Deiter Fleig's "Fighting Dog Breeds"

At the risk of sounding negative, I have to comment that for me, the most extraordinary part of this book was the “Important Notice” inserted in the front of the book by publisher, TFH. “When we read these two books a few years ago,” the notice reads, “we were concerned about Dr. Fleig’s opinions about dogs and people. We were even upset about the gory details of dogs fighting dogs, dogs fighting bulls, dogs fighting rats and even dogs fighting people!”

Amazing! TFH evidently had no such reluctance before to publish books detailing and glorifying dog fighting; books which described a dog trying to cross a pit on two broken front legs, and instances of dogs dying in the pit. Notice! Nothing in this book is nearly as repulsive as material found in some Stratton books.

The worst Fleig does is take numerous jabs at the “aggressive” British culture, but coming from a German, it comes across as rather silly.

Fleig’s books, published in Germany as Kampfhunde I and Kampfhunde II (Fighting Dog I and II) have been renamed by their American publisher as The History of Fighting Dogs and Fighting Dog Breeds.

Fight Dog Breeds looks at the much studied history of fighting dogs, offering little in the way of new illustrations but I like Fleig’s manner of writing; he has passion and intelligence and a deep love of dogs, and it shows.

Fleig writes in a personal manner, as if his passion on the subject does not allow him to step back and write in an impersonal fashion. And he has plenty to say. He is a tireless champion of sound dogs, sensible breeding practices, and responsible ownership.

As in a number of books on “fighting breeds” this one too, includes breeds which it is a considerable stretch to consider as dogs developed or used for combat. Fleig faced the same difficulty facing any historian of the bulldog; the difficulty of cleanly separating the guardian/mastiff dogs from the baiting/bulldogs.

This book includes such dubious “fighting dogs” as Tibetian mastiffs, English bulldogs, French bulldogs, great Danes, Neapolitan mastiffs, Filas, Boston terriers and pugs.

However, I like Fleig’s style so well that it is easy to forgive him taking up our time with these dogs. For instance, his section on the English bulldog is excellent, with many wonderful quotes and heartfelt observations on the creation and destruction of an animal bred only for show purposes.

All in all, this book is an enjoyable read. Sadly, TFH has filled it with many poor quality and recycled photos. If you are a true fancier, get it—but if you are looking for something unique, you may be disappointed.