I've never been without multiple dogs since I've been a kid
As a kid I had everything from Shepards to mutts
In my late teens I bought my first Rottweiler and the love of that breed and my time with them lasted for almost 20 years. I had as many as 4 at one time
I remember like it was yesterday that I was down to 2 ....a male and an old female. The male who was an awesome dog named Beast had just lost a battle with cancer and I was devastated like I am now ..... Loving dogs can sure hurt at times
For years I had been researching the Dogo Argentino breed and I can remember calling a breeder in Texas a few days after Beast had past and basically breaking down on the phone with him over the loss of my beloved male Rott
That was the day that I bought Jack .... My first Dogo
We did everything together
He lived in the back seat of my duallie and I used to let that diesel truck run all day so he could have heat or air condition
He was featured on TV bird hunting something that Dogo's are not known for but that dog could hunt that's for sure
He would track deer , tree squirrels , flush birds, rabbits etc. He loved riding on boats ....he did it all
He also attained a catch title down south ..... One of the first Dogos to do so back than
I had a lot of requests to breed to him but I waited for the right time and the right little lady and Tuco (Turcato) was the result
I never ever could of imagined our time would be only the 8 short years we got
Tuco learned to hunt from his dad Jack
All the years I put into Jack flowed over toTuco and he was a monster in the woods
He like his father would hunt with the best of them
I used to kid and say when my Dogos were gone I would never get another but switch breeds like I did when the Rotts were all gone
As the years past and my kids got older and more active I didn't hunt them like in days past but we still hit the woods a few days a week to either hike or have them run behind a 4 wheeler
As Jack got older he stayed at home when he couldn't make the mountain but Tuco still loved to run the woods and chase everything that he could get a scent on
His nose was excellent and even this year feeling bad he has found a ton of fawns and would never hurt then but just play with them till I would call him off
All of my dogs could always tell a baby from an adult and showed a unique gentleness with babies but they were hell on full grown critters
Ive never not had a dog to knock around with I'm a dog person and my home the last few days even though my wife's 4 pound doggie is here has been so very depressing
This brings me to today's story
About a year and a half ago my middle daughter came to me and said ...... Daddy can I have a female Bull Terrier ?
At the time I had just replaced the wife's little dog with another little dog and even thou I adore them they are not hitting the woods with me
I said baby I love Bull Terriers and I have always said my next dog would be either a Bull Terrier or a Staffordshire Bull Terrier
You see as I get older and regretfully busier I didn't want a hard hunting dog and I always new that I would drift toward those two breeds as a companion dog for me that could still hold its own and hit the woods on occasion plus be effective as a watch dog for my children and property
So I said to her honey I love Bull Terriers but right now Jack is heading down hill and I just got you guys the little dog so let me get thru things with Jack and we will revisit the Bull Terrier when he is gone
Well with in a year and a half Jack had passed and again she said Daddy can I get my Female Bull Terrier now ?
I promised her soon but I wanted to get through this summer and Tuco deserved the focus of all my attention right now so I said we would revisit it soon and that she should keep researching the breed
I have a fairly big library of the Mosler and bully breeds and like all kids she's a wiz on a computer
I never thought Tuco would ever be leaving us so fast
When I went into the specialist on Friday I was expecting to do a biopsy and get ready to help him make ready for the fight . When they told me to awake him would be barbaric I almost died .... He was only 8 .... He looked so good ..... How could this be happening
Walking thru that house door with out the dog they grew up with for the third time this year (remember I replaced their moms little dog and Jack 4 months before ) was one of the hardest things I've had to do
My two littlest girls did what any kid would do which was to break down and sob
In the moment I said listen Honey you can start looking for your female Bull Terrier and I'll even do ya one better I told her to find two a male and a female ...... I said you know daddy can't go with out his truck buddy and woods buddy ....I've never not had a companion dog since I was big enough to walk. I said that I wanted a pure white one and that I would name it Max . She said she wanted a white one with an eye patch and that her name would be Lady
I said that we would not hurry and we needed to take the time to do some breeder research but I would buy two Bull Terriers when the time and the dogs were right
Well all I can tell you is never ever doubt the resolve of a 13 year old little girl on a mission and I do not break promises to anyone especially one of my little girls
With in a few hours she came into my room and said .... Daddy I found our dogs
I looked at her like she was crazy ..... I said baby finding good dogs takes time and research and you know how series I take my dogs .... I've flown dogs from all over the place over the years
I said honey we have to do the research
She looked at me as serious as can be and said what do you think I've been doing for the last year and a half
I said show me what you got kid
She proceeded to tell me that she had found a very good breeder .....one of the oldest Bull Terrier Breeders in the country
In fact the original Spuds McKenzie dog came thru them and they had dogs that won Westminster etc
I said you know I'm more into working dog kennels but let me have a look
Sure enough she did find a very solid breeder that had a litter on the ground from a very solid pair of parents they were 5 weeks old right now and there was a pure white pick of the litter male and a beautiful female that was solid white with an eye mark
She said that the stars had aligned and these were the only two white ones in the litter.......... You guys think I'm a salesman
As I paged thru internet searches I could not find any negatives on this breeder and they were even here in Pa .... 5 hours away but for a good dog for me that's next door
No matter what excuse that I could come up with I couldn't deny that the kid did a good job
She found what I told her I would buy and let's face it I've never been without a dog and I don't break promises so after some begging on her part I sent an email
With in an hour the man man who breed the dogs called me
I went thru my story of my recent lose and my standard questions which he answered correctly
my biggest request was that I was looking for a very athletic pair of dogs that would make excellent companions and family guardians but I work dogs fairly hard so they needed to be more than your typical blocky show dog
He said that the male was a very athletic solid dog that was far from the stereo typical show dog
The parents had the looks and the temperament that I was looking for and by the end of the conversation I offered to send him a deposit till I could make the trip up to see them
He said no problem he was just offering up the dogs as they just turned 5 weeks and did not expect them to last long but he didn't sell dogs to people he did not meet and that he would like me to come up and meet the dogs as soon as possible
He said both parents were there and the whole litter was intact so I could see them all but he had people coming in Saturday but he would hold the two white ones for me until Sunday
So guess where I and the entire family just got back from and I stroked a deposit check for both dogs
Meet Maximus (Max) & lady
Max
LADY
The whole gang
If she would of not found these dogs 4 hours after they were put up we would not have gotten them by the time I got home from the long drive up all but one had been sold
Father
Mother
So again I take another big step in my love of dogs and while I will never forget all of the dogs that came before I am a dog person that needs dogs ..... I was in this same situation 14 years ago and that was the day I found Jack ...... He was one of the best dogs in my life and I hope Max and I can have a fraction of the life my Dogos and I had
These pups are only 5 weeks and will be staying together for a few more weeks till we pick the two white ones up
Never underestimate the resourcefulness of a 13 old little girl that knows how to work her dad and use the Internet
[video=youtube;bVlGpK3jCG8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVlGpK3jCG8[/video]