GR CH TUDOR'S WHITE ROCK

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I never got a chance to see White Rock, but he was one of the dogs that made the Dibo name legandary.  He was just one of many of the bonecrushing dogs that Dibo sired.  But he was probably the best in terms of ability.  I had been in the military down south for nearly three years, and I formed many lasting friendships, most notably that of Bob Wallace.  As a novice, I was always asking which were the best dogs that they had ever seen.  I have the same thing happen to me now.  Where once I was frustrated that the old timers could not come up with the absolutely best dog they had ever seen, I now find myself in a similar predicament.  I can only name a group of dogs, but it is certainly difficult to come up with a group.  Nevertheless, whenever I asked these old fellows for a list of the best dog they had ever seen, the list varied, but White Rock was always somewhere on it, in a pretty high position.

To give the time frame for all of this, I had seen Bouncer, Dibo's sire, in Phoenix in 1950.  They rolled him while I was there at Howard Heinzl's place.  He was owned by S. W. Hubbard, an influential fancier in Phoenix.  Hubbard owned a nightclub, and he had the money to get good dogs.  He bought Big Boy from Bert Clouse, and he got Corvino's Gimp and Joe Corvino ( I think ) and Gimp was the sire of Bouncer.  Bouncer was bred to one of Howard Heinzl's bitches, Bambi, to produce Dibo.  The breeding was sold to a young boy who actually wanted a collie.  I guess Dibo had big ears as a pup, and the boy named him Dumbo.

Even by the time the dog was grown, the boy was still grousing about not getting his collie.  Eventually, a dog man went down to the dog pound and bailed out a collie, which he traded the boy for "Dumbo", but somehow the dog ended up with the name Dibo.  When Howard Heinzl registered him, that was the name he used.  The dog men of the time always pronounced the name DIE-BO, but I have been amused by newcomers who refer to the name as DEE-BO, the spanish influence, I suppose.

In any case, Dibo was bred to a lot of females under Howard Heinzl's auspices.  Not all of them were good bitches.  When I knew Howard, he still groused about the half Staff bitch that was White Rock's mother.  But back in the late 50's, when all this happened, the staff was not so far removed from the APBT as it is now.  It was merely the show version of the pit bull, and I guess the same could be said now, but there was more interbreeding between the two brees going on then.  Nevertheless, it certainly is a fact that one of the best dogs of all times was born of a half staff mother.  It was almost a page from the book BAR SINISTER, in which the canine hero, a pit dog, but a bull terrier, was regaled for being bred from a half black and tan terrier mother.  ( The bar sinister was a bar on a coat of arms that signaled illegitimacy. )

One reason that White Rock is something of footnote to the history of our dogs these days is that he was never bred in this country.  One of his matches took place in Cuba.  That was back in the days when Baptista was in power.  Most Cubans were poor, but the wealthy ones had practically all the money.  And some of them were dog devotees.  One of them ( Damaso "Bebo" Goenaga, a lawyer ) came up with the $850.00, which was a king's ransom at the time to purchase White Rock in 1958.  When White Rock arrived in Miami he tested positive for heartworms.  Bebo treated the dog, game tested him twice and while there, White Rock was bred to many bitches, and some of the pups turned out okay, from what I have heard.  Around this same period there was another great dog kown as Saddler's Rebel and he was also in the same class as White Rock.  Bebo bought a sister to Rebel named Mildred, which he gave Saddler $250.00.  When she was bred to White Rock, she produced a dog known as Rollo.  Rollo was a better dog that his sire and proved it in the pits of Cuba.  That is ironic, as one reason that White Rock was sold was that it was believed he would never produce because of the staff blood, but the genes apparently fell just right with him.  Even though he sold him, White Rock's owner kept a picture of him to this day.  In fact, it was his only picture of a bulldog.  I suppose if you are only going to have one picture, White Rock is not a bad choice.

A couple of stories about White Rock will help illustrate just what a great dog he was.  One of the matches took place at Howard Heinzl's pit, the same one at which I had watched Dibo's sire being rolled.  Howard told me that White Rock's owner had let him "walk him out".  The kid, only 14 or 16 years old, came back terrified because the dog had been jumped by a big german shepard, and White Rock had killed it.  The boy knew that he could be in trouble with his dad, as the dog was not supposed to get a scratch on him before the match.  And he most assuredly was not supposed to have any extra excercise.  White Rock looked red because of all the blood that covered him.  Howard and the boy washed the dog off and dried him.  They discovered that he didn't have a mark on him.  The german shepard had not been able to get in a single bite.  And the great white dog went on to win his match with little trouble.  Whatever exertion he had spent in killing the large cur dog had not had deleterious effect on him.

One of White Rock's matches was against the great Bert Clouse, a genius with the dogs in terms of being able to evaluate a dog and in conditioning them.  He was also an excellent handler and a great referee, with the only fault in the latter being that he was a giant of aman, so he tended to obscure the view of the spectators.  In any case, Jimmy Wimberly and Bert clouse agreed to match at 47 lbs.  Both dogs weighed in at 47 at the time of the fight.  Both dogs were washed and brought to their corners.  Upon the command of the referee, the dogs were released, White Rock's owner bet Bert that his dog would kill his in 15 minutes.  It is rare that one could kill another in such a short time, so Bert took the bet.  In Bert's opinion, his dog had the best of it for the first five minutes.  When White Rock finally got into his dog's chest and hurt him bad the first hold.  His dog never at any time from then on was even with White Rock.  After just a couple of minutes of observation, Bert said, "how about calling off the bet, and I'll pick up my dog now?" Bert had noticed that there were women and children in attendance.  Besides, there was no sense losing his dog just for the sake of a bet, even if it was doubtful that White Rock could have killed his dog that quickly.  By 21 minutes, Bert's dog was helpless and there was no chance of him winning.  He agreed to pick him up and concede the fight to White Rock.  He asked for a courtesy scratch and his dog made a good scratch.  The point is that Bert, with a real eye for a dog's capabilities, had recognized very quickly that White Rock would eventually kill his dog , even if it took slightly more than 15 minutes.  Bert's dog eventually died a few hours later.  Bert said he heard several reasons why he didn't win and he said the reason why he didn't win was "I DIDN'T HAVE NEAR ENOUGH DOG!"

Although White Rock was a driving chest dog, he had the capability to go to any spot that a dog was not normally vulnerable.  The only thing uncomplimentary that any dog man ever said about White Rock ( besides a comment about his mother's breeding ) was that no one knew if he was game.  But nearly everyone agreed that they would liked to own the dog that could stay with him long enough to find out!  While none of us may have any dogs down from White Rock, he is worth remembering.  He was such a great pit dog that he make all who saw him list him as one of the greatest, even if it was done with reluctance!

Side note- White Rock blood can be found in the bloodlines of the "Ruffian" staffs.

TUDOR'S DIBO (3XW)

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The Dibo line descended from the inbred Lloyd's Pilot ( Pilot was bred at the "Red Lion Inn" in Birmingham, England and imported by Charles "Cockney Charlie" Lloyd, of Manhattan, New York City ) strain of Con Feeley of Chicago which was then selectively bred by Joe Corvino, also of Chicago and resulted in 2 key dogs, Corvino's Gimp ( Dibo's Great-Grandsire) and his litter brother Corvino's Shorty. Dibo also had some influence from the powerful strain of Frank Henry of Marietta, Ohio whose blood centered around his "Richmond" dog which was imported from Wolverhampton, England. This Richmond blood was blended with Lloyd's Pilot blood of W.T. Delihant and great aces such as Swineford's Ch King Paddy, Henry's Ch Black Brandy, Tudor's Gr Ch Black Jack and his much-feared son Peterson's Gr Ch Black Jack, Jr. resulted. Gr Ch Black Jack, Jr. was out of Cunningham's Nellie, a pure Henry bitch descended from Richmond. A daughter of Gr Ch Black Jack, Jr. was then bred to the imported Irish "Old Family" gamedog Bill Shipley's Red Jerry owned by Shipley of Texas who maintained a breeding partnership with Irishman Jim Corcoran. This breeding yielded the bitch Tudor's Goldie, a devastating pit dog which Joe Corvino bought from Earl Tudor and incorporated into his breeding program, which ultimately resulted in Dibo.

Dibo's dam was Ed Ritcheson's Bambi.  Bambi, also known as Heinzl's Bambi, was sired by Ritcheson's Spike and she was out of Ritcheson's Spotty.  A novice by the name of W. D. Smith acquired Bambi and made the breeding to Wiz Hubbard's Bounce.  Smith eventually sold Dibo, as a pup, to a man named Jensen who only wanted a pet for his son.  The young boy named his pet Dumbo, but tired of him and wished for a collie, as Lassie was popular at that time.  Jensen then contacted Mr. Heinzl in regard to trading Dumbo for a collie pup.  Howard Heinzl knew Bounce and Bambi were good individuals, but still had his doubts as one of Bounce's sisters were questionable, and Bambi was cold.  The trade was made and Dumbo went home with Howard Heinzl and stayed, where he would follow Mr. Heinzl and stayed out of the reach of the other chained dogs on the yard for about two years.

Earl Tudor visited Heinzl's yard and took a liking to Dumbo.  Mr. Heinzl offered Mr. Tudor any dog on his yard, trying to convince him to purchase a good dog.  In spite of everything, Tudor took Dumbo home and changed his name to Dibo.  Dibo was stolen shortyl after and was sold to a black restaurant owner, who named him Runt, Frank Ferris later changed all the incorrect papers.  The pup wouldn't hit a lick until it was 2 1/2 years old, but when it did, it was an cae dog from that day forward!  Floyd Boudreaux and William Burley owned a good brindle dog named Buzz on halves.  They had to pull this pup off Buzz in :18 minutes as he wrecked Buzz in short order.  Floyd matched him at 39 lbs. into a 40 lb. dog and won the contest in style and short order.  He used his dad's Man dog 6 weeks later and matched into Gaboon Trahan and his highly regarded Country Boy dog, gave him a pound and beat him in :33 minutes.  Tudor got Dibo back from the gentleman and by the age of four, Dibo had finally turned on and eventually became a three time winner at 44 lbs.  His performance record is minute in comparison to his ability to produce.

He's sired:

CH TUDOR'S SPIKE (4XW) ROM

CH TUDOR'S JEFF

HEINZL'S POLLY (2XW)(1XL)

CH CARVER'S CRACKER (3XW)(1XL)

GR CH TUDOR'S WHITE ROCK

BOUDREAUX' BLIND BILLY (1XW)(1XL)

   

      

Trahan's Blackie 3X winner

McCraw's Snowball           

Harrel's Topper 5X winner          

Ed Crenshaw's Buck

Edward's Sam          

Start (Haye's) Cry Baby 4X winner and the list goes on.

Dibo had two litter mates that also made names for themselves: Heinzl's Arizona Pete and Langham's Lil.

CH HEINZL'S ARIZONA PETE

LANGHAM'S LILL

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CH GOING LIGHT BARNEY (8XW)(1XL)

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Although I have often been referenced as the authority on Going Light Barney, I must confess that I never even saw Barney in holds. I found it quite fascinating, however that he was one of the most controversial dogs of which I ever knew. I think part of the reason for that fact was Barney's flamboyant owner, who is still alive as I write this. Although not a bad fellow, he had a way of stirring up the dander of other dog men. Consequently, all of Barney's accomplishments were always scrutinized with a jaundiced eye. Since I had my picture taken with Barney, a lot of people seem to think that Barney once belonged to me, but such was not the case, although I did own a daughter of his which I bred back to him. That breeding produced George, one of my finest all-time dogs from a pitdog perspective.

Its hard to believe now, but Barney was welped way back in the 60's, so he is definitely an old timer. He was a product of breeding a daughter of Johnson's fabulous Goofy dog to a Rascal bitch. That produced Barney's mother, Penny, and she was nothing to write home about-possibly a cold bitch and a trifle shy. She was bred to Rootberg'sBooger, strictly on the basis of his being a pure Corvino dog. So it is not surprising that not much was expected of the litter, but it produced Barney and several females which were renowned for their gameness, one of them, Going light Babe, winning best in show down south in a losing effort!

Barney had a storied career. He had been farmed out to some guy in the inner city to raise and was rolled from the time he was six months old, something no educated dog man would do. After he killed two dollar George, a highly valued pit dog in a pick up match when he was only a little over a year old, he was reclaimed by his owner, who called himself Larry Light in the pit circuit. He was matched into fast company down in Mississippi against a Carver dog and won handily in about 20 minutes. This was the convention which also featured Boomerang and the immortal Bolio. Bolio won best in show because he won over the dog with the highest reputation, a dog which was thought to be unbeatable.

The controversy comes from the fact that Barney was counted out in his third match in Dallas. Larry swore up and down that he was doped, as the dog didn't know where he was, and had lost his equilibrium for several hours. Whatever happened, Barney came back to win six in a row against the best the other side could come up with. One match was raided and the dog confiscated. This was before the felony laws, and the dogs were broken out of the pound in which they were held. The match was held, and Barney won in an hour and five minutes. Barney was dyed black and shipped to a preacher in New Mexico. Part of the reason for all of this chicanery was that Larry was suing the animal control people for losing possession of his dog!

Barney's toughest match was against another ear dog, extremely well thought of, and the match went nearly two hours before Barney prevailed. That was back in the oil crisis days, in which you couldn't plan a long trip, as you might run out of fuel. Larry and his cohorts loaded up the station wagon with several gallons of gasoline so that they could make the trip there and back without having to worry about fuel. I was in vited to go along, but I was not of mind to travel in that rolling time bomb! Hence, I missed my chance to see a great match. Barney usually had an easy time with his opponents, controlling them  with ear holds until the dog was worn down, and then Barney went in for the kill. I think it was the quit in Dallas that made it possible for Larry to go on finding matches for Barney.

After the above mentioned match, a fellow named Jobe, who put out a pit dog magazine, did a cover story on Barney. He had been there at the match, and he dubbed Barney a Grand Champion. That was the first time I had ever seen the term used. Now, he would not be eligible for the title because of the loss in his second match. Mitigating circumstances don't count, and besides, Larry was never able to prove anything.

Barney was known more for ability than gameness, but he was game enough to win, and the loss came under suspicious circumstances. Barney was an unusual Bulldog in that he had an aloof personality, in direct contradistinction to most bulldogs. He won Larry's wife over because he would sit up and do tricks on the chain or in the kennel run, but once he was taken out, his demeanor changed completely. He had achieved his goal, so the claim was gone, and he simply was off to do what he wanted. Larry, who was a real-estate speculator who owned half the land in San Diego county, loved the deviousness of the dog. He was also delighted that his wife, who abhorred the pit dog game, was Barney's stoutest ally-although she certainly never went to a match.

Barney was never open to stud, and he was never bred much, as Larry seemed to concentrate his breeding program on breeding dogs that were down from Penny and in breeding Barney's sisters, in particular Babe. Larry was one of those guys who kept track of litters by naming all the pups with the same letter, but somehow one in this litter got named Scarlet. Although a fine pit dog, she escaped Larry's ownership. Another game sister of Barney was Belle, who won several matches.

CH FITZWATER'S GOLDIE (4XW)

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Frank Fitzwater's Goldie it is said resulted from an accidental breeding on Howard Heinzl's yard in Tempe,Arizona. His sire was Heinzl's Colonel who was out of a Colby bloodline sire and a Lightner "Old Family" bitch and Colonel's dam Heinzl's Amber Annie was an inbred Lightner "Old Family" bitch.  Most of the Lightner "Old Family" blood went back to such Old Family Red Nose dogs such as Fergusson's Centiped, Harvey's Red Devil, Hemphill's Broke Jaw and Dickenson's Tangerine.  The blood of Jim Searcy's Jeff was also there. So, Goldie who won 4 matches was 25% Colby blood and 75% Lightner Old Family (mostly red nose) blood. It is interesting to note that the Lightner bloodline was of Irish descent and was known to be one of the gamest strains of pit dogs in the history of the game.

Goldie was labeled as a cur, something Heinzl had bred to sale and make a little feed bill money. This dog had been tried at 2 ½ years old and would not fight. Frank bought this dog known as Fitzwaters' Goldie for $15.00, as they were going to kill the dog.

KLAUS' ZEKE (4XW)

Fitzwater's Ch. Goldie proved and validated his pedigree in the able hands of Mayfield in one match by scratching an incredible 24 times and winning the show. His offspring include Klaus Zeke ( the sire of Indian Bolio ROM and Sorrells' BULL) and his litter sister Womack's Mert (dam of Carver's Miss Spike who produced Gr Ch Boomerang, Ch Fox, Ch Nell, Art's Missy; also dam of Stockton's Ch Big Liz the dam of Hooten's Ch Butcher Boy, from whom such as Gr Ch Banjo and Gr Ch BB Red descended when the blood was combined with that of Art's Missy).

The Dibo and Ch Goldie lines were first combined by Frank Fitzwater and Don Mayfield and with great results. Such greats as Mayfield'sPit General, Davis' Gr Ch Boomerang, Hooten's Ch Butcher Boy, Gr Ch. Banjo and BB Red as stated before, STP's Gr Ch Buck, Jackson's Hank (sire of Ch Jocko and Ch Argo), even Gr Ch Mayday ROM has a lot of the influence of this combination via the Ch Jocko and Hollingsworth (Tombstone / Bolio) blood.  Also we should not forget the Eli (heavy Dibo) / Snooty ROM (Ch Goldie / Dibo ) crosses which has yielded such aces as Ch Chinaman, Gr Ch Bo, Gr Ch Spike and the yard of champions owned by the Viera Bros.on the west coast.

Pat Patrick has been having continued success with Dibo / Goldie crosses over the years and still continues to produce competitive gamedogs. However many do not realise that Don Mayfield was one of the originators of this potent cross and deserves due credit. An interesting fact is that the "great California ear dog", McCaw's Ch Going Light Barney, was defeated by Van Parkman's Pistol a Dibo / Goldie cross dog, which took all Barney had to dish out and caused Barney to quit as his gameness apparently frustrated the California destroyer.

..... By Mr.Cool in the interest of those who do not know.

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CH. JOE-TAN'S SWITCHBLADE

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Switchblade was born Oct. 30, 1989. He was bred by The Yankee Boys. Switch was given to Jo-T as a gift. He was tested by Jo-T against Yankee Boy George's Raf. It was better than most matches. From there Raf went onto win two for the A-Team. Both dogs were wrecked in :58 minutes. Well, after passing his game test, he was heated up and ready to match.

His first was against BoBo, a hard mouth Turtle BusterX Rascal dog. BoBo came in at 50lbs and had it all his way for :30 minutes. Switch was wrecked in the front end, but he came back and made BoBo pay in the nose and legs. BoBo stopped half way over and was counted out at :58.

Number two came against Tommy's Spike who was said to be a tremendously hard biting O. Stevens' Gr. Ch. Virgil dog. Spike could bite, but he was consistently beaten to the punch. Switch chewed him up from nose to tail. Spike stopped at :48.

After a year and a half rest, it was time for number 3. We got in touch with Mr. Bill, who referred us to Leo and the Bogg Boys from Massachusetts. The weight of 48 lbs. was agreed on. They brought one hell of a dog out of Pretty Boy's Loose Goose. He proved to be one hell of a dog. No turns or out of holds for :51 in an all out war. At :55, it looked like Spook was pulling ahead. Jo-T started talking to Switch and he started to come back. This proved to be too much for Spook who was in shock by 1:05. At 1:12, Spook to scratch, he can't. Switch courtesy scratches like he's got plenty left. Leo's Spook turned out to be dead game.

Switchblade lost some ivory and was retired to stud.

Switchblade was sired by Lander's Gr. Ch. Rambo out of Disaster of Gator ( Ch. Alligator blood).