4th champion sired by ZEBO. There were many more, on and two time winners, sired by ZEBO who were exceptional pit dogs. I was convinced that ZEBO was the next BULLYSON and encouraged everyone to breed this line. My brother had obtained ZEBO's sister, ROSIE and had a litter of pups off her bred to Devine's BRUCE. Around this time STP phoned wanting some ideas about how to breed SEATRAIN. I was flattered that STP, ho was heck of a dogman would solicit my opinion. It was no suprise when I recommended ZEBO as a stud dog. STP bred SEATRAIN to ZEBO and sold a bitch puppy to Tar Heel Matt who named her MARGIE. It was MARGIE who whelped Tar Heel Matt's PANTHER, ONE OF THE HARDEST MOUTH BULLDOGS FROM THIS STRAIN. Tarheel Matt and I were not aware of each other, but we attended a get together, out in the Appalachian Mountains. Super Gnat and Tyree were matching bitches at 39lbs., and they put on an action packed show. Both bitches were said to be sired by ZEBO, which reinforced my view that ZEBO dogs were the best match dogs. Tar Hell Matt was similarly impressed and had also decided to breed ZEBO dogs. Super Gnat's bitch won and to this day, SUPER GNAT'S BULLDOGS CONTINUE TO EXCEL. (EVEN IN 99) They are bred down from that bitch, Stinson's RUBY, Stepp's WILLIE, Stepp's ANGUS and Stepp's CHARLIE (JEEP's bro) so ZEBO's influence is still prominent Tar Hell Matt's MARGIE was a calm, exceptionally intelligent, bitch who ended up as the pet of Matt's father. MARGIE lived the good life often riding in the back of the family sedan with Matt's dad at the wheel. It appeared as if MARGIE had her own chauffeur. MARGIE had no interest in combat and would be considered "cold". It was like fighting was not dignified, so MARGIE left that activity for her sons who excelled in this area. The bond between Matt's dad and MARGIE was such, that when Matt's dad required hospitalization, his first concern was about MARGIE'S care. MARGIE never fully recovered from his last hospitalization. She refused to eat and continued to grieve over her master's absence. This combined with advancing years finally claimed MARGIES life. During her younger years, MARGIE whelped two litters sired by Tar Heel Matt's MONZON, who had won TWO MATCHES. PANTHER was whelped in the 2nd litter. MONZON, named after the great middle weight boxing champion, was a good individual and a close cousin to ZEBO. Lonzo's MIKE was MONZON's sire and a winner of TWO contract matches, one of which was against the combined effort's of MAURICE CARVER, LEO KINARD AND DON MAYFIELD. MONZON'S dam was also a two time pit winner named Rick's THISLE who was BIGBOY and BULLYSON breeding. BIG BOY was a 3x winning uncle to ZEBO and a devastating bulldog. Both MIKE and THISTLE were well known for their biting ability. After a number of years of breeding and matching ZEBO dogs, my enthusiasm for this strain was considerably diminished. While the majority had exceptional ability, they were short winded and lacked deep gameness. I attempted to add other strains like BULLYSON and BOOMERANG to the ZEBO stock in an effort to correct the deficiencies inherent in the line. Several top bulldogs like StBenedict's DYLAN, Stiltner's LAVERNE and Gregory's BUZZ represented the best of my breeding efforts during this time. However the vast majority of my ZEBO dogs were not up to the level of DYLAN. It was heartbreaking and expensive to raise 30 pups to maturity and not produce one good match dog. So I moved away from the ZEBO line and worked with other strains. Tar Heel Matt had some good bulldogs from the first MONZON x MARGIE breeding, so he repeated the breeding and produced several more pit winners. Some of these were WILLIE, BILLY 1xW, BONNIE, 1xW, JIMMY (stopped Ch SPIKE), CARLOS 1xW, 1xL, and MONZON JR. When I received a phone call from Matt about PANTEHR, I was excited and skeptical. PANTHER had been sold as a puppy and did not develop a dislike for dogs until he was over three years old. PANTHER got in a fight with a German Shepherd and was returned to Matt. Matt had a good eye for the bulldogs and recognized that PANTHER was no "run of the mill" bulldog after a couple of rolls. I had developed a reputation as a conditioner and handler and Matt wanted to know if I'd be interested in matching PANTHER. Matt had complete confidence in panther and said I could roll the dog and match him at his best weight. Since I had been disappointed by ZEBO dogs a number of times, I rolled PANTHER and he showed me the Matt's assessment was accurate. The dog could bite like a vise and would scratch when he was so heated, he could barely stand. In addition to being a top match dog, PANTHER was very gentle and quite intelligent. He loved nothing more than to lay upside down in my lap on the living room couch as I watched RV Of all the bulldogs I had conditioned, the only one my girlfriend liked was PANTHER. I put PANTHER'S weight out at 55lbs. and after a wait, BOSS HOG picked it up. PANTHER was not a true 55lb dog, but I wanted to leave an extra lb. or two in him due to his phenomenal mouth. We were set to go at 5 am, with both of us traveling to the match site. It is critical for a hard biter to be on their feet and moving forward to be effective, just as a boxer deliver his hardest punches in a similar situation. PANTHER's "keep" focused on strength training which is different than the standard endurance training utilized in most keeps. My plan was to start PANTHER with low intensity, long duration work, and gradually build up to high intensity, short duration work. Since PANTHER's style was the explosive "win in ten minutes" type, he would be ready to come out "smoking" as soon as the ref said "release" PANTHER was basically an easy going bulldog and he became bored with the long walks. To spark PANTHER'S interest, I took a year old bitch named JERSY GIRL, who would run loose, while PANTHER went through his work outs, and PANTHER enjoyed her company. At the latter stages of the keep, PANTHER went through a high intensity drill called the chicken race. During this drill, PANTHER would drag heavy chains in an effort to catch my pet rooster named Fred. I would tuck Fred under my arm like a football and run ahead of PANTHER who would do his best to keep us with us. If PANTHER slowed down, I would run back and encourage him to pull harder. During one workout, a rabbit jumped out infront of PANTHER, and he showed suprising head speed for such a big dog. PANTHER seized the rabbit and bolted it down in a couple seconds. This left me feeling rather useless as I stood ten yards away, rooster in hand. Just like all my match dogs, PANTHER was free of intestinal parasites as well as external parasites like fleas and ticks. I made sure that PANTHER'S ears were absolutely clean, because any opponent was certain to grab the ears in an effort to hold out this hard charging dog. During the last three weeks I got up at 5 am every morning to get PANTHER accustomed to hard work at that hour. Since bulldogs are creatures of habit just like us, it was critical that PANTHER be at match weight and rearing to go at 5 am. At the end of the keep I deviated from my normal routine. Normally, I drive directly to the match site with my bulldog rather than drive out a day before the match and get a room at a motel. This time I drove out to Matt's place and put PANTHER back on his old chain. He felt great and spent most of the night running his chain burning up his energy reserves. The next morning I got early to check on him I was shocked to find that he was 2 lbs. under the contract weight and he had not taken his morning bowel movement. It was still several hours until match time and I decided to gamble, by feeding PANTHER complex carbohydrates. I also kept PANTHER with me so he'd calm down, rest quietly and hopefully build up his depleted energy reserves. My gamble paid off since Boss Hog requested additional time so he could get his dog to defecate. I readily agreed to this request, because it gave PANTHER an opportunity to rest and digest his last feeding. Matt wisely selected a flat low area in a river valley as a match site. Since heat rises this area would still be cool at daybreak. Gusto and Squeky were in attendance along with a number of people who were familiar with PANTHER. BOSS HOGG came with a large boned , white in color, REDBOY bred dog, and weighed in exactly at 55lbs. PANTHER weighed in 2 lbs. Lt. at 53 lbs, but he had recovered from the previous night's activities. PANTHER came out fast trying for the shoulders, but the white dog was adept at holding out PANTHER. The pattern continued with PANTHER trying but unable to get any good holds. At twenty minutes, PANTHER HIT THE FRONT END AND THE WHITE DOG WAS IN TROUBLE. By the 40 minute mark, PANTHER was putting the finishing touches on the white dog, who took the ten second count in his corner making PANTHER the winner in 40 minutes. I kept PANTHER for a while as I had his weight open to match. It looked like PANTHER was going to get a chance at his second win but something always went astray. People who were interested in matching would not put up a forfeit or would reconsider the match weight. For one reason or another, PANTHER'S opponents did not materialize. I had several other match weights under contract so I returned PANTHER to Tar Heel Matt's yard where he stayed open to match for a year or two. In the mean time PANTHER demolished several roll opponents with such speed that his already formidable reputation grew even more. At the age of six years, Matt retired PANTHER and bred the dog to several of his bitches. After several years PANTHER was sold to Rich Cupo. PANTHER sired two champions and a bunch of one and two time match winners. The best of PANTHERS off spring retained the signature trade mark of this strain. They would start fast and if a dog could not avoid their charge, the panther dogs would win in short order.
Why Panther should be an ROM I found this on another message board! Panther was owned by a very low key man "Tarheel Matt" and Panther was only bred 9 time's in his whole life. 1.Hartmans Molly Brown 2.Ch.Bolero 3.Mean Joleen 4.Jilly BUCK 5.Baby Girl 6.Miss Willie 7.Lonzo's Suzie 8.Tar Baby 9.Cash's Mountain Girl (sister to my Buddy dog) The Bolero,Mean Joleen,Baby Girl dogs all went to Japan to Mr.Kiro who was a very wealthy man and paid far and beyond what the dogs were worth so off they went.The rest stayed in the states and Canada and Panther should be an "ROM" in just 9 litters.He produced, 1.Gr.Ch.Miss Panther 2 points 2.Gr.Ch.Samuri 2 points 3.Ch.Lightning 1 point and the Japan dogs who won in all large legar conventions,the dogs comp was not all that but,they definately was pitted each time claimed as 300 by standers were there each time in towns square.The Bob Stevens tape was a tape of Panther dogs that did not bite much at all but,his point was they were winning on gameness in 1:30 each time,A poor judgement call on a video but,that was his idea,just kinda rather see the bad asses but,everyone was crying curs,so he showed some game ones to proove his personal point. Gr.Ch.Rhino Gr.Ch.Rambo are off Panther and Japan dogs Rhino won 11x's all in large conventiones but,even if you dont count the Japan shows Panther is still ROM from the state side winners its all easy to check on,more Jack Kelly Anti Zebo crap and one more reason why I never reported to him he was dis-ing my favorite line at that time,so I didnt bother.but,Panther produced enough in 9 breedings to be ROM in the states and if you counted the Japan dogs he'd be well up in the top 15,not bad for a dog bred less than 10 times.I did a interveiw with Matt Mcgee and Rollbar and Bulldogf Revelation can help you obtain the interview of Tarheels own words instead of mine.Hope this helps,we use atleast a 1/4 Panther and it works and according to Tarheel we have the heaviest bred Panther today,but,we don't sell anything more than 1/4 Panther we keep the rest on the yard and cull,cull,cull and keep only the best,we get good and bad both but,the good are real good.
Havana Boy's Jumpin' Jack Flash HAVANA Boy's " CH Jumping Jack Flash" I received "Jumping Jack Flash" at teh age of eight weeks old. I bought him along with 17 other dogs off of the Latin Boys. When I went to pick up the dogs, I saw jumping jack in a small rabbit cage all by himself. Of course that was not his name yet, but it was soon to be. He got his name, because he would not stop jumping around the cage. From that moment on I knew he was going to be a special little dog. I started schooling Jumping Jack Flash at a very early age. By the time he was eighteen months old he had past all his tests with flying colors. He had the misfortune of being a small dog, becuase he always had to be rolled against a larger dog. But, he always came out on top. He was a trud Game Bulldog. At the age of 19 months old I took him out for his first match which turned out to be his hardest match of all. His first match was into "Gusto Boys Hanable", which is a son off of Gr Ch Bronson. This fight went on for an hour and 39 minutes. Hanable, went toe to toe until he was picked up, and declared dead. Jumping Jack Flash second match was into "Island Kennel's Gizmo". This ws a pure Giroux bred dog. They don't come anymore gamer than this one. the little Gizmo dog tried everything in his power to defeat "Jumping Jack Flash", but wasn't as quick, or as experienced as Jumping Jack Flash is, or was at the point in time. " Jumping Jack Flash", just out classed him. Gizmo was picked up in 58 minutes. His third match was into "Jersy Boys" Little Bumphus". This was supposed to be a real good match, but it turned out to be his easiest match. "Jumping Jack Flash" came out bruied himself in Bumphus' chest, and it was over in 26 minutes. So, "Jumping Jack Flash" was champion by the age of twenty eight months old. At that point I figured I would retire him. I retired him, because we had lost his father "Joker" a 2x. Joker was a gamest dog that ever lived on Havana's yard. He produced Hurricane kennel's Ch Spooner a 4x, and "Jumping Jack Flash". He also produced Havana Boy's Panama Jack 1x and was best in show. So, now we have "Jumping Jack Flash" to take on his father's position. "Jumping Jack Flash" has been bred to approximately 10 b###hes, and so far every dog that has come from his looking real good. They are all young dogs, but not one has quit yet. So far he has showed that he will produce some, if not all good dogs. So, hopefully this fall we will start hearing about his offsprings. I wish luck to anyone who owns offsprings of his. Well, all I can say for ourselves The "Havana Boys" is that we are the proud owners of "Jumping Jack Flash" .
Zebo Dogs My association with Zebo dogs started in 1976 and have always had some of this blood in my bulldogs. Unfortunately Zebo bred dogs have not been able to compete and win against decent competition for many years. Fanciers who seriously campaign their dogs have not been able to win with dogs from this family for quite a while. There are a large number of fanciers who advertise Zebo bred dogs for sale none of these dogs have won even a single match. In addition many of the so called "pure Zebo" dogs have pedigrees that are fake. So you will see so called Zebo dogs that are red & white or even brindle which is a genetic impossibility. I do not believe that you can have more than 1/4 Zebo blood and not have a serious problem with gaminess and lack of endurance the two major draw backs of this line. Fanciers associate Zebo dogs with the power and hard mouth this strain had 15 years ago. Unfortunately there are no Zebo dogs today with these traits. There are plenty of fanciers who will claim to have high ability Zebo dogs but "NONE" have won any matches. It is all just a lot of talk. There are a few good Zebo crosses that can still compete and win against good competition. My Dylan bred dogs, CH Dillenger, and GR CH Jinx are three Zebo crosses that won over good competition. This winter I will breed my Vespers to GR CH Jinx. I own three dogs by Jinx x Juan's Mamba who is a 3/4 sister to Vesper and three out of four of these pups will be shown. Vespers is a vastly superior quality bitch than Mamba so I expect even better results. These dogs can compete and win against anything. After the Zebo/Vindicator dogs were no longer able to compete by the mid 1980's Panther appeared. I conditioned and handled Panther to his only win. This was a really bad ass Zebo cross and he restored my interest in this line. However the Panther dogs have died off with nothing from this line being able to compete today. So even the Panther bred dogs are not good quality any more. Try to find one Zebo bred dog that has won a legitimate show against decent competition. You will spend a lot of time trying to find a single winner. You wont even be able to find a game looser, because this line is not able to compete any more. All you will find are beautiful Pedigreed dogs that can not compete even against bottom level competition. I know this is not good news but I hope it will save you time and money. Few fanciers know this strain better than me. Ask around and see what you hear, even in their day Zebo dogs were a low percentage strain and now they are a zero percentage strain. All that is left are some crossess that can still win. There are not many of these quality Zebo crosses still around. Final words from the late Barney Fife submitted to Pits Magazine before his sudden death on March 4th 1998
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"THE BLUE PAUL AND THE MONKEY" "THE BLUE PAUL AND THE MONKEY" This poem by Kenneth Robertson gives an insight into the popularity of the Blue Paul in the area of his birth. The verses were written in the old Scottish language, but for the convenience of English-speaking readers we have translated them. A night into a pub there came a man with a dog of fighting fame, a man who looked the same, Saying he had bought it. An organ grinder sitting quiet, Listening to the man relate, The tale of some dog's hapless fate That once had fought it. At length says grinder: "Listen mate, "No doubt your dog is all you state, "But I'll match him against 'Pawky Pate' "My wee pet monkey." The owner of the fighting dog With laughter choking over his fag, Says he: "Now I have met many a fool, "But you're a donkey." "Now, maybe if you had brought a bear "Instead of that wee monkey there "I would fancy that your chance was fair. "But what's your bet?" Says organ grinder: "I've five pounds "And if you'd like to raise the bid "I have a stone of coppers I'll get rid "That, too, you will get." The match created quite a stir Amongst the men there drinking beer.They stepped hack a place to clear And watch the battle.Wee Pate was set down on the floor The dog, unleashed, already there. Expectant tenseness in the air, No glass did rattle. The fight was on, the scene was set, Each man had settled on his bet. The organ grinder for his pet Showed no great fear. "Seize him", hissed the doggy man, But Pate had formed another plan, For as at him the Blue Paul ran, Pate jumped clear. The Blue Paul's head crashed off the wall, While back from him Wee Pate did draw. The Blue Paul turned, and when Pate saw He attacked quick. Again, he was that wee bit late To catch elusive monkey Pate, For Pate jumped up onto a seat, And seized a stick. The organ grinder had taken care To see that a stick was lying there. Says grinder, "Now on", and this is where Pate makes attack. Again, wee Pate was far too quick To fall for such a clumsy trick, Over that dog's head he brought the stick A hefty crack. And then he jumped back off the floor Up on to a handy chair, Then took another jump from there On that dog's back. That poor misbegotten whelp's Ferocious growls now turned to yelps Whenever Wee Pate took a skelp At head or side. And how that crowd did laugh and roar. Such fun they had never had before As Blue Paul made for out the door With Pate astride. The home of that unhappy Paul Lay a bit beyond the toll, Where dwelt an old shortsighted soul Of female sex. Her old eye must have magnified, A man on horseback thought she spied For loudly after them she cried: "You have gone over far. 'Come back," she cried, "And pay your toll, "I know you fine, you ugly soul, "Wee Jock McNutty from the hole", "That's who you are!"