LiL ’ Black Dog Tales
Now I ’ ve been Involved with the APBT for nearly half my life , and believe them to be the superior breed of dog on the planet - bar none !! But with that being said , I ’ ve had an ongoing love affair with a great many working breeds : sighthounds , protection shepherds , weight pullin ’ American Bulldogs and scratchin hard catch dogs . But little did I know something in such a small package would weigh heavy on that statement . The Patterdale is a little black dog , full of life and fearing nothing . So , the story begins with the adventures of the lil ‘ black dogs .
A great friend of mine , Martin , ( who has some of the best working Patterdale Terriers I ’ ve seen ) had grown an interest in the APBT as a “ backer dog ” to run with his terriers when things got too risky to send them in . We ’ d spoken on many occasions about me getting a Patterdale as I ’ d been hunting with him and had admired his packs working abilities .
One Wednesday morning I received a phone call from him . “ Hey bro , I have got something you want .“ “ Oh yeah ” I replied . “ Yes , long story short , I got a hold of a male Patterdale from a buddy I ’ ve hunted with who just started a new job and is unable to hunt him as much as he needs to be , so he ’ s yours if ya want him !” I could hardly believe my ears !!! “ I ’ ll take him !!”. So , the deal was made and date set . The following Saturday morning my reluctant wife and I loaded up in the truck and headed 1.5-hour drive town to SLC to pick up my new Patterdale , the whole drive down my wife was on my case about getting another dog . I would
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Raw Power ’ s Wyatt , Enjoin the Ride
answer back trying to contain my excitement “ Babe he ’ ll be awesome , I can feel it .“
We finally arrive at our arranged meeting spot , I hopped out the truck hardly taking time to stop the truck all the way . “ Where is he ?” I questioned . Martin drops the tailgate of his truck , and there in a tiny crate sat an eager lil ’ shiny black dog ; Wyatt ! I flipped open the crate door and snapped the lead on and took a walk around the parking lot giving him a good lookin over , “ Damn dude , he looks like a mini APBT ” I remember spoutin off .
The next
few moments Martin was filling me in on what this lil ‘ guy had accomplished thus far , and still was a green dog . Now Wyatt wasn ’ t a pup but a full-grown dog about 1.5 years old , and he had a good catch under his belt in a fight with a coon inside a culvert , until he was pulled out . We soon loaded up the truck bound for home . Later that night he was bathed and set loose to run the house so he and I could bond . The wife started to take a likin to him “ Hell ; he ain ’ t half bad , he even knows tricks ” as he ’ s giving his paw for a shake .
The next few weeks were a lot of bonding and conditioning , prepping him for the upcoming weekends that were callin ’ our name .
On a Friday afternoon after a long day at work I raced home and started my preparations for that night ’ s hunt . What seemed like forever before the sun finally rested behind the snow capped mountains . Wyatt !! I called out “ It ’ s time , let ’ s go get something to rag on !” With a kiss to the lady ;