Garrett's Ch. Jeep ROM & James Crenshaw's Keep

Garrett's Ch. Jeep ROM

The son of two other great and influential APBTs, Ch. Crenshaw's Honeybunch ROM and Ch. Finley's Bo ROM, Jeep went on to become a great matchdog and one of the greatest producing dogs of all time. Some enthusiasts argue that Jeep's only worth was in his ability to produce winning and Champion dogs, while others argue that his legendary 3 hour and 45 minute match over Ozzie Stevens' Ch. Homer proved his worth in the pit.

4 GENERATION PEDIGREE
First	Second	Third	Fourth
(Sire) CH FINLEY'S BO ROM	LOPOSAY'S DUBS	COLBY'S (AKA LOPOSAY'S) RUSTY	COLBY'S TEXAS
			BURKETTE'S DUTCH
		COLBY'S CHITA	COLBY'S BARNEY
			COLBY'S JENNY
	LOPOSAY'S DOT	LOPOSAY'S BULLET	TEAL'S JAKE
			LOPOSAY'S BETTY
		LOPOSAY'S (AKA BURKETTE'S) TIGER LILLY	LOPOSAY'S ACE
			BURKETTE'S DUTCH
(Dam) CH CRENSHAW'S HONEYBUNCH (3XW) ROM	WALLING'S BULLYSON (2XW)(1XL)	BOUDREAUX' ELI (2XW)	BOUDREAUX' SCRUB (1XL)
			BOUDREAUX' CANDY
		BOUDREAUX' SPOOK	BOUDREAUX' BOZE (1XW)
			BOUDREAUX' PENNY
	CARVER'S AMBER	CH CARVER'S CRACKER (3XW)(1XL)	TUDOR'S DIBO (3XW)
			CARVER'S BLACK WIDOW
		TRAHAN'S BEAUTY T	GR CH TRAHAN'S RASCAL (6XW)
			CARVER'S BLACK WIDOW

General History:

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 made [sic] 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.

(from Sporting Dog Online)


James Crenshaw is one of the legendary dogmen. Each dogman had their own preference in how his dogs fought, the conditioning and care of his dogs, and the attributes they looked for in future dogs added to their yard. James Crenshaw's "keep" (or conditioning for a match) was as follows:

J. Crenshaw Keep

To begin with you must have a healthy dog. This is a 12 week keep. The first 4 weeks I walk the dog 10 miles per day. I walk him everyday for these 4 weeks and feed one hour after the walk. If the show is to begin at 8:00 p.m. then I walk my dog from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. This 4 weeks is to pre condition the dog and get him close to weight. It is very important to get all gut or internal fat out of him. If you can't get the fat out from his intestines, heart, lungs, and liver, you can't put him in shape.

For the first 4 weeks I feed the following:

1. 1 cup pro plan (chicken and rice) adult formula

2. 1 cup Kellogg's All-Bran

3. 1 or 2 cloves chopped garlic

4. 1 tablespoon chopped spinach

5. 2 cups chicken broth

6. 1 cup cooked chicken

Place items1-2-3-4 in feed pan. Heat items 5-6 (pour over 1-2-3-4). To make the chicken and broth I place 15 chicken thighs in a 3 gallon stock pot and fill with water. Cook until tender and place in refrigerator when cool.

WEEK 5:

The walk is still 10 miles (5p.m. to 8p.m). Immediately after the walk, while he is still warmed up, he gets 5 minutes on the treadmill. When he comes off mill, walk him 30 minutes to cool down. Then rub him down good and put him in his quarters. Prepare his food an feed him one hour after he comes off the mill. (If your dog is losing excessive weight, feed more dog food). If he is dehydrated, increase liquid. However, if he is losing too much weight it is possible you are going at the wrong weight. He should not have water between mill and feed time. But when you feed him, place at least 1/2 gallon clean water where he has access to it. The water should be changed and the container cleaned daily. I read once where someone said the green stuff in water won't hurt the dog.....But you give him one bucket of clean and one green with algae and see which one he drinks from!!!!!!!!!

Continue each day of week 5 the same. With only 5 minutes mill work, it shouldn't be necessary to rest him this week. But this keep is only a guide. You have to use common sense. If the dog is tired or doesn't feel good, "Rest Him".

WEEK 6:

Walk 10 miles (5p.m-8p.m)

10 minutes on mill

Rub down

Everything stays the same (If the dog loses weight, add additional dog food). Everything else stays the same. Be sure to replace water.

WEEK 7:

Walk 10 miles (5pm-8pm)

20 minutes on mill

Rub Down

Everything else same except feed:

With 10 miles walk, 20 minutes on mill, and 30 minutes to cool down, the dog should be drying out some. At this time I leave all ingredients the same except liquid and chicken. I put 3 whole chicken thighs (including skin) with bone removed. Broth: add 1 ounce per pound body weight (40 pound dogs gets 40 ounces broth daily). Wait one hour after mill and feed. Put water so he can drink.

WEEK 8:

Walk Same 10 miles (5pm-8pm)

Mill 15 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Mill 15 minutes

Walk 30 minutes to cool down, Rub down, feed on hour after mill, and replace water.

WEEK 9:

Walk 10 miles (5p.m-8p.m)

Mill 20 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Mill 20 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Rub down

Feed on hour after mill

REPLACE WATER

WEEK 10:

Walk 10 miles (5p.m-8p.m)

Mill 30 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Mill 30 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Rub down

Feed on hour after mill

WATER

WEEK 11:

SUNDAY

Begin 10 mile walk at 4 p.m. Finish walk at 7p.m

Mill 30 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Mill 30 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Mill 30 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Rub down

Feed at 10:30. WATER!!!!!!!!!

MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY=SAME AS SUNDAY

FRIDAY

Walk 5 miles (ending at 8p.m)

Mill 20 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Mill 20 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Rub down

Feed one hour after mill (10:10), WATER!!!!!!!!!!

SATURDAY:

Walk 5 miles

Mill 15 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Mill 15 minutes

Rub down

Feed one hour after mill (10:10p.m) WATER!!!!!!!

WEEK 12:

SUNDAY:

Walk 5 miles ending at 8p.m

Mill 10 minutes

Walk 30 minutes

Mill 10 minutes

Rub down

Feed one hour after mill (9:50p.m) WATER!!!!!!!

MONDAY:

Walk one hour ending at 8p.m

Mill 10 minutes

Walk 30 minutes Rub down

Feed one hour after mill (9:10pm.) WATER!!!!!

TUESDAY:

Today I put the dog in a kennel in my bedroom, keep the room cool and quiet. I take him out early in the morning for a good walk (about 30-45 minutes). Put him up until noon and take him for another 30-45 minute walk.

4-pm--walk for one hour

5pm-- feed, put back in kennel

9pm-- walk just long enough for him to empty or urinate. Put in kennel until morning. I offer him water after each walk before he goes back in the kennel.

WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY==SAME AS TUESDAY

FRIDAY:

I made sure to arrive at the area of the show at least 30 (THIRTY) hours before showtime so I could feed the last meal there and to insure my dog got plenty of rest.

8pm. 2cc Dex 2mg-ml. Put under skin, NOT muscle.

SATURDAY:

6am. 5cc Dex under skin

ALL THIS IS A GUIDE IF THE SHOW IS AT 8PM SATURDAY

I never feed but once daily. This will keep your dog regular and insure he is empty at show time. Next to getting the gut fat out of him, this is the most important: making sure he is empty at show time. He will get hot an week if he has anything in his stomach.

To make weight, I use broth without any solids. I strain chicken broth through cheese cloth and save one pint. You can give this to him up to 3 hours before show time and it will not do any harm.

And last, this is only a guide. You have to use common sense to apply with any success.

Example:

If the dog loses weight, feed more

If he gains weight, work more or feed less

if he is tired, rest him

if you are lazy and don't work your dog, he won't be in shape

if he is dry, add more broth

if his is too wet, decrease broth

Don't push him too fast. Work according to schedule in pre-keep to prepare him for work.

Not many people have the ability to condition

I once read an article that Earl Tudor wrote which said he doubted it there was 5 men in the world that knew how to find a dog's weight, get the gut fat out, and knew how to condition him after he got the fat out.

I WILL GO ONE STEP FURTHER AND SAY:

If there are 3 today that know this and are not too LAZY to put him in shape, I do not know them.

GOOD LUCK

IT'S HARD WORK AND TAKES A LOT OF TIME




I do not promote, support, or condone any violations of the Animal Welfare Act of 1976, and/or any other local/state/federal laws. I am not affiliated with dog fighting in any way, shape, or form; I am simply a pet owner and enthusiast of the American Pit Bull Terrier and the great history and legacy handed down through the generations. I believe it is important to know where we come from to see where we are going. The articles posted are strictly for historical and educational purposes only; I do not necessarily reflect the views expressed within these articles.

Update ....

Wow, how time flies! I can't believe it's been over a month since I've updated this! Sorry about that folks. A lot has been happening around here: Kane is recovering from his TPLO surgery and I've started a new job working with a bed bug sniffing dog!

I work for a pest control company which employs dogs trained to sniff out bed bugs as one of the services they offer. I'll be working and training with one of the dogs. Her name is Aggie (or Agent 99), she's under two years old, and is a golden retriever. I haven't actually met her yet, as she is still in training, but from what everyone else has said, she is smaller than their other golden (a male named Magnum), has a deep reddish color to her coat, and is sweeter and more laid-back than him.

I've been studying for the past two weeks to pass my state certification tests on Tuesday; two thick binders full of pesticide information, laws, and identification of pests. Even though I won't actually be applying the pesticides or even doing anything with them in my job, they want me to be certified to make sure I have the information down for any clients that might ask me questions. The pay is several dollars above what I was earning at my previous job, comes with full benefits, a company car, a gas card, and everything I spend on Aggie (toys, crate, grooming, etc) is reimbursed.

The only thing I'm a little nervous about is the fact that Aggie will be living with me. Kane is going to lose his mind with happiness about having another dog around the house to play with, and he's not allowed to lose his mind with happiness for another 3 months.

Kane's recovery has gone well, for the most part. He's using his leg better than he was before the surgery, although he's still preferring to toe-touch when he stands. He's putting weight on the leg and actively using it when he walks, but he still has a limp, which I'm hoping will go away over the next couple of months during recovery. He has an x-ray scheduled for the end of the month at MSU to make sure his leg has healed properly before the surgeon signs off on a "return to activity" directive.

We had to wait an extra week to take his stitches out because at some point, he managed to lick at his incision without me noticing, despite the inflatable donut collar he was wearing. Sneaky dog. So I had to switch cones to a bite-not collar. Have several pictures I snapped during the first couple of weeks he was home.

This is the cone collar they gave him at MSU. It was huge and it freaked him out. He'd sulk with it on, lowering his head, and get it caught on a crack in the pavement. He'd freeze and look at me for help. So, I'd have to reach down, free it from the crack, and nudge him to keep walking. Rinse, lather, repeat.

I could barely fit his cone through the door of his crate. And then when he laid down, it ballooned out. I knew he need a different cone, so off to Petsmart I went.

I came home with this. An inflatable, donut-type collar. He liked this much better, probably because he could see around him.

After the first week, I allowed him out of his strict, 24/7 crate rest because he was making the both of us crazy.  On the condition that he would lay down on the air mattress and BE. QUIET. I'd bought the air mattress because there was no way I was carrying him upstairs to bed with me and he yodels if he has to sleep by himself.

His incision, 2-3 days after I took the bandage off. Sorry for gratuitous weiner. 

He didn't like his bite-not collar because he couldn't turn his head.

You can see how much they shaved here. Down his surgery leg and over one hip to the other. But they left his tail alone.

The collar gave him a lot of bad ear days. :)

I was going to include some APBT history in with this post, but it's already longer than I expected with the pictures and such, so I'll save that for tomorrow.

I'll feature another legendary APBT, Garrett's Jeep ROM  (son of famous CH. Crenshaw's Honeybunch ROM) as well as the "keep", or conditioning, James Crenshaw followed for all of his dogs. Each dogman has a different "keep" he follows to get his dogs in fighting shape for their matches and I hope to compare them.

TPLO

Things have moved very quickly with Kane's leg. Have some bullet points!

• Kane had his consultation last Thursday at MSU.
• The surgeon palpitated the joint, manipulated Kane's leg this way and that, and diagnosed him with a partial (if not complete) cranial cruciate ligament tear. He quoted me an estimate of $28-$3200 for the TPLO surgery.
• My mother is awesome enough to split the surgery between her Care Credit and a credit card, and then I'll pay her back.
• The surgeon was concerned enough about the way the joint felt and the quick muscle loss in the two weeks between my visit with Dr M and MSU, that he wanted to admit Kane that day, do the surgery last Friday, and then release him the next day. I told him I couldn't do it because of my work schedule, so he agreed to admit on Monday (yesterday), surgery today, released on Wednesday--despite the fact that they were fully booked this week.
• With this in mind, I took off Wednesday and Thursday of this week from work so I could be home for him the first two days.
• MSU ended up calling on Friday while I was at work and left a voicemail, basically saying "Oh, whoops, heehee, surgeon isn't here on Tuesday like he told you, so we went ahead and re-scheduled your appointment to drop-off Tuesday, surgery Wednesday, released Thursday. Please call to confirm!" Gee. Thanks.
• Called them back on Friday initially, but they'd already closed. So, I called them yesterday. The receptionist said they were fully booked this week, but they had a cancellation on Thursday, would I like to take it? I said, "No, you don't understand. The surgeon said it was okay if we did the surgery despite you guys being booked." She replied, in a slightly uppity voice, "Well, it'll be easier for you to take the cancellation on Thursday, and I'll have to confirm what you're saying with the surgeon, but ok."  ...... Seriously? Like I'm just inventing the fact that the surgeon said he'd get Kane in even though they were booked? Why would I just come up with that? But everything worked out, surgeon confirmed, yadayada.
• I dropped Kane off today for admittance at noon.
• He took a huge crap in the middle of the hallway. Yes. Yes, he is That Dog.
• When the student handling his case leashed him up to take him to a kennel, she went one way and I went the other. Kane dragged her to keep up with me, but after some encouragement on the student's part, followed the student with one last look over his shoulder.
• She called me earlier tonight to tell me that Kane was being a model patient and was one of the favorites at the hospital. They'd already gotten the radiographs and measurements done for tomorrow. And, he also ate his dinner without a problem.
• She'll call tomorrow morning to tell me how the night went for him, again before his surgery at 1pm and then after, and finally one more time later that afternoon to tell me how he's recovering. This is a lot more communication than I expected from such a large teaching hospital, but it's very helpful for my nerves. :-)
• I pick him up at 330pm Thursday.
• Then we begin the fun part -- 8 weeks of strict crate rest with leashed potty breaks only, radiographs taken at 8 weeks confirming the surgery is healing properly, and then 8 more weeks of a gradual return to exercise. But still no running or jumping until a minimum of 16 weeks after surgery. Oh joy. 4 months of no exercise for a highly active, not-quite-2-year-old puppy. Because, I'm sorry, but leashed walks up to 20 minutes is not exercise for Kane.
• I have a runner between Kane's crate and the enclosed porch so he doesn't slip on the hardwoods. Then my stepdad is building a ramp for the three steps down from the porch to the front yard with some indoor/outdoor carpeting so that Kane doesn't slip on that either. For the most part, Kane will be getting around with a jerry-rigged towel sling.

Wish him luck in surgery tomorrow!

Rollercoaster Monday

So, I've got good news and bad news about Kane.

We'll go with the god news first because it's short and so amazingly awesome.

Kane has his CGC!!!

Yes, you read right! My bonehead puppy passed his test last night with flying colors. The AKC representative even wrote: "Awesome job! Great ambassador!" on his sheet. He got a super-cool CGC bandana; all I have to do is send in the form and the fee, and the AKC will send me his official CGC document in a frame. He's now known as Kane Denator Puppers, CGC.

Today, I took him outside and tried to get some nice photos of him showing off his bandana. Unfortunately, even though he has his CGC, he couldn't resist the allure of deer poo in the backyard. Just pretend the brown smudges aren't there. ;-)

Kane doesn't know what all the fuss is about.

It took only two good rolls in the deer poo to get his bandana to that level of dirtiness.
My stupid, delightful, doggy boy.

Kane decides eating grass is preferable to this photo shoot.

Kane is still not impressed.

Was that a squirrel? Lemme chase it, lemme chase it!

It's sitting right there! Staring at me. Taunting me!
Lemme go teach it a lesson. Please??

Oh, jeez, mom. Now it's up the tree!
You let it get away!

It's so hard being a Super Star. Just ask Kane.

Notice how is left rear leg is cocked underneath him
and his right rear leg is stretched out to the side?
Bad news time.

So, for the bad news.

Earlier yesterday, I took Kane in for what I thought was going to be a quick and easy vet appointment. He has a bump on his front right paw that I thought was a histiocytoma (although Kane's is nowhere near as bad as the one pictured on that webpage). Dr M examined the spot, told me to soak his paw in Epsom salts twice a day, wrote a script for an antibiotic, and then asked me about his limp.

And then from there ... it grew into something so much larger and terrifying than I ever thought.

Kane has had an on and off again limp since late April. It would get better with strict crate rest, and then it would pop up again two or three days later. I didn't think anything of it. Turns out he has a partial cruciate ligament tear in his right rear knee. More commonly known as a cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) tear.

Dr M had Kane do some Sits and Downs for her. Each of those times, his right leg was stretched out to the side. She 'hmmm'-ed and then had him lay down on his side so she could manipulate the leg. She felt some swelling in the knee as well as grade 1 "drawer movement". Basically, what it means is that instead of his knee moving only in a hinge movement, it's moving forwards and backwards across the joint like a drawer. An uninjured CCL prevents that sort of drawer movement, keeping things nice and tight. Grade 4 drawer movement is usually indicative of a complete tear.

She thinks his grade 1 movement shows that he has a partial tear, but it's never a 100% guaranteed diagnosis because she's had a dog with grade 1 drawer movement get into surgery and have a complete tear.

Dr M wants me to get Kane in to see a specialist as soon as possible. Even waiting 2 months can be detrimental at this point, because this CCL tear has likely been going on since April. (She'd initially diagnosed his lameness as a pulled muscle since she couldn't feel any swelling or drawer movement in his knee, and she was hoping for the less serious injury.) Unfortunately, with a partial CCL tear, the longer it goes on, the worse it gets. The frayed ends of the ligament end up rubbing against the cartilage in the knee and wearing it down, causing arthritis; and usually the end result of a partial tear, if left unresolved, is a complete tear. At this point, she said he is guaranteed to have some arthritis in his knee when he gets into his senior years (usually around 8+ for pit bulls).

There are different kinds of surgery available to repair the CCL. One is known as an extracapsular imbrication; this is the traditional form of surgery, but, unfortunately, even though Dr M can do it and it would be so much cheaper, it is now (usually) reserved for those dogs who are under 25lbs and/or are senior and/or have a low energy level.

Kane is none of those things. Even though he is no longer willing or able to use his right rear leg and is thus hobbling around on three legs, he is still bursting with energy and sometimes it gets the better of him. I still have to prevent him from doing zoomies around the yard, I still have to hide his chuck-it ball so he doesn't pester me with it, and I still have to keep him from launching off the porch on his potty breaks.

Our other options are either a TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy) or a TTA (tibial tuberosity advancement). These surgeries are basically the same; they focus on changing the angle of the tibia and how the femur meets it, and using a bone plate to stabilize the bone's new position. However, the TTA is a more recent (~2004) variation of the TPLO and cuts through a different part of the tibia. It's less invasive, and thus has less of a recovery time, and is also usually cheaper. TPLO/TTA surgeries restore mobility to ~97% after recovery, versus ~93% for the extracapsular imbrication.

The only problem is the cost. Dr M referred me to MSU veterinary school and they quoted me an estimate of $2600-$3300.

Yes. That thump you heard was me hitting the floor in a dead-faint.

Based on my research, that seems a little high (as most estimates I've seen are more in the $1500-$2500 range for a TPLO), but I'm not sure of the reasoning behind that estimate either (what they're including, etc, that I could potentially cut out or have Dr M do at her practice to save money [bloodwork, etc]). I have a consultation set up with MSU on the 25th of this month at 830am to discuss our options.

However things work out, he will either have the TPLO/TTA surgery done or his leg taken off if it's cheaper. I know Kane and he won't care whether he has that leg or not. He'll still be my wild and crazy puppers, careening around like a madman. Of course, if he does end up a tripod, there will go my dreams of titling him in Rally or Obedience. Or trying out dock diving with him.

Someone said to me that "a bullet is cheaper", when I told them about the cost of Kane's potential surgery. I wish I'd been able to punch them in the face. Who the heck says that sort of thing? Really?

Is This Thing On?

I'm sorry for the lack of updates in the past month, but I've had a hell of a time lately.

Kane almost died of heat stroke on the 21st of June. It was muggy, but not terribly hot, so I took him out at ~10am to avoid the noonday heat. I'm usually good about cutting him off as he's never known when to stop since he was a puppy, but that day I somehow missed the signs. The only suspicion I had, at first, that something wasn't right was when he didn't want to jump in the back of the car to go home. He gave me a look as if to say, "Um, no thanks. Too much effort," and laid down in front of it instead.

After persuading him to jump in, I made the fateful decision to turn right out of the drive instead of left. Left was the quicker way home, but Right took me past his vet's on the way home. I figured I'd keep an eye on him and if I noticed anything else odd, I'd stop at Dr M's and see what they thought. About halfway to the clinic, I checked on him in the backseat to see his big old mouth open the widest I'd ever seen it--I could almost see down into his throat, and he was drooling a little.

I might've broken the speed limit getting to Dr M's at that point. When I got there, they started by taking his temperature. After it reached 107.5 F and kept rising (normal dog temp is 101-102 F), Dr M ordered Kane in the back for a cooling bath. It was several minutes before she came back out and explained exactly what they were doing: continually rinsing him off with cool water and wrapping cool, wet towels around his head and neck to cool down the blood going to his head.

It wasn't until about 10 minutes after I'd arrived with Kane, when his temperature had lowered to 104 F that they brought him out, still wet, to see me. He was super-happy to see me and snuggled right up to me with a wagging tail. Later, I found out that Dr M had brought him out to check his reaction towards me because she was worried about brain damage and whether he was still all there. Since he didn't want to drink water, they were forced to give him an IV for a couple of hours and monitor his progress; at a severe heat stroke level, bodily systems and organs start shutting down, and she was worried about his kidney's failing. When I went back to pick him up, I was sent home with a 14-day supply of a probiotic supplement to support his digestive system and keep the bacteria in his gut happy (since that is the first system to go) and instructions for a bland diet the next day of hamburger and rice.

Three days later, on the 24th of July, Ellie died. This is still a loss I'm trying to muddle through. It was sudden and shocking, and has forever changed my life and my relationship with Kane.

In the face of this loss, I've taken to re-doubling my dedication towards Kane. I'd previously gotten his hips x-rayed because of worries of hip dysplasia (being backyard-bred, neither of his parents had hips tested, and his mother had been put down for them earlier in the year). Now that I know his hips and elbows are good, I'll be getting him into dog sports, with the hopes of titling him in Rally, maybe Obedience or Agility depending on how things go. I also want to try Dock Diving in a more "professional" environment since he already does an amateur version of it at the lake.

We've also been doing more doggy-fun activities, such as Bark at the Park (dogs are invited to a baseball game; Kane got to share a foot-long hotdog with me and schmooze with everyone there, both human and doggy) and Biggby @ the Point (free dog treats, professional photography, and coffee for us humans).

We were also going to walk in the local 4th of July parade, with his patriotic-themed "costume", until he came up lame after a playdate yesterday. I did get a good mini photo shoot out of it though. Here are a couple of the best shots (he refused to look at me for most of the shots, but he was a good sport!).

Kane is not impressed.

Show-dog style!

I just loved his grumpy expression in this one.

Pit Bull Love.

(To clarify, throughout this post, I will be using "pit bulls" in reference to their "type", not the American Pit Bull Terrier specifically. Which brings up an entirely new issue/topic for another day [is there really a "pit bull type"? what does that make you think of in terms of a dog's appearance?].)

Pit bulls are "my breed".

You know when you find "your breed". They just click with you. Like peanut butter and jelly, strawberries and cream, whatever pat little analogy you want to insert here. You find the little things about them fascinating, things others might not understand unless they too are aficionados of the breed. You realize that you will never own another breed of dog (or you will always have at least one in your life) because you just can't imagine life without them. You become irrationally excited when you see someone else with your breed, dragging your poor dog across the pet store through crowds of screaming, hyper kids and other dogs that really shouldn't be taken to pet stores because they're either terrified out of their poor minds or obviously have it out for other dogs no matter their size (or both)--all so you can coo and exclaim and make googoo eyes at their dog and get the same little shot of confidence back as they take the time to do the same over your dog.

Pit bulls do this for me.

I love their friendly, over-the-top clownish personalities. Their big, dopey grins and their constantly wagging tails that can lead to a condition called "Happy Tail" (which can unfortunately, in severe cases, lead to medically necessary tail docking--and is also why I will never own a coffee table). I love their big blocky heads, their wrinkly jowls, their beefy muscular bodies. I love their eager to please, laid-back natures. I love everything about them, even their potentially dog aggressive natures, because it's a remnant of their heritage, a testament to where they came from and where they're going, and ties in to their remarkable courage, drive, and tenacity. I love that they're the stereotypical "tough guy with a heart of gold".

I just love them to pieces and no amount of bad publicity or ignorance surrounding them will ever change that. Even if I were insulted every day over my choice of breed, even if BSL was enacted in my area, I wouldn't give them up. It would be hell; it would be a little depressing; it would just all-around suck. But I'd rather live in a tent in the woods with them, then ever give them up. I've actually lived out of my car for a few days with Kane and even though it was awkward and cramped and gave me a doggy odor, it's nothing a few good spritzes of Febreeze can't fix, and I don't regret doing it until I could find a place to live with Kane.

One of my favorite things to do is search for pit bull pictures online. Old ones from their dog-fighting, just starting to get into the show-ring days. Current ones with their dopey smiles or regal poses. Anything in between as long as it makes a good picture and gives me a stirring in my heart for the breed.

The Hike

Things Have Been Happening, but I haven't found the time to post!

I was offline for 3 days because Ellie, cute little 9 week old Ellie, figured out on my first day back to work that she could scale the side of her expen like it was freaking Mount Everest and launch herself over the top. My mother did me a favor and stopped by to let the dogs out, and Ellie greeted her at the door. We don't know how long she was out (I had left for work 4 hours previously), but she only piddled in one teeny spot and the house wasn't destroyed. Except she decided to chew on my DSL cable, lol. She did a lot better than Kane would ever have done. (And  I'm still not sure how he'd do if I didn't crate him; that may be an experiment for another day.) Ellie can, however, hold it in her crate for four hours, so I've been crating her and running home on my lunch. Yay for amazing puppy bladder control!

On one of those three days, I put Ellie in her crate for a nap and took Kane on a hike for some bonding time. I actually typed this portion of the post up the other day, and then Blogger decided to Hate, and I lost all of it. I've been too irritated/bummed out to re-type it all up and add all the pictures (110!!) again ... So here goes The Hike 2.0.

There is a small nature preserve that runs behind my house; it's surrounded by suburbia, but it's got some nice trails and it's a good, quick and dirty spot to take Kane when he needs to burn some energy off-leash. Kane loves to hike off-leash. It's the easiest way to get him to flash a dopey pit bull smile. He'll often run off ahead to sniff before running back, as if to say "Jeez, you're slow, can't you go any faster?", before zooming off again. If he goes down a path that's muddy or that I don't want to go on, I call him back with a This Way! and he zooms back to me.

Today's picture ...

I really love my goofy boydog.

He's the best heart-dog anyone could ever ask for.

Day Six: Photo Blogging ...

I finally got my replacement camera charger in and was able to take some pictures and a handful of videos of the little squirt. I have plans to upgrade to a dslr some time in late July/early August, but in the meantime, I'm not missing a second of her puppyhood.