by Bob Davidson
There came a point when I made the decision that I could take care of another dog. Not only that but it was also clear that there are a whole lot of wonderful animals out there that deserve to be rescued. After losing Brutus to cancer I also decided that I never again wanted to be in the position of losing my only dog.
I followed up on several leads and made several trips to the local dog pound before I heard from someone, via the Internet, about a 7 month old male that was soon to become available in Miami on the other coast. I talked to several people and got the whole story. The dog was going to be taken away from it's home by the sheriff because the dog and his sister were not being properly taken care of. It was a case where apparently the husband had bought two Rottweiler puppies but the wife got tired of having them mess up her new carpet so the dogs were dumped outside with no shelter. The neighbors quickly got tired of seeing these dogs out in the elements all day and all night (if you are not from Florida let me explain that it rains nearly everyday here in the summer and I mean it RAINS - like buckets!) So the authorities were contacted and after however many warnings were given, etc, the dogs were confiscated. They were kenneled for the required number of weeks while the previous owner had his chance to try to convince a judge that he should get his dogs back.
It was during that time that I made a trip to Miami to see the male who was eventually to be named Zeus. He was a great looking boy and was being kenneled with his sister who was the dominant one of the pair (this piece of information will become important later on…) He seemed very friendly and was just what I was looking for although dealing with an adolescent male Rottweiler again was not something that I much looked forward to.
I was contacted a few weeks later that I could come and get my boy if I still wanted him and you bet your sweet bippie I was on my way! I drove to Ft. Lauderdale to pick him up and took Lisa with me thinking that it would be easier if the two of them met on neutral ground. When we got there I signed all the papers and paid my money and then was taken to get the dog. Well, sometime between when I saw him a few weeks earlier and when I got there to pick him up he had gotten this big gash on his forehead (he still has a scar there) but aside from that he looked great. The introductions were made and we were back in the minivan and on our way home. Thanks to Ron Ben-Zeev, Patty Fisher, Grace Acosta, Ron Fochs, and others, Zeus was finally headed for the loving home he had been missing but had always deserved.
Zeus was friendly and full of energy and quickly became a member of our household. I kept him and Lisa apart for a few weeks but there were no real problems and I was eventually able to let them interact. It wasn't until about four months later that the two of them got into a scuffle over a bone (isn't it always over a bone?) It quickly escalated into a full, all-out dogfight. They were knocking over furniture and Lisa finally got his muzzle in her jaws someone (I wasn't here at the time) had to wade in and pull the two of them apart. She was convinced that Lisa would have killed him if they had not been pulled apart, and the next day Zeus had some really nasty punctures on his face which were swollen to the size of walnuts (he still has the scars.) Aside from one other battle, this was the only serious fight between them although sometimes from the sound of it when they play, one would think they are really going at it.
At three years of age, Zeus has grown into a beautiful 125 pound dog but even though he outweighed little Lisa by a full 30 pounds, she could still put him in his place when she thought he was out of line. Thought the years Zeus had various health issues. It took years to figure out which foods were causing him both skin a digestive problems (his medical bills certainly exceed those of anyone else in the family). In the end he made a great addition to our little family. He remained every bit the puppy (as you can tell from his picture at the top of the page) but he grew calmer through the years. He was a bright dog and he learned quickly even though he loved to test me daily.
In July of 2007, with no more than the joint problems you would expect from a 10 year old Rottweiler, one day Zeus fell down and could not get back up. According to the vet, the nerves to his hind legs quit working. After doing all that we could, we we forced to put him down. Like each of my dogs he will never be replaced and he will certainly not be forgotten. His ashes will be spread on our property here in North Carolina and also in Nova Scotia, where we have many fond memories of time spend with Zeus: my partner and my friend. I have a lot of Zeus stories (some that have been published in national magazines). If I can find the time I will publish a page here with some of them.
As hard as it is to lose a dog who has been such a big part of my life, I can only believe that in some way each of these wonderful creatures ultimately gives its life so that the life of another could be saved. I always go to a rescue operation and save the life of another difficult dog, generally one that would not otherwise be rescued. This helps to cut through the pain for me and is what I do each time. In this case, I contacted North Carolina Rottweiler Rescue a few days later and within a few weeks we brought Diezel home. See his link for the story.
My thanks to Peggy Rose for the wonderful Rottweiler artwork
This page coded by Bob and lasted modified 01/26/08