"Zebo"
"Zebo" began his life in the yard of a fancier named "Lonzo". Zebo won several "off the chain" matches while owned by "Lonzo", but as Lonzo had too many dogs at the time; he sold Zebo to a man named Hughes. There were four males in Zebo's litter, Lonzo told me that all four were game but two were above average in ability. Zebo, and his brother "Vindicator". Lonzo personally liked Vindicator and his sister "Rosie" had been born red; he kept them because they stood out in the litter of all black pups. Zebo had been called "Zero" until Mr. Hughes bought him. When the papers came back from U.K.C. they read "Hughes' Zebo". I guess the gods of war intervened and named him, because after he started being called Zebo his fame started to grow. As stated before, Mr. Hughes killed four in a row with Zebo winning two "Best in Show's" with him while doing so. The last at a convention in Alabama. When Mr. Hughes purchased Zebo, he had been rolled uphill into a catchweight dog that had destroyed the muscle tissue in Zebo's left shoulder. Mr. Hughes' good friend, a man named Cable, took Zebo to his Vet and had the shoulder reconstructed. Zebo carried that scar with him to the grave, but you could only see it good when he shed his winter coat. You could see it at other times but not really get the idea of how bad he'd been hurt. An interesting side note is that Zebo was almost matched to go into "Davis' Grand Champion Boomerang" but the match fell through when Davis took on an easier opponent. As Mr. Hughes puts it, "We were seriously trying to agree on matching Zebo and Boomerang. When I found out it was Boomerang, I was going into, I knew Zebo had a real job ahead of him, and I know Davis felt the same way. When I learned that Davis had went ahead and contracted to match into a different dog on the same slate we were negotiating for, I sure didn't call him up and complain, for I feel for sure one of us would have lost a damn good dog. Naturally, I believe it would have been Davis'." Mr. Hughes matched Zebo in Alabama for his fourth win, where Mr. Adams saw Zebo for the first time. During this match, Zebo had his opponent down and was working his favorite hold, the brisket. The down dog's handler asked Mr. Hughes if Zebo had really killed three dogs in three matches. Mr. Hughes replied, "Yes, he did and son, if you don't get yours up off the floor, he'll kill this one too." Mr. Hughes proved to be a prophet that night as in 23 minutes his prediction became true. Mr. Adams asked Mr. Hughes what he'd take for Zebo. Mr. Hughes said, "If I was to sell this dog, I'd have to have…" and he named a price that was totally unheard of in those days, even for a bulldog of Zebo's caliber. Adams returned to Ohio, but the thought of owning a dog like Zebo was too much for him. He called Mr. Hughes and told him he had decided owning Zebo was worth the price Mr. Hughes had named. Adams would tell later that it was like carrying one of Mr. Hughes' kids away when he picked Zebo up, for Mr. Hughes really didn't want to sell him. Mr. Hughes is a tough man, but I imagine those Carolina mountains seemed pretty empty the night Zebo left. The old dog had become as one of the family and would protect his owner with his life. Mr. Hughes said Zebo wouldn't bother anyone unless they went to shake hands or slap him on the shoulder or something like that, then he would have to grab Zebo quick or someone would get bit. They tell the story of how Mr. Hughes was driving back from a trip and got road weary and sleepy. He pulled over and laid down in the seat of the car to rest, knowing Zebo would protect him while he slept.