By Richard Gray (Former President STCA)
If I try to tell the story of the Ruffian line
without giving the founders some credit, I would feel like an Ingrate. Even
before Clayton Harriman, the Ruffian line was being formed. The people chiefly
responsible were Martin, Klump, Schroeder, and maybe even others should receive
some credit. In my opinion none of these follows had a complete concept that
they were forming a line, but begin a line they did.
From my research I couldn't find a single entry In
the AKC's Stud Book by Schroeder. Floyd C. Klump had a few dogs entered Into
the Stud Book. Ed C. Martin had many dogs entered Into the Stud Book. Martin's
AKC involvement was from 1939 - 1949. How long he was In the other registry I
do not know, but all these men had an Impact.
In going through the AKC Stud Book I noticed a
strange geographic coincidence. The first was a strong correlation between the
states of Michigan Texas. and Colorado. Martin, Klump, and later Harriman all
resided In Michigan. Harriman moved from Texas to Michigan. He had a brief
stay In Kansas City between Texas and Michigan. While In Texas, Harriman met W.
D. Harper. Harper later developed her Har-Wyn strain. William M. Whitaker
lived In Colorado. Whitaker, Harper, and Harriman seemed to work closely
together.
Today Monske and Nowicki along with others Live In
Michigan. Gigi and Jerry Rooney Lived In Michigan until they moved to Colorado.
Of course, I live In Texas. This group with other Ruffian fans, cooperates very
well together.
Mr. Harriman, from what I can determine by
studying the AKC's stud book, did have a solid view of what he was doing. I
never met the man, but when you see the number of litters the man bred and how
those litters were bred, I felt this was a gentleman Intent on developing a
line. He was successful, and his line has lasted over fifty years. Of course,
there have been Infusions of dogs from time to time, but each Infusion of this
purest of strains was based on Ruffian dominated dogs. Harriman's good dogs
were too numerous to list, but The Ruffian himself was a landmark dog as was
Ruffian Our Teenie, Ruffian Walkway, but I fell In love with the picture In
Ormsby's book. I find It strange that today none of the blood from Bubbling
Over Is still In Am Staffs.
Even though I never saw Mr. Harriman's early dogs,
from the pictures I did see that Mr. Harriman's stock was very stylish (type),
and not over sized. Even today when the purest of Ruffians are crossed with
other lines the original style often holds true. Unfortunately, I don't know
how sound they were.
The first entry In the AKC's Stud Book by Clayton Harriman was in 1939. His wife Letti seems to have taken over the kennel after Clayton passed on and the last entry I could find was in 1949 as well.
Enter William Whitaker and Howard Hadley into the
picture of developing the Ruffian Line. Howard I don't think was in the least
bit Interested In developing a Ruffian line. Howard was developing the
Mounthaven line from William's dogs. However, Howard had used a dog-named
Ruffian Scalawag. Scalawag was as strong a Ruffian bred dog as one could find.
Howard also had a dog-named Mounthaven Tex of Har- Wyn, a littermate to Ruffian
Grayboy of Har-Wyn So this was a powerfully bred Ruffian dog. Ruffian dogs such
as Ruffian Contact of Har-Wyn, Ruffian Rudy of Har-Wyn were intertwined into the
west coast infusion of our brood so that I could not help but think of them as
Ruffians. Indian Doc was a result of this west coast style of dog. If you have
never heard of Indian Doc, he was special.
Howard produced a pair of females know as Ruffian
Janet of Mounthaven and Ruffian Janet of Har-Wyn. This pair was outstanding. I
do not think either was over shown, and I couldn't understand why they were not
shown. These two play a role In the development of Ruffian Red Rack of
Har-Wyn. Howard was Active In AKC dogs from 1943 to 1968 at least.
William Whitaker was developing his Jollyscamp
line . However, his dogs were as pure Ruffian blood as a dog could be. His most
powerful Influence was the fine dog Jollyscamp Blueguard. Blueguard Is as
Important to the Ruffian strain as any single dog I can think of, save his sire
Gallant Ruff. In fact, the two may be the corner stones of the breed. I am not
sure of that last statement as I have not studied all the pedigrees for Am
Staffs. Mr. Whitaker may have been one of the three best Ruffian Breeders to
this date.
While the basic style of dog Whitaker had was
similar to Harriman, more size and variety were added. Other Important dogs
Whitaker was responsible for were Puddin Pie Pepper Duster, Puddin Pie Blue
Smoke, and Jollyscamperpuss. While Whitaker greatest activity In brooding AKC
dogs was between 1945 and 11958. He had profound Influence on the brood.
Ed Ringold kept the Gallant line In tack until his
death. Gallant Ruff was the corner stone for the Ruffian and Gallant line.
Gallant Kimbo I think was responsible for any phenotypical difference between
Peggy's dogs and the Gallant line (Ed's dogs were very stocky for the most part)
, but In fact, I see the two lines being Parallel lines. Ed produced so many
fine dogs and such a fine type that he needs more credit. Some of Ed's finer
Stock should be noted were Gallant Pistol Pete, Gallant Golden Girl, and Gallant
J.R.. Mr. Ringold was active with the breed from World War One until his death
In the mid 80's.
Charlie Lloyd was active helping Ed keep the
Gallant strain alive. Charlie was a mainstay In the breed from 1954 until very
recently. Charlie had some big winning dogs In his time. He should receive the
credit he deserves.
Ike and Joan Stinson brought his Crusader dogs
Into the mix because they were such good show dogs. Ed, Peggy and others
couldn't resist using them and In fact the Crusader dogs had liberal doses of
Ruffian blood from Gallant Ruff and Howards Hadley's stock. Knight Crusader and
Knight Bomber were Just outstanding and Knight Crusader for many years was the
biggest winning Am Staff In the breeds history. From the few Crusader dogs I
did see, these dogs appeared to be based on soundness.
Some people to this day will say that Crusader was
not a line just a kennel name. These people do have a point, but the same fault
can be made about many of the other famous lines In the breed.
Peggy Harper visited the line next and she
scrambled the genes. Peggy used Howard's dogs, some of Ed Ringold's dogs, Peggy
used William Whitaker dogs , she even used Tacoma all- A- Blaze, she also put
some of her fathers' pit bulls Into the Mix, and some Crusader blood. Peggy
broods The Ruffian of Har- Wyn, she used Ruffian Headlight Hal In large
amounts. Other major Impact dogs were Ruffian Sika, Ruffian Dreadnought,
Ruffian High Ace, Ruffian Grayboy, Ruffian Chita, and others I am sure I have
left out. Peggy even produces Ruffian Hercules of Har-Wyn, for years the top
producer In the history of the breed. Ruffian Red Rock of Har-Wyn her most
famous show dog, and for awhile, the top winning Staff In history, and he was
one of the last Peggy bred. The old Tacoma dogs trace their roots back to the
same base as the Ruffian line does so All - A Blaze was not an out cross.
However, Peggy may be most remembered for Introducing Blitz and especially Sky
King Into the Ruffian Mix. Some would argue that Blitz and Sky Kings Impact
changed from the Ruffian line to Har-Wyn line at this point and time. I would
agree that the Sky King Influence altered the line, It would not be too big of a
stretch to suggest that the line could be called the Har-Wyn line Instead of
Ruffian.
Blitz and Sky King were litter mates. They were 5/8 Ruffian, 1/8 X-pert, l /8
Tacoma, and I /8 unrelated to any major line. She did this because Sky King was
such a sound dog and a big winner of his time. He gave her dogs an edge In the
show ring. A great female behind Sky King was Jones Gaye One Roxie. I've seen
only the one picture, but what a picture. I asked Peggy who was the best Am
Staff she had ever seen not of her kennel. Peggy replied " Jones Gage One
Roxie."
I do not know that Peggy really knew what she was
doing In so far as genetics were concerned, but she was doing It anyway. Her
method of breeding was based on numbers. She had many different looks In her
kennel. Many were sound, some were not real sound physically, but what drew me
to her line was the out going temperaments they had. This was Important to me
and no easy trick with a kennel of 60 + Am Staffs In her runs. You know they
had little or no socialization, and still they wanted to be your friend.
Peggy was one of a kind. She would have made a
fine Am Staff, Except she wasn't nearly as stable as our dogs. She acquired
Ruffian Headlight Hal from Whitaker for Just being willing to take the dog off
his hands. Hal was very dog aggressive and hard to control. Peggy was maybe
5'1 ", Whitaker was a big man, but Peggy grabbed the leash from Whitaker, took
Hal Into the ring, won , and then she took him home. I heard other stories
about other dogs and how Peggy acquired them, Including Tacoma All-A- Blaze.
Knowing Peggy It might have been true. I still pray for her.
Peggy Harper or Winnie Doris Harper was In AKC
dogs from 1947 to 1977. Remember Stud Book entries will always be a gear or two
behind.
After Peggy's death Melvin Powdery took over for
at least 3 months. Richard Bell became Melvin' partner and soon had all the
dogs to himself. Richard used his dog Ruffian Hercules of Har-Wyn and produced
many dogs For a good length of time Hercules was a top producer of champions.
Richard was soon forced out of Am Staffs.
In the late 60's and In the early 70's many
players were active In the Ruffian arena besides Richard Bell. Among these were
Susan Rogers, Walter Patton Jr., O.L. Hill, Mr. D Mrs. Hartnet, and others.
Shortly before this were Hendrix Harper, William F. Peterson, Richard Pascoe,
myself, and Charlie Lloyd.
Richard Pascoe had Ruffian dogs. This was not
Important to Dick. Dick wanted good obedience dogs and that he had . Dick'
strain went heavily Into Indian Doc type dogs. Doc was a big winner. Indian
Doc was a winner In more than one arena. Dick then bred Into Ruffian Hercules .
The dogs were Impressive and to my view he produced one of the very best I've
ever seen, Whiterock Grover. One of Grover's daughters, Penny, when bred to her
uncle, Bomber, produced a group of dogs that made Dick famous for years. Among
these dogs were Whiterock Perry the Fridge and Rounder's Whiterock Azure Some
remnants of that breading still exist. Dick slowly Introduced Ruffian Rolls
mixes along with some Tacoma Into his line. Currently he has few, If any, of
the purest Ruffians one can have. However, Dick really likes what he Is
producing, and can anyone fault that.
Wm. F. Peterson brought with him a strain of Crusader dogs That was as pure as
driven snow. Bill called his line Wlllynwood. 01 hill also used Ruffian
Hercules as a stud. Wow! The offspring were just great Brae Bull Adam of
Topstaff, Wlllynwood Liberty Belle, Wlllynwood Blue Lotus, and too many more to
name. Bill next bred Into Ruffian Red Rock of Har-Wyn and had good dogs, but
not as good as Bill wanted. Bill started brooding Into Ruffian Rolls Mixes and
I think he Is happy with what he Is getting, but his pure Ruffians are no
longer, at least I can't find them.
O.L. Hill, this man was not a show person first.
He did know how to be effective at showing. In my view he was very Interested
In what the breed was supposed to be " the original function". He started off
with a Ruffian dog Ruffian Harper of Har-Wyn. Harper was out of Sky King and a
Sky King daughter. He bought Ruffian Chita from heavy old Ruffian blood. Next
he bought females from other lines ( Ruffian the line was not Important to Mr.
Hill as function was) . Mr. Hill also used the dog Heffiers Maccaundo from my
old line. However, to stay on his place, the dog had to function and the
Ruffians were the ones who stayed. I think only one female from other strains
was breed at O.L.'s place. While the Ruffian line was not Important to O.L. his
Concho dogs remained the strongest Ruffian till the and.
I think Susan Rogers had one of the better
concepts concerning what the Ruffian line was, or at least as to how a dog
should look (for the show anyway). Susan's main dog was Ruffian Sky Bolt of Har
Wyn (Ruffian Red Rack of Har-Wyn sire). She picked him up as the Har Wyn kennel
was being destroyed. She also put Ruffian Hercules of Har-Wyn Into her line.
She didn't realize how closely related these two dogs were. However, she may be
responsible for as many good looking dogs as Anyone. Some of her more
impressive dogs were Herks Harper, Tryarr Strawberry Fields, and others. Her
Tryarr line was maintained pure for the relatively short time she was In Am
Staffs. The Hartnets were not In dogs very long. They did produce Mountshire's
Barn Bass a fine dog.
Walter Patton Jr. did know who to listen to. His
major claims to fame were brooding Atchley's Fanny to Ruffian Red Rock of
Har-Wyn. This produced Skillet, Josephine, and Lucy Belle. I think his pride
presented him from repeating the brooding. He had some other successes but
nothing that matched his first litter. He really didn't care about the Ruffian
line just success. Walter did a lot of brooding and spread his dogs around
quite well. At present he Is not In Am Staffs.
Ruth Alexander developed her Atta Boy and Atta
Girl line from mingling the Har-Wyn strain with the Gallant Strain. She
produced many a good looking stylish dog. She has more Gallant blood than any
of us within the strain.
Rudy and Nancy Estevez owned Ruffian Red Rock of
Har -Wyn. They owned Ruffian Little Herc of Har-Wyn, a dog Hendrix and I took
to help our Ruffian blood.
Hendrix Harper understands genetics as well or
better than anyone. In fact he Is the one that sold me on keeping the line
pure. He Introduced me to Dr. Roy Fangue, a Genetics professor at Texas A&M .
Roy sold me on Quantitative Genetics . Hendrix was already using It. Hendrix
could predict things that did come true, and I was Impressed with the
predictions, If not the offspring.
Hendrix was In part responsible for Ruffian Harper of Har-Wyn. He was also the breeder of Ruffian Texas Queen. Later he produced Tonkawa Big Tex. Big Tex has been used over and over. The results are still out on the dog, but I am betting on him. His line Is the Tonkawa line and he maintains some Interest In the purest of Ruffians. He has other dogs with backgrounds other than pure Ruffian. No matter which dogs you ask Hendrix about, he Is pleased with where his dogs are.
Gigi & Jerry Rooney had the Rowdytown line. This
line was based on Skillet. They had branched off Into a strain that was not as
pure (they were being successful with those dogs) as what could be, but realized
what the Ruffian line was and came back to It. This was a major show of faith.
These two made the Ruffian line popular again. If the line Is to be maintained
they should have major amounts of the credit. These two were responsible for
Rowdytown Hard Rock Cafe, Can Am's Iron Skillet, and too many others to
mention. Jerry Is out of Am Staffs right now but Gigi continues.
Now as to myself, I really had no clear cut vision
of what I was doing In the mid/to late 60's as I showed, and from time to time
bred my bitch. However, after I listened to Dr. Ray Fangue at a seminars I
began to formulate a plan of action. Dr. Fangue, when asked about out crossing
responded, "why would you want to." After listening to responses, Dr. Fangue
countered with two basic answers. One If you like the other guys dogs better
than yours leave yours behind and get the other guys. ( You don't want to be
Mixing up the hidden genes.) Two If your line Is lacking a trait find the best
dog within your line ( Insofar as that trait Is concerned) and use that dog to
improve your line slowly. Now Dr. Fangue made a lot of other points about the
form of genetics he works with (Quantitative Genetics) . but It would take too
much space to put all his points down. People have written books about the
subject. To be blunt about this breeding program, It does have some down sides,
but It has been fun trying to overcome the genetic bottle necks and polygenetic
difficulties. While I do feel we are making progress, I must admit that
progress will be cyclical and not always steady.
Now as to some ups and downs already experienced
by me, Ruffian Gentleman's Gem (Man) was Best of Breed at the STCA specialty.
After Man I had few dogs that I was pleased with, some of the displeasure was
due to some out crossing I did and some was due to poor selection on my part.
In fact, Hendrix and I were breeding dogs strictly on paper and we were very
unsuccessful all because we put little emphasis on selection. After that I
realized It takes good dogs as well as a good program to have what you want.
Rounder's Top Sergeant was a big boost. I admit
Ruffian Gentleman's Gem was as much luck as skill, and at least as much of
Peggy's planning as mine. Sergeant was the result of breeding my best pal,
Ruffian Sunset of Romar, to Whiterock Grover. Sunset, or "Hope as I called her,
can be traced back directly to Mr., Harriman and Whitaker dogs. I used Hope and
her daddy, Ruffian Little Herks of Har-Wyn as much as I could. At that time I
believed I could still salvage the old strain before Sky King and the other
Infusions. Unfortunately, I could create no Interest and the dream disappeared.
However, the line still was strong If you
considered the west coast strains, Sky King, Crusader, and Gallant as part of
the Ruffian strain. I did. Now A dream Is born. As the Skillet, Lucy, and
Josephine litter was Important for Walter Patton. The breeding of Rounder's
Dotty to Rounder's Casey was a life saver for Rounder's kennel. In the early to
mid 80's I had lost almost all of my stock to a virus. I had only two pups
left. However, my brother had Dotty and a friend had Casey. By a quirk of fate
I was given both back. The two produced the best litter I had up to that point
(except perhaps Grover to Hope). Not only were we alive, we were competitive.
Until that time we were holding on by the skin of our teeth. We have had many
good litters since Dotty to Casey, but most of these go back to Dotty &, Casey.
Dotty can be traced back to Ruffian Gentleman Gem
(Man) who had a big dose of Sky King and the old Ruffian blood. Dotty also has
a dose of Concho blood which was very similar to Man. Rounder's Casey Is the
result of Lucy Belle and Stanley. Stanley was the last of the old time
Ruffians.
I did manage to pick up Dinah Girl from Mr.
Bally's stock In Laredo, TX. ( I found out later what they were being used for
the original function), Dinah went back to my old stock (Man). Dinah produced
some pups for us and led to a female ( Rounder's Pokey) who was what this breed
should be, In the mind at least.
Rounder's White Rock Azure came from Dick Pascoe's kennel. This was one of his last pure breeding But Azure, while not being prolific, did produce Rounder's Blackheart, and this girl has a lot of what I want In an Am Staff.
Hendrix produced a male Tonkawa Big Tex and he may have even been too hot even
for me, but, oh my, was he good looking. He had a look that was very Intense
and you know he accepted no trash form any dog. I bred him to as many of my
bitches as I could.
During the decade of the 80's I had few dogs and
a smaller market. The Ruffian line was down to about 25 dogs of the purest
blood. While Hendrix and Dick still had a few ( purest of Ruffians) It was
obvious that their plans lay elsewhere. I knew there were others, but where?
The answer came at a STCA specialty held In Louisville Ky. In the Mid 80's.
I had searched for any who had these few purest of
Ruffians none of the owners were Interested, except for Jerry &, Gigi Rooney.
These folks did a lot of work researching where the Ruffians were. Sometimes we
were successful, sometimes we were not. One example of what happened was Jerry
getting a female from Bill Harbor who had a number of these Ruffians from O.L.
Hill, but was only mildly Interested In what we were doing. Jerry also had
great luck recruiting young, eager people to join the program, something I could
not do.
The Rooney's sold to Ruth Prehn. Ruth started a
line known as Ledgerock. Her dog Ledgerock's Copper Corn was a superior dog.
Unfortunately I have not found him In any of our purest of Ruffian pedigrees.
Ruth's fabulous moving female Rowdytown's Jazz of Ledgerock Is behind much of
the Rowdytown stock. Ruth's stay In the breed was short, about ten gears In the
80's. However, Ruth has gone on to become an AKC Judge.
I have built my line based on having physical and
mental soundness. I have been faulted on not having more type or on not even
developing a type. To me physical and mental soundness are the correct type and
all else Is secondary. I am at this time slowly developing a type but making
sure that we don't lose soundness.
I should mention that Eric Jackson has brought
some solid dogs that go back Into the Tryarr and Gallant strains. This should
make the line stronger. Eric also has some of the remnants of the pure side of
the Whiterock dogs. Eric's Tryarr dogs were brought In from Jane Robello. Eric
acquired them after Jane died. He also has a fraction of my stock.
Jerry and Gigi brought In Keith Monske, Lisa
Jenkins, Jodi Petiach, Randi Holtzman, Eric Jackson and others. These folks
have recruited other bright face too numerous to mention. I have had some
success In Europe with Manuel Torres, Shawki Sharif, Ton Van Zantoliet, and
maybe others.
Keith Monske has his stock about 45% Rowdytown and 45% Rounder's with about 18 % being traced back to the Tryarr Gallant breeding. Keith has become quite good at finding bright eyed new owners for his Ruffian based dogs. One outstanding such now person Is Sean Nowicki.
Jodi Petiach has dogs that are traced right back
to Rowdytown stock. She brood Can Am's Iron Skillet. She has been successful
In the show ring, and her pups just keep getting better and better.
Lisa Jenkins has about 50% Rowdytown and 50%
Rounder's. She like Jodi Is a super critical person the kind that will make a
fine breeder. Kate Lamont was found to have a pure Ruffian male we didn't know ,
and one was found In Europe. I think we will not find many more of these
Ruffians.
We have as many or more people with these Ruffian
dogs now than we had Ruffian Dogs In the middle of the 80's . Things look good
now with many young outstanding dogs on the way, but who knows what will happennext.
I can tell you this- I am excited about going down this chosen path with this
group of people, they are quality.
At present, I believe we are starting a period of
Improvement. How much, will be hard to predict. We just do not know the limits
of the line. I am seeing a great number of good ones, and they should lead us
to even better ones. Whatever happens, I am satisfied that we have done the
best job we could, and the effort was well worth making.