I thought perhaps I should take a moment and let you know a little bit about myself.
My name is Mark Mallard.
I live in Southern California with my wife and three children.
My first introduction to the American "pit" Bull Terrier was back in 1978, with the family housedog (I was still in High School at the time). Like many who are new to the breed, I was quickly enamored with these dogs and was thirsty to learn as much as I could about them.
At that time, Richard Stratton’s first book (This is the American "pit" Bull Terrier), had been out for just a little while. I read that book so many times, I wore it out and had to buy an additional copy! I’ve since purchased many copies and have given them out as a “treatise” on the breed for first-time or prospective owners.
During the early 80’s, I met a man that changed the way I looked at these dogs.
I will refer to this fellow as, “The Gentleman”.
The Gentleman started his own kennel registry and was very respected in the game dog world.
The Gentleman was well connected with the gamedog fraternity and I was fortunate to be his student.
Through his association, I developed relationships with several old-time dogmen and learned a great deal about gamedogs. I eventually became a conformation judge for his registry.
Bert Clouse was a supporter of The Gentleman and came to California with his wife, to speak at an annual registry function. Dogmen from all over to hear Mr. Clouse speak.
During his stay in California, Mr. Clouse and the Gentleman developed a trusted freindship.
I never personally met Bert Clouse.
I went from proud housedog owner, to gamedog fancier shortly after he passed away (1982), so I just missed him.
When the Gentleman spoke about Mr. Clouse, you could see that the experience from knowing him was a profound one.
He and others who knew Mr. Clouse have a similar reaction.
They speak of Mr. Clouse with deep reflection, as if someone very special had come and gone.
I do not consider myself to be an expert on the Clouse line; however, I have owned Clouse stock.
The information here will come from stories passed down by credible people I have known, who also knew Mr. Clouse.
Some information will come from some old correspondence that I have kept over the last 25 + years, from individuals who had an association with the man. I will gather other related bits from vintage periodicals.
Some of the above information will be from noteworthy individuals such as, Jerri Clouse (Bert’s wife) Jake Wilder, Harold Sorrells and others. Anyone still living will be given an alternate name.
The pedigree information will come from UKC/ADBA AADR pedigrees, Peds on-line, as well as some hand-written pedigrees authored by Bert Clouse himself. I will only publish pedigrees that I can confirm to be accurate.
I got out of dogs in 1989. Many things have changed since then.
When I hang up my leash for good, I hope that I will be able to look back and see that I did some good things for these dogs, as well as for the people who own them.
There has not been a lot of information published about Mr. Clouse. The dogs down from his breedings are the legacy he left for us.
I intend to assure that the achievements of Mr. Bert Clouse will not go unrecognized by our new generation of fanciers, which again is the reason why I created this site.
For what it’s worth, I hope that my efforts will at least give an appreciation to who Mr. Clouse was, to the contribution he made to the breed and to the fraternity.
I am humbled to be involved with this endeavor. There are several pictures and scanned documents contained in this website, which depending on the speed of your computer, may take a little while to load so be patient!
Lastly, I would like to give a special thanks to Mr. Ed R of Oregon. Ed is good family man and has kindly shared many of the pictures and articles found within this site. As much as 75% of the content found here is on behalf of Mr. R. Without his contribution, the site would not have as much to offer, so thanks Ed!
Enjoy!
Mark Mallard
Be sure to visit the Clouse Dogs Message board.
http://www.voy.com/218263/
Have a look at my other sites as time permits!
www.freewebs.com/butcherboy
www.freewebs.com/dogletters
