My Very Good Boy , Dozer

by Dan
(Ohio)

My boy had to be put down on June 27 2014, it was a Friday I will never forget.

He was my first dog so I thought purchasing from a breeder was the way to go. ( I know now that rescue dogs is where it's at , as an avid animal lover, Dozer made me realize that ) So for $1500 plus a $200 plane ticket , I received the most gorgeous fawn red nose 8 week American pit bull terrier I ever knew existed.

Love at first sight. We became inseparable. Girlfriends I had come and go for the next 10 years of his life were jealous of his place in my heart. He was my boy!! I never knew that a love that strong existed between a dog and his owner. It's a love second only to a mothers love . Our connection was unbelievable. By the time he was 5 months he would start a howl about 10 min before I came home . It really tripped my girlfriend out. At first she thought it was coincidence. But without fail whatever he was doing he go to the front door and howl or even wake up out of a deep sleep and howl and I would show up 10 min later.

I'm a small business owner so my schedule was all over and never set. At this time I lived in Ohio . I ended up moving to Phoenix AZ about 5 yrs later and opened a business there also. And again I had an all over schedule no set time. Well one day I came home, and I had lived there only 3 or 4 months, and a lady knocked on my door and introduced herself. She said I really just had to tell you how cool it is that your dog knows when you are coming home. I was so proud. I knew what she was gonna say cuz my girlfriend had already told me. It was just us living there no girlfriend.

In Arizona the weather was so nice I had all windows open all the time. So the lady lived across the street and could hear Dozer do his howl 10 min before I came home everyday sometimes 2 or 3 times a day for the first 3 months we lived there. She was amazed and said "it's not like you come home at 5 everyday you are in an out." Again at first she thought it to be coincidence but after a while it was without fail. She was retired and was home all day. She got a kick out of his sixth sense.

Now I wish I could say I felt something but I'm just not as cool as Dozer. Through out our life together he has been loyal and just my little boy. Since I was working a lot I did end up getting a rescue girl pit bull . We were just a great family. She is as sad as me today. Now since he was a purebred I have attributed all his health problems he had because that's what people would tell me. Anyway we had been through a torn ACL surgery $4000 and quite a few other pricey surgeries.. He would shake his head so hard that he busted blood vessels in his big floppy ears.. I did not get them cropped no way!! Then his cheek had to be cut and stitched back up cuz it wasn't healing after his ears had damaged blood vessels there too..

Everything with him was so big and strong.. He was a ninety-five pound lover. When my family found out I got a pity bull they all were very upset, that is until he was formerly introduced.my mom was in her seventies and a petite woman and call him a complete gentleman . Literally anyone who came in contact fell head over heels for him. I had a stranger tell me up and down how vicious all those dogs were. Needless to say by the end of being Dozer charmed he was hugging and kissing MY DOG!! He just couldn't believe he was that close to a killer lol.

Again I did pay 1500 and I'm a firm believer in getting what you pay for. So esthetic ally he really was gorgeous. Beautiful coat and people thought he was the TURNER AND HOOCH DOG cuz I didn't crop his big floppy ears. I had to bandage the end of his tail cuz he would wag it so hard he busted the tip and would do PABLO PICASSO paintings with the blood that would splatter all over. My friends use to call him
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST( around when that movie was out ) because again he was so strong and if you were on the tail end of him wagging you felt like you were being bull whipped bout four or five times before you could get away and it hurt like hell . His lips were so big and would slobber all over so we carried a towel around if I had visitors.

He was amazing. He did everything big. His vet said that his ACL is torn and will need a specialist and on top of it had the biggest bone spurs on his rear legs that he had ever seen. He showed me the ex rays and it looked terrible like a bunch of thorn bushes just horrible. So when I took him to get his ACL fixed I had to ask about the bone spurs and that vet said yes they were severe in fact the worse he had ever seen too. But he said look at him he is covered from head to toe in muscle and looks so happy , nobody told him it's suppose to hurt. He said don't worry about it he's not.. He said he has seen dogs with a third the size of his bone spurs and they suffered muscle atrophy because it hurt so much to walk they just didn't . But that was when he was 6. Now that he's 10 it all caught up.

His spine was degenerating the spurs lots of arthritis and in a lot of pain pills. He had to wear a diaper for his incontinence. I took care of him. And I knew when the pain was to much. Just before I took him we stopped and got a one pound cheeseburger and fries and and ice cream sundae. Oh yeah the vet said normally they lose the appetite when it's this bad, he never did .he had moments of no pain but it just wasn't enough for me to see him go on like that. Man I love him!!! I just lost it when we were in there as I held him and looked him straight in the eyes and told him how much I loved him and he knew.

That was the worse moment of my life so far. Pain like no other. I picked him up and took him home. I have a beautiful place in the backyard . I still say hi everyday .

I miss you buddy love my baby boy the forever puppy Daddy will see you again .
DOZER MAY 1st 2004 - JUNE 27th 2014


Dan, what a beautiful tribute to an amazing dog! Pitbulls are wonderful, and it's tragic that so few people allow themselves to see the true character and magic of a pittie. Perhaps when your pain has faded some, you might feel able to welcome another (this time perhaps a lonely and needy pitbull) into your heart. There are so many who never get to feel the love they so deserve. Best wishes and condolences ~ Sue