American Bully: The second Year

Take a good long look guys. That’s right, Bane was Born in June 2013, I got him in September that year and didn’t win a thing till October 2014. By the second-year you guys will have a sense of understanding what you need to do to achieve a champion title. At this point I had talked to every single judge I could asking them what I could improve on. Some were nice and told me what I needed to do and a few basically told me I didn’t have a chance. I still can’t believe what I know now compared to back then but if I could, I wouldn’t change a thing. I have come a long way in the past 5 years and although I look back to reflect on my past endeavors, forward thinking is why I am where I am now. This entry is all about my experiences in my second year and how you can be better prepared for this leg of your journey.

Now, obviously by this point you can deduce that bane was less than an exemplary American bully.  Which is the reason soon after we attained his champion title we retired him.  I learn more in my second year than any other. I firmly believe you learn more from your losses than your wins and I’m one to count my blessings now because of it.  The first time we were able to win a blue ribbon I was happier about that then almost any of our wins after. By year two you won’t exactly know what you’re doing. You’ll just know the basics. Stack, Gait, up and back, and although you know them you won’t particularly know them well.  It isn’t until you get in there will you refine your handling and understanding of the sport.

Getting into American Bullies taught me a couple of things, but the biggest lesson was how to be resilient. Being as competitive as am I’ve never really felt that feeling of losing repeatedly. So, in the beginning you may have to find those small wins. Like how well your dog showed that day, or maybe you got to see the top dog in the world at the show that day.  Optimism must become a part of you.  Also, if your pessimistic you probably won’t be in this game to much longer.

Lastly, you’ll learn how to train your dog. Take it from me, when I’m at the shows now and I see dogs pulling their owner or snapping at other dogs that is the only time I look down at the owner. The American Bully by nature is a less driven and less dog aggressive breed. So, when I see an American bully act like that I know the owner has done ZERO work with the dog and invested no time.  You’ll get no respect from me if I see an untrained dog because that is one thing you can control. You can’t control the genetics of your American Bully. You can’t change his or her height, weight, color, bite, structure but you can change their impulses.  Take the time to train your dog. Go online and do some research on how to teach dogs basic obedience commands. You will at least get complemented on how well your dog acts, which for a while is all I had and you will develop a deeper bond build on respect.

I don’t expect every person reading this to experience the same things I did in my second year. Maybe you got lucky and purchased a dog that could win shows easily and didn’t have to go through the struggles I did.  If that’s the case I can be certain that you still had to learn how to train your dog and learn how to show your dog. You may even be still learning because you got a little spoiled in the beginning. I paid my dues up front, which is why I have the outlook I have. Doesn’t make me better nor worst just molded differently.  I hope this helps you shed some light on what you can expect and what’s expected in your second or maybe even third year if you didn’t start showing till year 2.

P.S. If you know your points and millstones you’ll see that on the paper bane is missing 30 points and a major from a different judge. We attained that in in September 2015 in Bakersfield under the lights.