URGENT PLEASE READ AND PRAY. THIS WAS WRITTEN BY MY VERY GOOD FRIEND BOB. THIS IS ABOUT HIS DOG GAGE WHO IS FIGHTING CANCER. BOB IS SINGLE AND HIS CHILDREN LIVE FAR AWAY AND GAGE MEANS THE WORLD TO HIM. PLEASE PRAY THAT GAGE IS HEALED OF HIS CANCER AND PLEASE SHARE THIS ON YOUR STATUS AND ASK OTHERS TO PRAY. THANKS. When I first met this little knucklehead in 2002, my friends Steve and Linda had somewhat rescued him from a biker bar where he was in a cage too small for him. He was about 4 months old and cute as hell, even if he did have a Pinhead for a male Rottie. Steve already had one Rottweiler, Otto. His other Rottie, Colt had passed away a few months earlier. A few days later, Linda being the bleeding wonderful heart she is saw a stray dog in the area where we just had a big fire. Linda somehow managed to get this dog who was marked like a Rottie but much smaller and mixed breed into her car and brought it home. She looked like she had given birth not to long ago. Linda had gone back several times looking for any signs of puppies with no luck. This poor girl was covered in fire ash we gave her three baths and because her fur was so matted we named her “Mattie” Now Steve and Linda have three dogs. Gage, Mattie and Otto loved it at Lake Elsinore Gage would trot around the beach holding a branch sometimes 6-8 feet long. He would just walk around with it in his mouth sometimes smacking you in the back of the legs with it (if you weren’t watching ) He also had this one stuffed animal that he had found in the field by the lake. He only played with it when he was at the lake. He would go dig it up when he wanted it and hid it when he was done. All the dogs were loving it even the dog I had at the time an English Setter named Ginger ( she was my first sporting breed) Steve soon found out this guy was a handful. Gage had during the course of the next 3 months managed to consume and or destroy the following. An air conditioning unit, he ate through the electrical wires and the cooling copper tubes as well. The door casing of the garage and the door( which is where he was kept at night) and most of the drywall around it. Numerous boxes and anything else he could get in his mouth. Gage was also a runner at times. If he got out of the yard which happened more often than not he was gone, straight to the lake he loved it. Steve worked hard with this and wanted to kill him more than once over this one bad habit. Slowly Gage stopped this (meaning he got his ass handed to him) After about 2-3 months Steve got the Rottie pup with the background and markings he had been looking for. Now he has four dogs. Knowing that Gage and I had formed a bond ( meaning, I saved him from Steve who wanted to kill him more than once) Steve asked if I wanted the dog from hell. I took him full well knowing I would have my hands full. Gage became a member of the household. Ginger at first was a little jealous and Kali my cat who was use to dogs was indifferent. Linda having a couple of cats and Gage being used to cats it was no big deal. Where I lived at that time was a two bedroom condo with a nice size enclosed yard. The dogs got along great and became the best of friends. At the time the dog door I was using would only let Ginger in and out, better control of Gage. Then one day returning home from work I discovered that the dog from hell had arrived. Gage was able to get his head and shoulders into the small dog door lift it up and out from where it was and place against the wall and proceeded to come into the house. The destruction was wide spread. The cushions of couch were shredded (Only on one side so I flipped them over) My comforter from my bed was out in the yard. Lamps were knocked over, the coffee table had been dragged from were it was to about 10 feet closer to the sliding door. The remote control had vanished into what I would imagine was the abyss of a dog’s stomach and so much more. As I surveyed the damage I looked over at Ginger who was looking like she was in trouble. Then I looked at Gage who was giving me this stupid look like “WHAT” at first I was pissed then I just started laughing. I knew then that life with this guy was going to be an adventure. Gage grew and matured into a very polite and well mannered Rottweiler. He loved people, adored kids got along with cats and other dogs. The only thing he didn’t like was coyotes. That leads to when we moved to Tucson , Az. We lived on the west side of Tucson in a nice newer 3bdr house in a nice housing track. Back behind us was open desert, that’s where I would take the dogs for a run. Being in the lovely south western desert where you could encounter all kinds of wildlife. Rabbits, rattlesnakes, lizards, illegal aliens, drug smugglers and coyotes. I always had my pistol with me. One day taking the dogs for a run Gage was off somewhere to my left and Ginger was off to my right. I heard a yelping and turned to see Ginger running toward me at full tilt. Behind her was a coyote chasing her. Now I’m a good shot but all I hit was desert. Suddenly Gage came flying out of the brush and hit the coyote broadside rolling the animal several times. Gage then latched on to the coyote’s throat ending that encounter. Gage went up to Ginger and checked her out. He then came to me for a big ATTA BOY. The funny part about this was afterwards, every time I took the dog’s for a run Ginger was no further than ten yards from Gage. She knew he would protect her. Having been in Tucson for almost three years Ginger became ill with Valley Fever. It affected her heart, liver and kidneys she was 10yrs old when she passed. Having lost Kali just before I moved to Az ,I was left with one animal Gage. It was great having him around when I lost Ginger. He missed her too and would look for her. From that point he and I would go just about everywhere together he was my wingman. I always thought Gage would have my back if need be. There were two occasions when I was glad to have him with me. The first was when I was traveling back to Lake Elsinore from Tucson to visit as I did about every 6-7 months . I always traveled late at night, less traffic a little cooler in the summer. This one trip it was about 3:00 am and I’m on the 10 bypass heading to Cali . I’m the only car on the road or so I thought. After a while I saw headlights way behind me no big deal. A short time later the car is up next to me, then drops back into my blind side. Gage is laying down in the back asleep. The car as I can now see is occupied by two guys. I move my side view mirror over so I can see them and what they might be doing. I see that there both looking over at me and talking to each other. Well, thinking that I’m getting set up for something not very nice, I roll down the back passenger’s window and call for Gage. As big boy gets up and sticks his head out the window looking at the two guys in the car next to us. For some strange reason that car started to slow down and slowly disappear in the far distance. Score one for a good visual effect. The second time I was coming back to my car that was parked in a shopping center lot. Gage again was in the back just kickin it. As I opened the door I saw in the reflection of the drivers door mirror two Mexican males approaching me. One was reaching into his pants for what I didn’t know. I called Gage’s name he got up and took one look at those two guys and cut loose with the most vicious barking and growling I ever heard. Needless to say all I saw from that point was two assholes and elbows running across the parking lot away from us. Score two for good sound and visual effect. Gage has to be the most patient dog I have ever known. Even with dog’s that are trying to start something with him, he will walk away until the other dog becomes stupid. We were at Reid Park in Tucson for a company (Raytheon) picnic. Adjacent to where we were at, was a dog park. So Gage and I headed over there. He was having a ball running around playing with the other dog’s, being him. There was a mixed breed rottie that came in and started trying to play Top Dog with every dog there. The owner was sitting on the bench reading a book and not paying attention to her dog. After seeing her dog almost start a couple of fights I suggested that she keep and eye on her dog. She just gave me a dirty look and went back to her book. When I turned around I saw her dog try and top dog Gage by putting his head over Gage’s neck. Gage walked away, this other dog kept trying and Gage kept walking away. This dog would not stop, even when Gage growled at him (Warning). After about the fifth time Gage had enough he turned and put the dog on his back and had a mouthful of throat, that dog just froze in place. I called Gage off, he didn’t hurt the dog at all. The girl was freaking out about her dog. I told her he was OK and that the next time she should pay more attention. We went back to the company picnic and the kids there had a ball playing with him. We went on home after an almost nice day. When I pulled into my driveway and Gage and I got out of the car. My idiot neighbors from across the street who always let their dog run loose( There was no love loss between this dog and Gage.) As Gage got out of the car, this dog came charging over to us barking and growling. I swear this next part is true. Gage looked up at me like he was saying “What, I have too deal with two assholes today” With that, Gage had put this stupid dog on his back and had a mouth full of throat. I called for the owner who came over and she started talking crap about how bad my dog is. I told her” Really, how come your dog is on my property getting his ass kicked. No answer. Her dog was not hurt at all, in fact he didn’t get up right away, because Gage was still standing by. The last I saw of her and her dog was when she was trying to pull him to her house. LOL, score another for the big boy. Gage and I made many trips back to Lake Elsinore . On one occasion we were down at the lake. We had the place to ourselves for awhile. A lady and a little girl about 7or 8 yrs old came down to the water. At first the lady was afraid of Gage until I explained that he is very gentle and sweet and adored kids. The little girl was wearing what I would call a full body life preserver. She couldn’t sink if she was holding two hundred pounds of rocks. Every time this little girl would go into the water Gage would run in and block her from going above her waist in the water. If the girl tried to go around him he would just re-position himself blocking her again. The lady was in disbelief at the protective actions of this strange dog. The little girl was getting mad because she wanted to go out further and Gage wouldn’t let her. Me, I was loving every second of it. I’m thinking “Yep that’s my boy” While still in Az but working for Wackenhut transporting illegal aliens back to the motherland Mexico . A lot of the guys got to meet Gage and like him. The word got out about this big friendly Rottweiler and everyone wanted to meet him. One night I had gotten off shift at 10:00 pm, and told the graveyard guys I would come back with some donuts and Gage to the Border Patrol Station. Mind you the B.P. guys wanted to meet him as well. By the time I got the donuts and Gage and returned to the Border Patrol station two bus loads of recently caught illegal’s were in what was called a “Sally Port” an enclosed area where the illegal’s were searched and escorted into the holding area. Anyway their were about 60-70 people being detained. Seeing all the I A’s as we called them (Illegal Aliens) I left Gage in the truck. The Border Patrol supervisor told me to bring Gage on in, no big deal. Well some of the I A’s were getting a little loud and some were arguing with the Officers. As soon as I walked in with Gage on a leash it got totally quiet. Nothing, not a sound everyone just sat down on the ground and didn’t move. All of us, the Border Patrol guys and the Wackenhut guys were fighting to keep a straight face at the reaction that Gage caused just by coming in into the Sally Port. He didn’t growl or bark, he just had his usual happy face on, but the I A’s didn’t know that. Now that was unplanned fun. My boss later told me don’t do it again. Oh well. Almost four years ago 2010, we moved back to California and Gage and I continued our runs together to the lake and everywhere else. If I could have gotten away with it I would have taken him with me to work. About a year ago Gage had another encounter with a coyote, This time we were coming back from the store early one morning. As I turned onto my street I saw what appeared to be an old lady swinging her little dog over her head. As I got drove up closer I saw a coyote jumping up onto the women trying to get her dog. When I came to a stop I wasn’t even half way out of my truck when Gage leaped over the top of me in order to get out. He took care of that coyote in no time. The old lady is freaking out neighbors are coming out of their homes. The police and animal control show up. I explain to the Police Officer what had happened. He was cool with it, the animal control officer on the other hand was being an ass. He was busting my chops about Gage not having his tags on. Once the animal control officer finally found out that Gage was legal. He said Gage needs to wear his tags at all times. Oh yes sir it won’t happen again sir…………IDIOT. I told the Police Officer that if there was a next time with a coyote I’ll just shoot the SOB ( I had already told the Officer of my background) he said that works for him, I would be protecting that old lady’s life from a vicious attack. Needless to say Gage got a lot of atta boy’s for his actions. Gage was a remarkable dog everywhere he went he captured someone’s heart. He may have been a fierce looking dog, being a Rottweiler. But he was a very gentle sprit, always a gentleman. He loved being around people, kids other animals, always entertaining and always full of love. He was also one hell of a chick magnet. All kinds of women wanted to pet him and say what a sweet boy he is. Not that it did me any good. I’ll miss you my friend, I’ve learned so much from you and I thank you for your love, devotion and companionship. You have been my hero and been with me through the good and the bad. You were always there, I can’t imagine what life will be like without your cold nose waking me up to feed you or you taking most of the king size bed. The times we spent sitting on the floor you curled up in my lap. Ever since you were a puppy my lap has always been your favorite spot (Mine Too) Even though I’ll be left with an empty leash, you will always be in my heart forever.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:23:55 +0000
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