Ch Garrett Aka Crenshaw Jeep ROM
Throughout
the history of the sporting American Pit Bull Terriers, no single dog has made
quite the impact as Garrett's CH. Jeep, and that being the combination of not
only his worthiness as a supreme pit dog, but the ultimate supremacy of his
reproduction. Jeep was bred by James Crenshaw and sold to James Garrett as a
young dog and was campaigned and brought to notoriety by James Garrett assisted
by James Crenshaw. Jeep achieved his fourth win over Ozzie Stevens' Ch. Homer.
This fight making history, for the caliber of these two dogs meeting in the pit
is unusual in itself. Although, Jeep the victor, Homer, in his own rights, had
proved to be just as good a combat dog and both dogs were truly entitled to the
legacy that they have earned through this match.
Now that the formidable
worth of Jeep has been established, we will go on to the greatest asset this dog
ever possessed and that was his ability to reproduce a staggering figure of
Champions, one Grand Champion and numerous one and two time winners. The
conversation at many conventions always leads to great dogs and a dispute of
which bloodline's are the best to utilize to get the highest percentage of game
and winning dogs. I have often heard this one statement being passed when Jeep's
name is brought up as to his high figure on the R.O.M. (Register Of Merit) list
and that is, well look how many bitches Jeep was bred to create the amount of
Champions he has sired. My answer to those dog men is this. Take three major pit
dogs that are from outstanding bloodline's such as STP's Grand Champion Buck,
six time winner, STP's Champion Toro and Burton's Grand Champion Hank, as these
three were considered exceptional pit dogs and many utilized these three
different bloods for the sole purpose of producing or establishing new lines
from them. All three lived approximately to the same age which was ten years.
Two were campaigned approximately the same time and died not to far apart, that
being, Ch. Toro and Gr. Ch. Hank. Hank made his pit history prior to theirs, but
was bred as many times as Jeep, if not more. Gr. Ch. Buck, probably second to
Hank in the amount of his breeding's and Toro, who was bred to 23 different
bitches during this period. The fact is all three of these great dogs combined
together, produced about half the number of Champions as Jeep has. So common,
sense will tell you how many champions doesn't hold water. In retrospect, dogs
like Ch. Homer, Gr. Ch. Art, and Tombstone who was bred limited amounts of times
and was still able to produce high quality dogs should also be considered.
Certain dogs should be on the ROM list considering the number of times they have
been bred, like: Jeep, Buck, Yellow, Frisco and Mayday to name a few.
Some of the crosses which
are well known where Jeep created some great dogs and the blood seems to click
the best with are Jeep/Red Boy and Jeep/Rascal.
Ch. Jeep was born in
August 1976 on the yard of James Crenshaw, in the famous litter of Finley's Ch.
Bo ROM to Crenshaw's Ch. Honeybunch ROM. That produced four champions. The most
famous of the four was Ch. Jeep ROM. But there was also Crenshaw's (Super Gnat's)
Ch. Charlie, who has been said to have been a better pit dog than Jeep. Ch.
Missy who is seen in a lot of pedigrees today, and Swetman's Ch. Holly, who was
said to be a terrible biter with lots of ability. This was a great litter that
was made once, for reasons that I don't know.
James Crenshaw has stated
publicly that he never liked Jeeps style personally, as Jeep was never a
finisher in his eyes. This however severely contradicts Crenshaw's choice off
dogs that he's personally based his yard on, as they were primarily off of Jeep,
and crosses that he made with Ch. Rascal for the most part, and in later life he
was well known for using Jeep/Red Boy dogs.
CH. Jeep is believed by
many to be one of the best match dogs of his time.
Garrett's Ch. Jeep ROM
defeated Pylant's Ch. Kato at 43 pounds in :28 minutes. Cooper's Weenie also at
43 pounds in :58 minutes. Stinson & Stepp's Black Dog, who was said to be a
three time winner at 42 pounds in two hours and five minutes. And, for his
fourth and final match we went into Ozzie Stevens' Ch. Homer, at 43 pounds and
won in 3:45. This was one of those classic matches, that history is made from.
Two great game dogs met, and only one could win. One created a legacy and the
other a dynasty.
Garrett's Ch. Jeep ROM
died in the fall of 1989.