A Fantasy Digger in His Own Words 
        In response to the
        question "What has he done?" in terms of
        hunting, educating others, taking people out into the
        field, or anything else, David Ellette (aka "Kabuki
        Joe" or "DWE") wrote January 8, 2003
        on the Dirt Dog message board at http://www.badgerpaw.com/dirtdog/messages/9416.shtml:    
        
            
                "...not
                much, which I have admitted on several
                occasions...I got my first terrier about 3 years
                years ago...while I was raising her, I waited for
                2 years to get something from John Cowen (which
                I'm raising right now)...so, like I said, not
                much...but there isn't much difference between
                pit terriers and digging terriers...you raise
                them up...give them everything they need to be
                healthy and strong...and when they are mentally
                ready you let them go...the one thing I've
                learned is it isn't "what you get", but
                "where you get it"    
             
         
        Does this last
        line mean that in order to get a good dog, you don't
        judge the dog but just buy any old dog from a big-name
        kennel, sight unseen?   
         
        In response to a question
        about whether he had ever shared his vast experience with
        anyone by actually taking anyone else out into the field,
        David Ellette (aka "Kabuki Joe" or
        "DWE") wrote http://www.badgerpaw.com/dirtdog/messages/9416.shtml :    
        
            
                "...let
                me be honest about one thing, I don't know enough
                yet to take anyone out...the only saving grace I
                have is an eye for a good dog...I can read dogs,
                and that comes from my past experience with pit
                dogs...as far as "how to hunt", not in
                your wildest dreams... "   
             
         
        What does an
        "eye for a dog" mean?  David bought his
        latest dog sight unseen, from a man he never met, who
        lives in a country he has never even visited.   
         
        When asked about his
        actual experience working terriers, David Ellette (aka
        "Kabuki Joe" or "DWE")
        wrote February 28, 2003 on the Dirt Dog message
        board at http://www.badgerpaw.com/forums/index.php?s=7daf9191a265719d8385c052d3fb802e&act=ST&f=11&t=29&hl=7%20month&st=60 (page 5) 
        
            
                ..well, I lost
                my first one...raised her up to 2 years old, let
                a buddy of mine that was starting out use her for
                6 months and I went out for a weekend of hunting
                and I went and got her killed...she was killed
                last May (I think), so I had to start over...it
                took me 2 years to get this current pup I have,
                but it was well worth the wait...I've been
                offered a dog here and there, but I've been set
                of Lakelands for the past 4 years...I have a
                little bitch coming down in the next couple of
                weeks and I'll head out to Idaho again and see if
                I can make it through a weekend without killing a
                dog... 
             
         
        In five years, he
        owned one dog that someone else worked for 6 months and
        which he got killed on one of the few times he took it
        out?  
         |