for historical purposes only ;-)

What to look for in a game dog by California Jack

Top or bottom, winning or losing, does your dog stay in holds? To me, one of the surest signs of gameness (or lack thereof) is whether (or not) the dog is a holding dog. If your dog is always in there with a hold somewhere, no matter how tough it is for him, the chances are he's a game one because he's still trying to win. But if your dog goes down and he lets go and starts to panic, and he seems more preoccupied with getting up than he is doing his job, the chances are he's a quitter.

Does your dog have a confident expression on his face; in other words does he look like he's enjoying what he's doing? No matter what's happening, your dog should always be intense and think he's winning. If your dog's eyes start to wander, or if he turns away from his opponent at some point, and/or starts hollering in pain, the chances are he's thinking about doing something else.

Is your dog's tail up and wagging, or is it dropped, limp, and/or fuzzing up at the back. You should hope that it's arched over his back (and/or wagging) or you are probably the owner of a cur.

Does he struggle in the corner to get back to his opponent, or does he just stand there content that he has been given a break? A good dog is upset that the action was stopped and wants nothing more than to return to it - he'll let you know it by the way he acts in the corner. But if your dog is in the corner and does nothing but stand there looking up at you, the chances are it's OK with him that you stopped things for awhile - which is not what you're looking for.

When he's tired and is turned back around to face his opponent, does he hold his head up and look down at his opponent - or does he hold his head down and look up at his opponent? A tired dog that lifts his head up generally is letting fatigue whip him and is concentrating on his breathing - and is therefore sure to quit to fatigue; by contrast, the tired dog that lowers his head and glares up at the dog is suppressing fatigue and is maintaining focus on the opponent - which is what you want.

Finally, how does your dog scratch? I reaalize that some very good dogs happen to be slow scratchers, but generally you want a dog that scratches HARD. Some hard scratchers have bashed their heads against the boards (in missing their ducking opponents) enough times where they adjust their style. They'll tippy toe half way (making sure that their opponent isn't going anywhere), and then they'll rocket across and really blast their opponent. Whatever the case, not only is hard scratching a very good indicator of a dog's gameness, but it can actually stop the opponent's dog when things get in the trenches. How would you like to be in a knock-down, drag-out fight with someone for an hour and still have your opponent screaming and struggling to get back at you, like nothing's ever happened? Well, if your dog's opponent has any cur in him, your dog's hard scratches tell him, "NOTHING YOU DO HAS ANY EFFECT ON ME!" Hard scratches have stopped many an opponent.

Fighting Dogs - The American Pit Bull terrier - An Anthology



other fun, educational and historical chapters include "Treating Wounds" by POPEYE, "The Weigh In" by RUSHIN BILL and a real tear jerker "Saving a dog after the fight" by California Jack. so touching the lengths that Jack goes to save his pit fighters. you can't read this without a box of kleenex handy. don't even try.

California Jack a.k.a John Koerner of John Koerner Photography.

KOERNER'S alter ego is PONCHO a descendent of man biter BOLIO. KOERNER moved from california to tennessee to florida and remade himself into a photographer. KOERNER states that he has a BA in philosophy with an emphasis on psychology, english and ETHICS!

KOERNER claims to be out of the pit breeding/selling circuit and now only sells florida nature calendars, fighting dog calendars and dog fighting books.

me thinks jack's brush with the law a few years ago might have something to do with his new and improved persona.

here are a few of the dogs JOHN KOERNER bred/sold.

SWITCHBLADE - pit fighter whose life was cut short when he was hit by a car.

CINNAMON - a pit fighter, conformation champ and schutzhund 1 title

LITTLE KIM - dead game, expired in holds and had to be pried off

LIZZY BORDEN - dead game

STICKY - dead game

BALLER - dead game

HONEYBUNCH - known to knock opponents and handlers out of the box on scratch

PREDATOR - sold to croatian thug dogger

the slavic dog fighters are especially savage.
for example, i found this photo on a ukranian dog fighter website.

Clandestine Dog Fighting Network Exposed In The Ukraine.

31st August 2007. A RIA NOvosti correspondent infiltrated a clandestine dog fighting network in the western Ukraine. Apparently, there are regularly scheduled tournaments held in the Ukraine, Russia and other neighbouring countries. International involvement was apparent, including from North America, in the breeding and training of the dogs, and the organization of the network of tournaments.