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Richard F. Stratton.com - Short Stories>
Tough Test for Coons by Richard F. Stratton
The readers may note that I have drawn upon Morrie Rootberg for a number of stories about Bulldogs. Pit dog men often look down their noses at anyone who has never matched a dog. To be fair to the pit dog men, there is a certain justification in their attitude, for, so often, people who have never matched a dog are abysmally ignorant about certain aspects of the breed. Sometimes, however, some pit dog men are surprisingly ignorant, too, about certain aspects of the breed. In any case, Morrie, who has owned Bulldogs all his life, but only one at a time, is one of those rare individuals who is quite well versed on all aspects of the American Pit Bull Terrier.
One reason Morrie has better-than-average knowledge about the breed is that he has a curious and analytical mind. He never misses a chance to learn something new about dogs, whether it be from a veterinarian or a hound man. It seems that a particular coonhound man had told Morrie that a coon on a one-to-one basis could whip any dog. Morrie had a chance to test this idea when his dog Booger (sire of the famous Going Light Barney) ran across a coon in a water and forest area in the midst of Chicago. The coon didn�t even try to run. He was a big boar and had apparently taken his toll of dogs, for he showed absolutely no fear. That was his mistake, for Booger charged right in and promptly killed the coon. Poor Morrie didn�t have his breaking stick, so he had to let booger carry the coon home, and all the way, the dog chewed on the coon and cracked bone after bone in its body. By the time they reached home, the raccoon resembled a bear skin rug. Hardened pit dog man that he was, Morrie kept Booger on a leash from that point on when they were in the raccoon area.
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