"Mom, is that guy really strong?" It's what one young boy wanted to know as reality star Dog the Bounty Hunter entered CTV's Canada AM studio on Friday morning.
Well kid, yes and no.
For millions of fans he's TV's leather-loving, tattoo-toting man with the golden mullet -- a bounty hunting ex-con on a mission to bring down today's worst scum on the run. Brandishing mace, dauntless determination and "cuffs of love," Duane (Dog) Chapman, 54, is cleaning up crime the way this top '70s vacuum cleaner salesman once busted dust bunnies.
At last count Chapman -- a man who has racked up 18 robbery convictions and served time in a Texas prison for first-degree murder -- has brought more than 7,000 fugitives to justice, including Max Factor heir and convicted rapist Andrew Luster.
His "doggy" approach to crime and punishment isn't pretty.
"I do not believe in the bullet," says Chapman, author of The New York Times' bestseller, "You Can Run but You Can't Hide" (HarperCollins, $29.95). "I don't want to live seeing the faces of people I've killed in my mind."
But God help the criminal who has brutally battered a woman or abused a child. "If I catch up with them I'm definitely tempted to rethink my philosophy," says the man who has been married four times and has fathered 12 children.
"There's a fine line between bounty hunting and being a vigilante," says the self-professed poster child for rehabilitation. "I find the guy just like the vigilante does, but he becomes the judge and the jury. I'm not that way."
No, this God-fearing fisher of thugs wants to do something different in his trade: fix the bad guy with a chance to turn his life around.
"Somebody planted a seed inside me that changed my life," says Chapman. "A long time ago one cop said the right words to me. He looked me in the eye and said 'This is not you Dog. There's someone else inside there. Let him out.' That stuck like glue. That's the seed I want to pass that on."
That zero-to-hero motivation has transformed this charismatic pop icon who has been parodied on "South Park" and "American Dad!" into today's king of comebacks.
"I've been through a lot -- the good, bad and ugly," says the seventh grade dropout who, as a child, thought it "a rite of passage to have my father knock me around."
"When I left for prison at 22, I remember people saying that's it. He's got such a big mouth. Prison will finish him."
Yet Chapman emerged determined to change his life and those of other criminals for the better. It's a message of hope he'll be spreading to audiences in Halifax on August 24 and in Regina on September 11.
"My goal in life is to be a good father to my kids and a good husband. I'd rather face a Mexican judge than rile my wife Beth," he laughs. Rounding up more outlaws, especially those who harm women and children, also tops his crime-fighting list.
"I can't say who I'm after next because they're still out there. But we've got our eye on him, just like a lion watching zebras at a pond," says this predator's predator. "When I'm ready to announce who he is I'll give him a chance to come in. Then we're going to hunt him down."
As for the rewards, this bounty man who relaxes to Hawaiian music has had everything from old trucks to a new puppy offered by those who couldn't pay for his help.
"I'm a lucky dog, not a big bad dog," his eyes well up. "When a big, beefy cop comes along and says 'I love you Dog' that blows me away."
As for the young boy's question about Chapman's strength, "Kids look at me put on this gold badge and it's like Superman. The badge is the law," he smiles. "But I want that kid and others like him to know that strength comes in two ways, through fear and respect. Personally, I'd rather be respected than feared."
Who likes the Dog?
