First Published: 1998
Originally published in Hardback in 1998
Paperback, 432 pages, 2013
ISBN-10 : 0615850243
ISBN-13 : 978-0615850245
Book Description:
From the author of The World of Fighting Dogs and Pit Bulls and Tenacious Guard Dogs comes this third and most impressive book to date, Gladiator Dogs. Bringing to life thirteen breeds originally used as fighting dogs, Dr. Carl Semencic illustrates the history, characteristics and abilities of the world's toughest canines, and shares hundreds of great color photographs of top dogs sent by owners around the globe. The author does not fight dogs and does not condone dogfighting, but he is fascinated with the qualities and instincts of these fearless gladiator breeds. Gladiator Dogs is a valuable educational book that represents years of experience and research on these remarkable historical dogs. In addition to the author's favorite breed, the American Pit Bull Terrier, Dr. Semencic discusses other related breeds, such as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier, covering the differences and similarities between these bully cousins. A respected rare-breed authority and an accomplished world traveler, Dr. Semencic shares his first hand experience with these dogs from his trips to the Canary Islands, South Africa, Europe, and more. Gladiator Dogs profiles many breeds that the author has introduced, mentoured and promoted, including the American Bulldog, Canary Dog, South African Boerboel and Korean Jindo.
“This a book about breeds of dogs that were bred for the sport of dogfighting. The fact that many breeds were originally bred for dogfighting purposes and that some breeds are still bred for dogfighting purposes is a reality-like it or not. The fact that the sport of dogfighting has been a pastime among so many people of the world for thousands of years and that it remains a spo1t that is actively pa1ticipated in today by people all over the globe is also an indisputable reality. This is a book that confronts and explains this reality. It is not a book that condones or promotes dogfighting as a sport.”
CONTENTS:
Preface to the Latest Release Acknowledgments
Dedication
A Note to the Reader
Introduction
Of Politics and Fighting Dog??
Lets Play Question and Answer
The Mind of a Fighting Dog
Organized Dogfighting Today
Where Did All These Bulldogs Come From?
Akita
Jindo
Tosa
A Brief Introduction to Bull Terrier Breeds American Pit Bull Terrier
American Staffordshire Terrier
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Bull Terrier
American Bulldog
Bandog
Dogue de Bordeaux
Neapolitan Mastiff
Olde English Bulldogge
Canary Dog (El Perro de Presa Canario)
South African Boerboel
Conclusion
Preface to the latest release:
“My third book about dogs, entitled Gladiator Dogs, was published in 1998. It was doing very well when the publishing house that published it was sold and the new publisher decided to disassociate itself from all three of my books, probably because of the nature of the subject matter of these books. To be honest, a great number of copies had sold already at that point and I was neither here or there on the matter of selling more books going forward but for two problems. One was that I hadn't seen the sale of my publisher and the discontinuation of my books coming so I hadn't bought a few copies for myself! The second problem that for years people were writing me, emailing me or calling me asking me where they could get a copy of Gladiator Dogs and I, not having even a few copies for myself, couldn't help them.
Years went by and those who had stocked up on copies of Gladiator Dogs were selling them for as much as $600. each! As I am sitting here right now, there is a "new" copy being offered on amazon.com for $496.01 plus $3.99 for shipping. One day a novelist I know put me in touch with her publisher, he and I had a conversation and he offered to republish the book at his expense. I had nothing to lose. The rights to the book had reverted to me when the publisher dropped the title and if the publisher was going to do the job for free, my only investment would be the time it would take to correct a few errors the first publisher had made and correct any errors the new publisher would make in transcribing the manuscript. These were minor. For example, anywhere in the original book that I used the word "modern", the new publisher changed the word to "modern." I don't know why but it was easily correctable.
So here I am, fifteen years after the publication of Gladiator Dogs, writing an introduction to the new release of the book. Fifteen years ago I would have bet you a thousand dollars that this day would never come but I'd have lost that bet because here it is so as long as we are here, let's talk about the book a bit.
My dog books were a unique experience for me. They put me in contact with all manner of people from all over the world and in many instances I really enjoyed the acquaintances I made. Some were doctors, many lawyers, some veterinarians, many police officers of various rank, etc. and it is always enjoyable to chat about a favorite interest with intelligent people. On the other side of the coin, when talking about tough dogs you are also going to get second hand criticism from the peanut galle1y. People who live in what I consider to be squalor with little more than a pot to ... whatever in and who have nothing to boost their egos with other than that some other idiot agrees with him or her when he or she declares my books to be full of inaccuracies, etc. These people were always meaningless to me because in their lives they never contributed anything to the overall body of knowledge, are not contributing anything and will never contribute anything. Their greatest glory will be to criticize me for being who they wish they were. Sad.
The breeds discussed in this book have come a long way since I began writing dog books. For example, the Dogue de Bordeaux was well on its way to extinction when I had an a1ticle published in Dog World Magazine on the breed called "Introducing the Dogue de Bordeaux." At the time there were 600 individual examples of the breed in the world, none in the United States and the numbers were on the decline. Today they are registered with the American Kennel Club where they are listed in the "Working Group" and their use is described as "Guardian; Hunter." Give me a break A.K.C. ! Don't these people know anything about dogs?
One of my greatest regrets is that back when, I thought I had more time to introduce the Doquin de Bordeaux to the world outside of France. I put that introduction on the back burner until my introduction of the Dogue was complete and by the time I got around to going back to France to take a few pictures of Doquins, they had gone extinct. THAT is how fragile the condition of some of these breeds were when I began to write about them.
Incidentally, I have heard more than once that it was the movie "Turner and Hooch" that was responsible for the introduction of the Dogue de Bordeaux breed to the United States. False. That movie didn't come out until 1989 (search it on the web) and the dogs used were obtained from a guy who learned about the breed from me. My article in Dog World came out in 1982 and my first book, The World of Fighting Dogs, which dedicated a chapter to the Dogue, was published in 1984. So, sorry breed historians who would like to re-write the histo1y of this breed but it was me who saved the breed and while you can deny it, anyone interested in learning the truth can prove you wrong ve1y easily.
But that's the way it's been with the work I've done to bring little known breeds to public attention. So many want to re-write history and give the credit to anyone but me, regardless of the very easily provable facts. Is it frustrating? At times, but it is what it is and the truth is what it is and anyone who matters to me knows that. Furthermore, I am confident that politically correct dog registry organizations not withstanding, my day will come and eve1yone will have to recognize who did what and when.
In any event, it will be interesting to see how this book does once it is released again. I'm sure there will be those who will write negative reviews of the book either because they haven't read it, they always wanted to be the big rare breed e}..'Pelt themselves and couldn't be, etc. But as for you, reader, I hope you will enjoy the book, remember to view it within its historical context and think of me whenever someone offers some false history of the breeds discussed here.
Salute!”
About the Author
CARL SEMENCIC was born in New York City and still lives within walking distance of the city line. He holds a Associates Degree in Liberal Arts from Queensborough Community College, a B.A. in British and American Literature from Queens College, and a Master's Degree and Doctorate in anthropology from State University of New York at Stony Brook where his areas of special interest were the archaeology of the Americas and American Indian studies. An avid outdoorsman, Semencic enjoys fishing, especially fresh water with ultra-lite equipment, hunting, but only with traditional muzzleloaders, kayaking, especially in the Great Okefenokee Swamp but also locally, and hiking. He has travelled the world both on business and for pleasure. He is a member of the American Mensa Society.
Also available in the following format:-
Kindle Edition, 2013 : ASIN B00E4Q95K2 (File Size 24012 KB)
Audiobook, 2015 : (not all regions) ASIN B016N222RW
