("The History of Razors Edge"has been moved to the column box below this one)
Letter from Dave Wilson -founder of Razors Edge
12-29-09
Lets see... Well it began with years of research, in a time when
there was no Internet and there was no free long distance. So
time wise and money wise it was quite intense to even begin. Not
too mention how virtually impossible it was to get the good stock
from a breeder, let alone without a crazy wacked out contract;
and, even if you got something decent they would never tell you
the flaws and issues in the blood, those things were secrets that were strongly denied.
county I lived in place a note on my door stating a law had been
passed and the breed was banned, so I had 14 days to surrender
my dogs! So everyone who owns the breed can relate to the never
ending battle you have to fight to own this breed, and the way
society looks at you for owning these dogs, I don't think I need to
elaborate on that.
severe culture shock from living in a very isolated area, especially when all I knew was city life.
honestly alot of trial and error; which, brings me to the haunting
thought of how many dogs didn't make the final program? How
many dogs were produced that weren't part of the final plan, and
how that could have affected the over population of the breed. In
creating a bloodline from scratch it requires doing alot of
breedings of different lines, and alot of breedings and dogs that
didn't work right; which, means having alot of dogs to even begin
to work with. Now that I look back, it isn't a pretty thought.
who looked down on you, or turned their noses up to you. If you
weren't one of their followers, or you weren't spending big money
on a handler, or you weren't someone who had been around for
a long time, you were basically ignored.
breeder of each region, wow you have no idea! LOL
With a registry that didn't govern the breed, it was left to be
governed by whatever breeder was popular enough at the time
to be elected president. Hence, a standard and preferred choice
that would change year to year depending on who was in
charge. In time the breed was altered into something that didn't
even reflect a trace of what it originally was, the only feature
wanted was a flowing movement, which wasn't even a trait
prevalent in the original breed? The support of this world went
way left field, and worst of all the followers discriminated against
people for their look, race, and preference in style of dogs. Which
by the way is when I personally stood up and said NO!
we don't like, and NO we wont be ridiculed for being ourselves!
Mind you, I had fought for acceptance in this show world, and in
time we did excel there; however, we could not be part of
something we did NOT believe in, and we could NOT sit back and
allow people who showed respect and support to us, to be
discriminated against, and exiled! So for many years now we
have stood against the attacks of our once prior peers. And we
will continue to fight for people, the breed in it's entirety, and what we feel is right.
begins, and this is by far the worst of all, this is one with people
we opened arms to, people we fought for, people we helped pave
ways for, people we have gone to battle for, our own community!
was one with a long list of replies to a debate on the rumors
behind the RE line. Let me address this please, one last time...
But some quick facts first to clarify a few things.
the idea was to help my friends get better dogs, and all of us
work together to begin a movement of our own, and push a look
and style of our own. The concept behind RE was not to keep the
best, but give the best to friends and continue to progress the
line with the help, and through the hands of many friends.
Hence; RE was never intended to be just mine.
This breeding created Manu, Blue, Torpedo, Apollo, and Sambuka. ShortShot
was then placed with an old friend. I had also sold Sage a year
before to a guy named Byron in Cali, who later on wanted a mate
so I sold him Blue. He went on and bred them twice, the first litter
producing Bumpy and Blaze, the second Remy, etc... some quick
history to explain a few things.
against me, so quite a few dogs I had placed later on had their names changed (the RE part taken off or relocated)
and were used against me, and rumors began so people could
take credit for breedings I had done, luckily as time went on
mends were made, and some of these people went on and
created great dogs on their own from the blood I had originally
given them. The ones who have spoken and squashed the past
are greatly respected by me now. Others I had never known and
stepped up to fight for have also attacked the line over the years and in sighted rumors.
something... Every dog they talked about were my line and in my
yard? Examples: Shorty was used instead of Knuckles
(yet he's double Knuckles?), Knuckles would have to throw
piebalds(but in no breeding did he ever?), Cairo was used instead
of EastCoastMan because Chunk was brindle(so was the mom
Rage,duh!, lol plus Cairo would sell for more anyway,duh!lol).
We still have Cairo and sell his straws as Lil Ro (uh not sure on
that one). Those were a couple examples,
but there were so many more...On and on the rumors went...
person would say, what damn sense does any of that really make?
Why would we fake and hang papers on dogs we owned
with other dogs we owned, let alone use the papers of less
popular ones? It makes no damn sense at all and anyone who
believes all those rumors, sorry to say is plain STUPID!
people who own the same line? So many people are so wanting
to take something and make it their own, for the purpose of self
glorification, wake up call... It was created for everyone, I don't even want personal recognition!
who had come to me looking for me to help them separate my
own line from the community. A person I helped and liked,
but I had a hard time explaining to them that RE was here for the entire
community, we don't want to separate and stand alone, and we don't look
down on other people or lines and think we are better than anyone.
This person still didn't understand the core values RE stood behind,
and didn't realize that RE will not discriminate ever!
As flattering as it is to have someone support
RE so much that they felt it should be elite and step away on it's
own, it's not what we believe in. So I had to personally close the
door on that idea, which in turn caused them to try and do their
idea on their own. Which as usual is promoted by discrediting
what we do to market themselves, and also solicit all of us to do
so. Once that didn't work, the next thing was to prey on people
who felt they weren't getting enough recognition, then to play
people against people, to even more discrediting what we had
created; but, again intelligent people will see this, and that once someone
goes against what they said they believe in, then the only reason they have is for money.
So I read this email and was very happy to see them admit all this
themselves, I read the long email and clearly read into it as them saying: "of course I'm doing this for
money, I am also doing this for separation, and I am doing this definantly for self glorification"!
because for the past 15 years I've been writing posts just like this
one, which means, we know our people can and do read!
Why the hell else would I spend so much time writing?
Please don't insult our intelligence!
fake names, make fake posts, and constantly try and attack and tear
us down. They try and constantly bait us against each other, for their own gain.
People who have to bait people against each other, solicit
where they claim they don't want to be, spread rumors and
gossip, and attack something to promote themselves are the
cancers we have to deal with on a daily basis.
solicit and promote for them, are not here for a good let alone solid purpose.
games, and they don't need to tarnish something to make something else shine!
and its for the right reason. I fight for people and I fight for our
breed, and I have years of proof to back what I say.
am backing or involved with did not honor the agreement, or maybe
they dont't come through on what they said, or the biggest one, we didn't get our papers!
right as planned, and sometimes we put faith in the wrong
people; but, you have my word, if I back and support it and it
starts to go wrong, I will personally step in and make it right!
left behind, and will ever be left not getting what they were told or promised!
corrected! None of this is for a financial reason, it's only for what we all believe in period!
breed. I promoted a dog who had lineage that wasn't of my own
doing, and actually I didn't even really know about the blood.
I was attacked for this dog and accused of mixing breeds.
To this day people use this dogs name and use it to attack the integrity of RE.
Well, instead of passing the buck, I fought. I fought to defend and explain
the purity of the RE line, but I still fought for the dog and the other lines in our community.
in our community, so I fought for them.
animal control, the media, city council, and local government. I had to fight
not just for our breed, but against prejudices, racism, and even
music? Those who know what went down know the fight! They
tried to shut it down on so many different levels, even up to
the day of the event. It was so bad the press wrote a story
comparing the show to a serial killer that had raped and killed two
young girls? I was told rap music couldn't be played within city
limits? I had a city council person tell me what was going to stop
the "Knuckles" from coming? I know damn well what he meant by that!
I fought them and they were able to shut alot of my plans down,
they made it so I personally lost $13,000, they canceled my after
party, stopped my performances, had people picketing outside, and all this just because of us and our breed?
We won! The show went on! And guess what? The media
took back what they originally wrote, they publicly apologized,
they retracted their original statements and even praised the event!
interviewed words as well. I said the breed was created by mixing the
Pits with Staffs and breeding for the Bullier lineage. This is true
but was slightly misquoted, I saw all the mistakes in the article,
but felt like we still won! We changed public perception for not
just the breed, but people as well! We won a HUGE battle! But,
guess what? People who own Pit Bulls read this, and instead of
praising us for winning a huge battle for us all, they attacked me?
They said I publicly admitted to mixing breeds? BULLSHIT!
Everyone knows what was said, they just chose to read it that way.
When the media constantly attacks our breed, and constantly writes mistruths
about our dogs, everyone one of us complains. In this case they didn't quite
print what was said correct, but some people in our breed refuse to care what we
really said. This time the media was right and we were wrong?
Give me a break! We won a huge fight for us all! Wow, you see
the ignorance that still exists? Then a petition arises on line
asking to have all RE papers revoked for that? Are you kidding
me? But again this is a fight we have, and for real we beat the
media, we beat city council, we won over the public, animal
control, the police, etc... We won a serious fight, but get attacked
by people within our breed? Unreal!
"Pit Bulls" in general. From game people saying we ruined the
breed, yet we just created another option. From show people
saying we are destroying the breed, yet we did no more than they
had already done and breed a new direction. We fight all these
battles, but never disrespect people for their own preferences or
throw stones at them. We now fight within our own community
worse than anywhere, we are constantly attacked by the people
we support and fight for? The battle never ends...
but haven't yet praised all the people who helped get us to where
we are today!
come up to me over the years and said thank you, not just for
dogs, but for helping fight for them, and helping to create
something where they can enjoy, and where people come
together in unity.
crowd of people I have seen anywhere, all together enjoying life
and each other, removing all barriers to come together for one
common interest.
battle where law suits are coming at me because certain entities are upset that we hurt their pockets!
but they never stopped taking our money!
to save us all from something that doesn't want us.
work for us all, and continue to fight for us all!
was created to support you.
spotlight. To this day the magazine costs money to produce;
yet, it is on the shelves of major book stores and convenient
stores. It uses celebrities and other angles to help get our voice
and what we do reach people outside just our communities. It
has opened doors for us all and especially the breed. It now has
the support of major corporations and is a huge impact in the
fight for our breeds public acceptance.
Bully World who wanted a central location to host our forums,
and a social network for the Bully Community. The Elite Edge just
decided to be part of this, but by no means do we run that part.
Behind the scenes are faces of many lines and people who really
see no sides. In time this will grow in ways we have never
imagined, so please stay active on it, and enjoy the journey it will
take us all on, its going to be huge for us all!
everyone who supports what we all love. This is a Razors Edge
20 year anniversary show and will be like one you never seen
before, please help us celebrate the American Bully.
Not just RE, but RE's way of saying thank you to all the
American Bully supporters.
The History of Razors Edge
Razors Edge was started in MD and DC by Dave Wilson and Carlos Barksdale. They started out with game dogs. They researched everything they could find and read every book publicized at that time. The also subscribed to many dog magazines like the ADBA Gazette, even some underground ones. They called nearly every breeder that they could find and questioned them, If it said Pit, they were on it. They already owned some unpapered BYB Pits. They even had there own Pit club and went hiking and other things back in the woods. Eventually they got enough money to get some real papered, good bloodline, game dogs. They purchased some of the best around at the time. Even paid $3500 way back then for a Grandson of the great "Plumbers Alligator", mainly Mayfield lines. Dave and Carlos were very heavy into the game lines and had dogs from Hemphill to Wilder blood. These were big game dogs.
Later on they hooked up with George Williams in DC and purchased a dog they named Diablo, from Wildside Kennels. Diablo's dad was a bigger catch dog, "Hollinsworth Bull". His mom was a game girl names "Wildsides Ms.Leaky". This was the turn around time when Razors Edge started adding more size. The first ever registered "ADBA" Razors Edge breeding was from his Mayfield boy Zeus to a Mayfield girl name Jinx. Jinx was actually given to friend back then named Curt Plater, now CLP Kennels. He owned the first ever Razors Edge dog. They would lose contact after this for many years before hooking up again. They banned Pits in PG County and Dave was forced to move. Eventually through Dave’s job in the Pet Store industry he landed a mangers job at a Pet Store in VA. He had to move to VA and still resides there as Razors Edge Kennel.
Dave managed a Pet Store, worked as a professional dog trainer, and still bred bigger ADBA game dogs. Basically, he bred his own pits now. He also put fliers in the Washington Post explaining what the breed was and what Razors Edge was.
Dave met a guy name Ron Smith who came aboard and took Razors Edge to another level. Dave saw this blue dog named "Steel Town Blue Monday" and was hooked! Ron already knew every UKC and AKC breeder under the sun. He had been researching on his own for years. So this man had all the pictures, info, etc…. He had fliers and pictures from every AKC and UKC breeder from Coast to coast. He literally had pictures of almost all the dogs in all these pedigrees. That man really was the "Pit Guru". He first contacted thingy 'n' Bull Kennels, the ones that produced Monday. They turned them onto people in Cali with that blood. Candace Eggart was one. Candy sent pictures of what she had and what she had going on. Just to give you a time frame, She sold a dog years later to Tony Moore named Showtime! Showtime went on to be one of the foundation pregnant doges in the Greyline bloodline! So this was years before Greyline was even around.
They went to every breeder on the East Coast. Up north to Bobby Morehouse, Beth Jones, a friend of his Lee Fitzgerald, Flying A's, Minot's Ledge, etc. they actually purchased a blue brindle female named "Sadey" from Minot's Ledge. This litter was had an extraordinary pedigree. The top half were mainly Flying A's dogs like "Oreo" and "Reo Speedwagon". Dogs he had seen and liked. You could see in the extended pedigree how these dogs stemmed from Ruffian dogs. Then you could see how it went back even further from the AKC Ruffian dog to the UKC Colby dogs. This top half of the pedigree actually showed how Pits eventually were registered as Staffs! Dave thought that was cool to see on paper and in a dog he owned. Then the bottom half of the ped went right back to Stratton dogs. Dogs like Going light Barney, dogs he grew up reading about! Thanks to Richard Stratton, Then behind them were the same Colby dogs he saw on the top half of the pedigree. So he had this dog that showed the history of the Am. Staff and the directions the Colby line went in the UKC. he also purchased a male named "Razors Edge Blue Maxx". His top half was a dog named "StoryTime's Upon this Rock" AKA "Peter" Peter was a dog bred by Beth Jones. He was a big dog, but kinda ugly. They bred him to "Wassuc's Farm Maggie May". Dave really liked this compact girl. He researched her lines and found she was Ryan. When they got to see the Ryan dogs they were surprised to see they were game dogs. They were AKC registered Staffs, but they still bred for game dogs! This was something Dave had never seen, I'm sure that's why the AKC people didn't like that line, . However; Dave loved it! Bully, game, blue, staffs! Now that's what I am talking about! Maxx was there boy from this blood. Now Razors Edge was big ADBA game dogs, one UKC Blue Brindle girl, and a Big hot Blue Fawn AKC boy.
In Va there was Sharon Stone of Cloverhill, who had the biggest Staffs Dave had ever seen! Her old stuff was huge! Too tall for what he was looking for, but huge! They changed years later and went more showy. Paco, was in Dave’s opinion actually a throw back of her older days. Ginny York, Pam Perdue, GiGi, the Garretts, etc….they visited them all. Even went down to Florida and checked out Marsha Woods. Met KC Courtier of Watchdog Kennels. Eventually, went up to Md and met Kimmar Kennels. As soon as Dave stepped on the ranch, he knew he had found the build he was looking for! The Razors Edge package was almost complete.
Razors Edge also had been advertising in the Washington Post for many years. Some young dudes from DC used to come down and hang out and bring their dogs. Edwin Salinas and Joey Nevils were two of them. These guys had been buying dogs from Kimmar and mixing their own stuff in them too. Kimmar used to have an ad in the post under the Pit Bull ads, it said "Petey pups". They didn't want their dogs to be labeled as Pits; but they advertised directly under Pits? Hmmmmmm? Not as Staff? Anyway, local people knew the deal and picked up a lot of her dogs. Joey, Edwin, Joey's pops, and their boys had a bunch of these dogs. Even some old friends of Dave’s Jerry and Gerrold had yards with these dogs. They all had game stuff in the mix. dave tapped into a lot of their dogs as well.
In Kimmar's yard he learned a lot about breeding and genetics. Dave spent every weekend there for almost three years, and actually put on a training class for all her buyers every Sunday.
Razors Edge had been breeding now for a few generations and even used a lot of her dogs from other people in the mix. Ron, also had some York dogs, and some other AKC stuff, they experimented with. Before they got Knuckles or any of them, Razors Edge was already in the game. Kimmar actually used there dog Maxx for some breedings. Eventually we purchased around 15 dogs from her line, including Knuckles and Rage. While these pups were growing, Razors Edge already had it's formula. They just wanted a different head. They were not given papers on some of these dogs and they had to be UKC registered instead! This is where Razors Edge became heavily involved in UKC. Dave started searching for a better head and came into some Watchdog stuff. KC was not breeding anymore, so he had to find that blood somewhere else. he bought dogs from Grapevine Kennels, and also hit up Hughzee's, who he believe later on became Chaos Kennels. They had been talking to Pam from Gaff Kennels for a few years, and really liked a boy name Seiko! So they got a dog from her. So Dave experimented with a lot of lines and different dogs. Razors Edge started having a real consistent look. The heads were big, but they still wanted them to be a little blockier. A few generations later it was pretty much there.
So by taking combinations of dogs and bloodlines Dave eventually got to the style of pitbull he wanted, now called "Bully Style" of Pitbulls, Meaning large in size, such as a large head, wide chest, short blocky muzzles, large, but not over done bone, and a shorter back, but at the same time correct as the United Kennel Club and American Kennel Club judge by.
Razors Edge purchased a pup from the breeding of Kimmars Catt Man Roo and Pam’s White Path China Black. These two dogs produce a few dogs in the litter that helped to promote the Razors Edge line, dogs such as: GR CH Razors Edge Throwin Knuckles, CH Razors Edge Inna Rage, and Razors Edge Sapphire Lil. Another breeding that produced one of the most famous pregnant doges in the history of Razors Edge was between Ch. Jackson’s GMJ Mr. Brooks and Razors Edge SilverSadey of ML which produced GR. CH. Razors Edge Sadey’s Paddington and also Kim's Blue Dekota. Dave used Ch. CloverHill’s Watuka Spirit AKA Paco and bred him to Paddington, which produced the legendary CH. Razors Edge Purple Rose of Cairo, the most famous dog of all the Razors Edge dogs today in my opinion. Razors Edge Kenna Claddaugh, Razors Edge Top Notch Chino, Razors Edge Chi Chi of Trueblue, Tonka and Jigga and Iced Mocha are also productions from this breeding.
~ Razors Edge, the rest is history...