TRAINING FOR THE
PIT
by L.
BOWSER
There
are several systems for training the pit dog for self-defense or
prospective battles. We consider the one employed by Mr. L. Bowser and
which was published in his "Modern Methods", to be equal if not
superior,
to any of the others, and with a few eliminations we give it
herewith:
This work is for four weeks or twenty-eight days, which
is long enough to condition any dog for battle. In fact, no dog can stand
longer training and do well. Experience has proven that with a longer
training a dog will become discouraged and train off. If these directions
are followed strictly, a dog can,
as far as his condition is concerned,
fight for hours at top speed.
I will give each day's work
separately. Minor changes may be made by the trainer to suit local
conditions, such as bad weather, etc.. I give this order for the benefit
of professionals as well as for amateurs, for I have had for opponents the
best conditioners the country affords, and have yet to meet the man who
has shown a dog in as good condition as mine. I train a dog's bite
as well as his wind and strength. If he can't beat his opponent to a hold,
and bite it when he gets it, he is not worth a bet. Any dog that I train
is quick to a hold
and has the jaw-power to punish.
FIRST
DAY
It is to be supposed that your dog is over weight, and is fat and
soft. His feet are soft and his toe-nails long. The first thing to do is
to clip the toe-nails off, but not so close as to cause bleeding. This
will prevent him from tearing them off in his work. Then give him a good
bath in luke-warm water, and rub him dry. Use one ounce of creolin to
every three gallons of water for his bath. His quarters should be warm and
well ventilated, but absolutely free from drafts. His bed should be of
good, clean straw, and this should be frequently changed.
Now weigh
your dog and you are ready for your first morning's road work. Take your
dog out on the chain and lead him about four miles. Never lead a dog
behind a horse or buggy, as this fills him up with dust and prevents him
from emptying out or urinating when he desires. On returning, give him a
good hand rub, always rubbing with the play of the muscles. Then put your
dog in his quarters until three o'clock in the afternoon. At that time
take him out for a short walk, long enough for him to empty out. Then
hitch him to the training machine (described elsewhere) for a run of three
minutes. Then take him for a slow walk until he gets thoroughly cooled
off. Then take him to your training quarters and rub him well with a
Turkish towel, following this with a good hand rub as in the morning. Then
wash his feet, first with clean water, and then with a wash made of white
oak bark steeped in water. This will toughen his feet. Then allow your dog
all the boiled water he will drink. This should consist of about one pound
of thoroughly boiled lean beef chopped fine and made into a mush with corn
meal. This should be sufficient for a day's feed for a forty-five pound
dog.
I usually take three pounds of first-class lean beef and boil
until soft, leaving about two quarts of the broth on it. I then sprinkle
in enough corn meal to make a thick mush, stirring the mixture until the
corn meal
is well cooked. Cool this and you have sufficient for three
days' feed.
A dog should not be fed more than once a day. Digestion
takes place much more slowly in a dog than in most other animals, the food
remaining in the stomach for twelve hours and requiring ten hours
longer
for intestinal digestion.
SECOND DAY
At about 7:00
a.m. take your dog out on the road for at least a four-mile walk, allowing
him to empty out and urinate as much as he desires. When you get back, let
him work on the coonskin and spring-pole (described elsewhere) for five
minutes. Be sure you time the work with a watch. No guess work. You must
know exactly how long he works, so that you can see how he improves on a
certain amount of work. Then you are to gradually increase his work as he
becomes stronger in wind and limb. When you are done working him on the
coonskin, cool him off by walking him slowly. Then take him to his
quarters, give him his hand rub,
and wash his feet in the white oak
bark solution. Then give him all the boiled water he will drink,
and
put him in his quarters until 3:00 p.m..
Right here I wish to say
that you should always give your dog, when thoroughly cooled off, all the
boiled water he wants to drink all the way through his training. It does
not fatten as does unboiled water, and will assist you in preventing your
dog from becoming feverish. I have seen dogs nearly crazy from a desire
for water after fighting for only twenty or thirty minutes. In fact, I
have seen good game dogs that when fighting in that condition would rather
scratch at a bucket of water than at their opponents.
At 3:00 p.m.,
after his usual walk to empty out and urinate, hitch your dog to the
training machine and run him, say three to five minutes. Then take him for
a walk to cool off, and go to the scales. Give him the usual hand rub, and
wash his feet in the white oak bark solution. Then put him in his
quarters, first allowing him plenty of boiled water to drink, and feed him
twenty minutes afterwards.
THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH
DAYS
Same as second day in every particular except to increase the
dog's work on the coonskin and spring-pole in the morning and on the
training machine in the afternoon, say about two minutes each day. Care
should be taken not to increase the dogs' work to fast, however. If he
can't stand two minutes' increase a day, don't give him quite that much.
Be sure not to overdo matters. Remember that we are only getting him
ready
for his hard
work.
SEVENTH DAY
Same as on the preceding day, except that when
you bring your dog back from his morning walk, add my fishing-pole
exercise to those already indicated. Take a strong fishing pole about
eight feet long, with a rope about three feet long on the end, to which a
coonskin is securely tied. Let the dog try to get ahold on this coonskin,
but do all you can to prevent him from doing so. But you must keep the
coonskin close to the ground, so that he will not have to leap in the air
after it. Teach him to snap at it and to turn quickly for a
hold.
Give him about two minutes of this exercise, and then let him work on the
spring-pole as before.
EIGHTH DAY
Continue as on the preceding
day, increasing the dog's work as already indicated.
If your dog
has done well, he should by this time be able to run the training machine
for eight to ten minutes without being very much fatigued. However, the
trainer must use his judgement on this point.
Take care not to distress
your dog by overwork. By this time he should begin to get over his
soreness.
NINTH AND TENTH DAYS
Road work, then the fishing-pole
or the spring-pole, whichever the dog seems to like best, for ten or
twelve minutes. Do a lot of hand rubbing. In the afternoon hitch the dog
to the machine, and then put him away,
caring for him as before
indicated.
After you have put your dog in his quarters for his
rest, never allow him to be disturbed. It is hard at times to refuse the
request of friends to lead him out or permit them to go to his quarters.
But it is better that he should not be annoyed. You are training a dog for
fighting, so don't make a "society man" out of him.
ELEVENTH,
TWELFTH, THIRTEENTH, FOURTEENTH DAYS
Same as on the tenth day, but with
a gradual increase of work,
say a couple of minutes more of each
exercise per day.
FIFTEENTH DAY
Give the dog his morning walk
and care for him afterwards as I have already instructed, but do not give
him any pole work at all. At 2:00 p.m., hitch him to the training machine
and run him ten minutes (by your watch). Then turn him around and run
him five minutes (by your watch) in the opposite direction.
Now don't guess at the time. Use your watch. When you unhitch your dog from
the machine, wash his mouth out with cool boiled water. Then give him ten
or fifteen minutes' work on the fishing-pole and spring-pole. Then put him
away, caring for him as previously instructed, except that his food should
be changed on this day.
It is probable that by this time your dog
is at, or a trifle below weight. Get a first-class piece of lean "round"
or "rump" steak, and boil it til medium well done. Add four slices of
well-browned toast. Chop the steak and toast up fine, mixing them well,
and feed cold. A forty-pound dog should have from three to three and a
half pounds of steak at a feed, and it should be cooked fresh for him
every day. This is to be his feed until he enters the pit. If he is above
weight, cut his feed down a little; if below weight, increase it. The
trainer must exercise
his own discretion on this point. However, be
sure to keep your dog strong.
SIXTEENTH DAY
No work in the
morning except the usual four-mile walk and the usual care afterwards. But
at 3:00 p.m., hitch the dog to the machine and give him twenty to
twenty-five minutes' work, half the time in one direction and the other
half in the opposite direction, always under the watch. Should the dog's
mouth get full of saliva while he is working, stop long enough to sponge
it out with cool boiled water. Then give him ten to fifteen minutes' stiff
work with the coonskin and fishing-pole. After this cool him off and give
him a sponge bath with alcohol, and then hand rub him til dry. His feet
should be washed every day with the white oak bark decoction. Water and
feed him as already directed. From now on your dog must have his alcohol
bath every day,
to prevent him from catching cold and getting
sore.
SEVENTEENTH, EIGHTEENTH, NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH
DAYS
Same as on the sixteenth day in every particular, except that the
dog's work should be increased
several minutes each day. From the
twentieth day on be sure to strengthen your dog's bite
and his
jaw-power by exercise with the fishing-pole and the
spring-pole.
TWENTY-FIRST DAY
Morning walk and care afterwards,
as before indicated. At 3:00 p.m.,
exercise with the training machine
and the spring pole.
The dog should now be able to run the machine
for twenty-five minutes and work on the spring-pole and fishing-pole for
fifteen or twenty minutes without becoming very much exhausted
or
losing his speed to any great extent.
TWENTY-SECOND DAY
Give the
dog his morning walk and care for him afterwards as usual. Then, at 2:00
p.m., work him on the training machine and the poles; but don't jump him
any more. If he can, by this time, run the machine twenty-five or thirty
minutes and work at the poles twenty minutes, he will be in condition to
go four hours in the pit. So all you have to do now is to keep him where
you have got him and get him near weight.
Always give him good care
after work, following the instructions previously
given.
TWENTY-THIRD DAY
Give your dog his usual morning walk,
followed by good care. Then at three in the afternoon give him thirty to
thirty-five minutes' work on the machine and twenty minutes on the poles.
He must now take hard work, for if he can't work hard and stand up under
it, he will not be able to stand up under the strain of battle in the pit.
After his exercise, care for him in the usual careful manner, except that
it may now be desirable to change the hour of feeding. Feed the same feed
and the same amount as previously indicated, but if you expect to fight at
night (say, the dogs are to enter the pit at 10:00 p.m.) you should feed
your dog one hour later each day than the day before, so that on the night
of the battle he will have had his last feed at ten o'clock on the night
before, or just twenty-four hours previous to entering the pit. In this
way you bring your dog empty into the pit,
which is essential to his
success in the fight.
TWENTY-FOURTH DAY
In the morning, long
walk with the usual care afterwards, and in the afternoon stiff work on
the machine and poles. I talk to my dogs a great deal in all my training
work. You will find that it pays to do so. You can encourage the dog very
much in this way. And then when your dog is in the pit, you can be of very
material assistance to him, for he will at times expect your approval and
will look and listen for words of encouragment, and he will respond to
your words in a manner that will surprise you. Often I have noticed a dog
that I have trained glancing up to me for approval or help, and he would
apparently understand me and do as I advised. This is indeed a very
important matter. You can't overlook this part of the training and
win.
Don't forget to give your dog good hand rubs and his alcohol
bath daily.
TWENTY-FIFTH DAY
Long walk in the morning and good
stiff work on the machine and the poles in the afternoon. Let him work on
the poles until he is tired. Take care of him, both in the morning and in
the afternoon as previously directed.
If your dog doesn't eat good,
beef tea will be found beneficial in building him up and keeping him
strong.
TWENTY-SIXTH DAY
Long walk as usual in the morning,
followed with the usual care, but only a medium amount of work in the
afternoon on the machine and poles. You must now begin to slack up on the
dog's work.
Give him first-class attention, caring for him exactly as
previously instructed.
TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY
Begin with the usual
long walk in the morning. Then give your dog a little less work in the
afternoon than on the previous day, if possible; but if he is hard to keep
to weight, you will have to give him more work. At all events, don't cut
down his feed in order to lessen his weight. Better give him work and feed
then to let him be without food and idol. I have found that an unusually
long walk helps a great deal to keep a dog to weight,
and this is
probably the best way to do it, for there is no danger of overwork in this
plan.
Care for your dog in other respects as already
suggested.
TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY, OR DAY OF BATTLE
Give your dog a
long walk in the morning, so that he can empty out thoroughly. Water him
and care for him as on other mornings, but omit the hand rub, or at most
rub only lightly. Be sure to walk your dog to the pit, if practicable, but
if not practicable give him a walk long enough to allow him to empty out
before weighing. When he has been weighed give him three or four ounces of
strong beef tea. I find this much superior to anything else that has ever
been used in this place. You should carry a bottle of beef tea to the pit
with you,
and when you get a scratch pour a swallow or two on your
dog's tongue.
It will serve both as a drink and as a
stimulant.
In the pit try to keep in such a position that your dog
can see you. When he is in a tight place get as close to him as you can.
Your presence even will stimulate him. If he is in need of rest, and is
not being hurt,
try to keep him quiet until he has recuperated; and
then, when he shows he is ready,
help him with words and looks of
encouragement.
Now, if you have followed these instructions
carefully and intelligently, you should have your dog
in as good a
condition as it is possible for human skill to make them.
If you
cannot give the time to train your own dog, by all means know the man you
hire,
and be sure he is above being
bribed.