hind him. I thought; “Ok, let’s see
if I can put more on.” I kept adding
and even when it got too heavy, he
was ripping holes in the park grass
trying to move it. I didn’t know
anything about weight pulling, but
I thought about it like the gym,
so I lightened it up enough so he
could move it and he did, and did,
and did! I hooked him up to my
Toyota Yaris a little while later and
he pulled that. Won’t do that again –
he hurt his paw pads on the road….
They were bleeding so I kept it to
the grass or dirt after that.
Through a little research I
found out where an ADBA
weight pull was and took him. It
was a fun show but he got a 2nd
place (pulling off the side of the
track.) I met Randy Chapman and
David Schwab and they taught me
a few things and invited me to some
more pulls.
I’ve had a ton of fun with this
dog. At times he’s been just too
much dog for me. I’ve had multiple
trainers try to calm him and get him
to walk on a leash, but they gave
up. One guy actually told me “this
dog is way up there on the hard to
deal with scale.” Ha-ha. His DOB
is March 11th 2009. He is 9.5
years old and he took a 3rd place
Nationals at 8 years old.)
14
I’ve seen him leave it all on the
track multiple times. He was in the
running for 2011 APA dog of the
year. All he had to do was get 4th
or higher at Nationals, but I didn’t
want to drive to Missouri. (Sorry
buddy, I should have taken you).
It’s hard to believe he is still pulling
now and that was 7 years ago.
I’ve always loved stats. He was at
8th place all time points (APA 80lb
class before they left Utah), and at
this point I’m just seeing how many
points he can get with ADBA. To
try and keep Romeo happy and
pulling as long as he can, because
frankly, he lives for it and I believe
he was born to do this. When I work
other dogs in my yard, he howls
and howls. It’s so much more fun
to pull with a dog that wants to do
it. I’ve trained a lot of dogs since
and so far I still haven’t had one
with this drive.
Who do you consider your
mentors to be?
In the beginning, I spent a lot of
time just asking questions. Over
the years I’ve learned a lot from
Joy and Ivan Johnson, Randy,
David and Shilo Cone, Corey
Stewart, and especially Judd
Munns.
Where is your favorite venue to
travel to?
My favorite venue is the
Washington State club because of
the show location and in the past
they had 3 weight pull events. One
on Friday night, one on Saturday
and one on Sunday.
How do ADBA shows compare
to other events you’ve participated
in?
I think the ADBA events are
more fun. I really love the camp
out shows.
ADBA has reclassified many of
your dogs under the American
Bully breed because your dogs’
bloodlines come from the American
Bully lines. Can you tell us about
the characteristics and traits you
have refined and are producing in
your bloodline?
I’m trying to breed Bully’s that are
short and thick but still athletic and
functional. Of course with a newer
breed, it’s not always as consistent
as I would like. What separates
my kennel for the competitions is
as far as looks, I try to go more for
just thicker & shorter APBT looks.
Some of the Bully guys are getting
close to English Bulldog looking
face and stuff. For me, I’m not
really into that.