Chapter 1:
The American Pit Bull Terrier, where it all begins
My journey to the American Exotic Bully began as a teenage boy over forty years ago. Yeah, I know I'm giving away my age. Still, I've witnessed the birth of the Exotic American Bully firsthand. The Exotic American Bully is a fantastic, new, designer breed of dog that commands unheard-of amounts of money. It has a fantastic temperament, is loyal, and looks so good. It is a breed that deserves respect, and the world needs to know about this awesome breed!
Some Exotic American Bullies look almost unreal. Carrying so much muscle mass on a short and low-set body structure, they almost look like bodybuilders, but they don't need steroids to attain their look. I was at the ground level before many knew what an American Bully was, let alone the Exotic American Bully. This is my story.
As a teenage boy, I used to walk down the alleyway and around the corner to admire a dog that I thought was simply outstanding! This dog was so lean and muscular that it blew me away. I would look at him for hours until his owner would come out and run me off. I would just imagine he was mine and what it would feel like to own him. He was black and white with a black patch over his eye. When I would gaze at him, he would wag his tail and bark at me as if to say, "I want to go with you."
One day his owner came out and said, "Hey, you look at him so much would you like to take him for a walk?" I could not believe what I was hearing. Did I want to take the dog of my dreams for a walk? Heck yeah, I did!
Before our first walk, his owner gave me a coaching session. He told me that his dog was a retired pit fighting dog. I had never heard of such a thing; I knew dogs would fight each other over females when they came in heat but did not know that they fought each other for sport. He told me to be incredibly careful with him around other male dogs and observe him. He went on to tell me that he was an American Pit Bull Terrier and that they were the most courageous dog in the world!
We headed out on our first walk together, and it was great! Looking down at him and feeling how powerful he was at the end of the leash; I felt as if I was the luckiest kid in the world. The dog's name was Asia, and I could feel his power when we walked. We would walk down alleys, and every now and then, strange dogs would run up to their fences to bark and growl. This made Asia excited as his tail would wag harder and he would whine, which was strange to me that he did not bark or growl.
When I took him back to his owner, the old man asked me how the walk was, I said amazing, and he said I could come over whenever he was home and take him for a walk. I noticed that Asia had many old battle scars, and his legs were especially scared up.
I wanted to know more about the American Pit Bull Terrier, so I started researching them and came across a book called, "The World of the American Pit Bull Terrier" by Richard F Stratton, which first published in 1983, and I was blown away. This book was all about the sport of dog fighting. In the book, he told you how to raise, train, and even how to prepare a dog for fighting. The book had recounted famous matches that the author had witnessed personally and was full of pictures of famous American Pit Bull terriers. It even had pictures of dogs in combat. I still have this book in my library today.
I could not believe such a book existed because dog fighting was illegal and a felony. After reading this book, I had an even greater respect for Asia and all that he had been through. One day when I went to take Asia for his walk, the old man asked me if I would like to own him because he was moving and could not take him with him. This was a dream come true, so I rushed home and begged my parents to let me bring him home. We always had dogs but did not have any at the time, so they said yes.
I remember thinking I am getting a Pit Bull, and he will be able to whip every dog in the neighborhood! I would daydream all day long about what it would feel like to have a retired dogfighting champion as my own. I remember going out to get his doghouse, new collar, leash, and a big bag of dog food in anticipation of his arrival at our home. When I went to pick him up, the old man handed me a breaking stick and said it may come in handy if he ever got into a fight.
I knew full well what a breaking stick was because I read about it in the book. It was a stick about ten inches long, and one side was flat. It looked like a hammer without a head, and the end was filed down. A breaking stick was used to break up fighting dogs as it was a quick and easy way to get them apart. You would simply grab the dog by the scruff of its neck and wedge the stick in its mouth, and its hold was broken. Nowadays, you can buy breaking sticks online. You no longer must use a hammer handle with one end filed down.
Pit Bulls are known for their incredibly powerful jaws that they would put on an opponent during a fight. They would clamp down and would not let go, no matter what. You could try to pull them apart all you wanted, but it only made them clamp down harder. This is one of the reasons that they are considered one of the most dangerous breeds of dogs in the world. Pit Bulls are also known for their ability to withstand pain; these dogs seemed indestructible!
When I took Asia home, I could tell that Asia, and I would do many great things together. All my friends were amazed by my new dog, and they loved how he looked. They had never seen a dog with so much lean muscle mass. Asia only weighed about forty-five pounds but had no body fat on his frame.
His jaws looked muscular and powerful. I always thought he was kind of underweight because you could see his rib cage, but it was just the way he was bred to look. One time I got to see what Asia was capable of. We were walking when a huge dog jumped its fence and came after me. The dog was big, about eighty-five pounds, and very thick. Asia quickly got between the dog and me and lit into him. Asia was less than half the dog's size, but that did not matter!
Asia worked that dog from top to bottom and everywhere in between. I have never witnessed such a thing in my life! He would grab ahold somewhere on the dog and shake him with all his might, and the dog's whole body would shake! Asia punished that dog for about fifteen minutes, but it seemed like it was forever.
I finally told Asia that was enough, and to my surprise, he relinquished his hold and stood by my side as if to say to that dog, "I dare you to try that again." When I took Asia home, I was scared because he was covered in blood. I thought he must have gotten hurt during the fight, and I knew my parents would be upset with me because they had taken a liking to Asia.
I arrived home and quickly took him to the basement without anyone seeing him and immediately began washing him. I had hydrogen peroxide and some bandages for his wounds. When I started cleaning him, to my surprise, all the blood on him was coming off, and he did not have any serious wounds. There were a couple of minor cuts around his ears but that was it.
When I got Asia all cleaned up, you could barely tell he was in a fight. He had some minor cuts and scrapes, but nothing serious at all. When I think back to that fight, one thing sticks out: Asia's tail was wagging the whole time as if he was enjoying it. That little black and white terrier was enjoying what he was doing. I wanted to watch him in action and wondered how he would do against other Pit Bulls. I knew he was older, but he was good at what he was doing. He was reliving his glory days as a fighter.
After this incident, I was drawn into the world of dog fighting for quite some time. I went on to fight some of Asia's offspring and bred dogs for dog fighting for several years. I would fight dogs for fun and bragging rights, and although I was tempted to get deeper into it, I never placed money or bet on fighting dogs. Looking back at the whole ordeal, I would not do it again. At the time, I did not think it was a cruel sport, and the dogs appeared to like what they were doing.
I loved dogs and did not want to see any get hurt. I was brainwashed into thinking that this was a sport and that sometimes bad things happen. I met a man named Brad who was involved in dog fighting for money. He took me under his wing and taught me a lot about the world of dog fighting. Brad owned one of the toughest all-white Pit Bulls in the Midwest. He knew how to stitch a dog up after a battle and even had compounds to put on wounds that would stop the bleeding. Brad was quite a bit older than me and my buddies, and we all looked up to Brad.
What changed my mind about dog fighting was when Brad talked me into hosting a dog fight at my girlfriend's house. He told me that they wanted to game test a female Pit Bull that they had bred. The pups were twelve weeks old now, so they wanted to see how game she was. In the world of dog fighting, gameness is the most highly sought trait of all; it is a term that refers to a dog's ability to keep fighting no matter how badly he or she is injured.
I had read about a game test in the Stratton books but had not yet witnessed an actual one. According to the book, a game test was given when a person had younger dogs that he thought would do well in the professional dog fighting circuit. The dog was fought to ensure he would not quit before money was bet on him. If he passed the game test, it would be great. If he quit, he would not be used for fighting in matches where money was bet. I never fought...
