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Carr White English Mediocrity has such a bitter taste when excellence lies so near! |
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serious protection!
"They are a proud gift from the past, a gift that we may not all be able to appreciate, a gift that may only speak to the hearts of a few, but a gift all the same. It is the matchless courage and sheer amazing heart of the dogs that were capable of such a feat that are worth saving. Our ancestors considered the dogs worth passing on to the future, and we can do no less." As a child I can remember running around my great grandfather's farm. It was a real old fashioned farm with small patches of crops and just enough animals to feed his family. He had a cane mill that he harnessed his mule to every fall and milled the sugarcane into syrup. He had goats and horses, rabbits, mules, all kinds of fowl, a fishing pond, and dogs; lots and lots of dogs. Eighteen Beagles he used for rabbit hunting and three big White English Bulldogs, Katie, Daisy, and Bull that tended the other animals, keeping them in line where they were supposed to be and doing what they were supposed to be doing. All of the animals were kept behind fences and in pens, all but his cherished Bulldogs. They were his farm hands, loyal and deeply devoted dogs that helped one man run an entire farm right by himself. His chickens had free run of the fenced in farmyard away from the house. Occasionally a chicken got over the fence only to be met by the bulldogs who, as a team, got the wandering bird back into the fenced in farmyard, which included opening the gate to the farmyard. These were the Carr WEB. They were truly remarkable dogs with remarkable abilities. Abilities I've yet to see matched by any other breed of dog, including the highly proclaimed Border Collies, said to have such a high level of intellect. In my opinion, based on what I saw as a child on my great grandfather's farm, and what I continue to see of the breed today from my own Bulldogs, they far surpass these other well known "smart" breeds. That is why I am so passionate about saving the rapidly disappearing breed.
CWE Gus and CWE DIxie Nearly impossible to tell apart! The CWE surpassed producing consistency as it's own breed long before the 'American Bulldog breed' was ever even developed. "Mr. Jake was an old southern gentlemen that farmed along with his sons and grandsons. He always kept a WEB in the truck with him as he rounded up the cows, took a hog in the pen, or play with the babies to keep them from harms way. If nothing else, the dogs kept valuable things from growing legs and walking off. His dog of choice was a big headed WEB. He always said, 'the bigger the head the more sense they had'. Well, after 60-70 years of breeding dogs, you think he might know a thing or two about bulldogs. "One old dog off of Mr. Jake's Hammer Head was Rad Max a Million or Max for short. Max lived with by buddy Ashley. You really had to know Ashley to appreciate him. His dad was a farmer / horse trader and Ashley grew up topping off rough stock trying to get them to the sale. 'That old man could ride the hair off a horse.' With old Ashley's eye for horses, he kept telling me that we had something special. Nobody else had dogs like these. I'd call him a liar and tell him that everyone had dogs like these. He'd say, 'Only 'round here, them Yankees ain't got no bulldogs. You're sitting in the middle of the best bulldogs in the world.' " John Conner Click below to see:
The
Carr dogs were bred for the 'header' type more than the heeler type for
nearly 80 years. Gus' Mr. Carr was better known around these parts for his bulldogs than for his farm. He hardly ever sold a dog; he bartered for favors; work on his truck or his house. He did sell a few to the passing stranger. He gave a lot away too, just because he believed everyone deserved to protect themselves and theirs. That how things were done back then.
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phenotype and genotype define the Carr WEB. He is what we are breeding
to preserve. At this point, Gus is the top Carr WEB known. Gus' inherent
guarding abilities are nearly un-obtainable in any bull breed today. A
Carr dog can no more beat a pit dog in the pit than could a pit dog beat
a Carr dog working on a farm. These are completely different working
dogs. Yet, the ability of WEBs to kill APBTs that come after livestock
is well known. Many have made the mistake to think a fighting dog is a
fighting dog, this is no more true than putting boxing gloves on a
Karate expert and asking him to box. Boxing and Karate are both
forms of fighting, yet involving completely different characteristic
techniques and thought processes. This is what the Carr dogs were all
about, an inherent, very specific working and guarding ability involving
a unique thought process and fighting style. These dogs are and were the
most serious bulldogs anywhere around. They did not threaten a potential
threat, they acted upon the threat, and unless called off of the attack
by it's master or even a family member of his master, including a child,
the Carr dogs proceeded upon the threat with a resoluteness and
intensity that is frightening to behold. The agility, speed, and
utter stealthy ness of the attack is comparable to the attack of a
feline more than of any canine. Unless called off or told to release
once the threat is caught, the threat is quickly killed, typically with
little to no injury to the Carr dog. The Carr dogs are kill dogs when it
comes to guarding and protection. Yet even moments after killing a
threat, a child can wallow, ride, and pull all over the dog. The Carr
dogs immediately turn off when the threat is eliminated. they do not
stay excited or pumped up, ready for more action, looking for another
fight. They simply return to their post and lay back down, being once
again a child's play toy. I can remember my daddy's old Carr dog
Spike.
I judge all dogs against him to this day; only Gus has come close. I
remember late one afternoon three stray dogs came wandering onto our
place. Three big dogs, two mutts and one German Shepard. Spike and all
of his 60 pounds watched their approach. When they finally
realized he was there, they were in range and it was too late. They
engaged in a gruesome battle that we were certain Spike would not
survive. But after about 10 minutes and with Spike on his back, we
realized that he was tearing their chests open from underneath. He gored
all three dogs while on his back, quickly and efficiently killing all
three of them. Spike got up, shook off, and limped back up the steps and
laid down on the porch. He had some bites on his legs and ears, but that
was it. I'll never forget that day nor will I ever forget Spike. As old
man Ashley put it, "Nobody else had dogs like these, You're sitting
in the middle of the best bulldogs in the world." This
remains a true statement for the remaining pure Carr dogs left. They are
almost completely gone and we are attempting to preserve and to protect
the purity of the old Carr blood, 'the best bulldogs in the world.' The
numbers of 100% pure Carr dogs dwindles below 100 dogs; and that is an
exceptionally optimistic figure. "Most all WEBs in this area trace
back to Mr. Jake Carr." John Conner Most simply trace
back to the Carr dogs, they rarely if ever are still found in a pure
state. When those few people who are familiar with the pure Carr blood
comes upon a WEB in these parts, they can tell you from the first sight
of the dog if it is a pure Carr or if it carries the Carr blood at all.
It is the consistency of the genotype and phenotype that has lasted for
nearly 80 years that sets the Carr dogs so far apart. The line is so
pure that the genotype and phenotype has been set and remains to this
day even after almost 80 years. Even with the out-crossing to other WEB
lines, the Carr blood dominates in the offspring, even after generations
of line crosses. This is a very pure, very dominant strain of
genes we're talking about here. Genes so pure that decades upon decades
of out crossing to other WEB blood and even to other breeds has failed
to over-ride the genetic prepotency of the Carr blood. Mr. Jake Carr was
no geneticist, he was a country farmer that knew how to breed bulldogs,
'the best bulldogs in the world.' "Well, after 60-70 years of
breeding dogs, you think he might know a thing or two about
bulldogs." 
