Like many people, I've owned a lot of dogs in the past 30 years. While it's been primarily my parents that have decided what breed of dog, I still always had some sort of say in the final decision.

 

 

It wasn't until I moved to Michigan that I truly had ultimate say in what type of dog I wanted. Typically, my parents have held issue with larger dogs, much preferring small dogs like shih-tzus and chihuahuas. My ex-wife took my Doberman / Shepherd mix dog when we divorced, so I had an empty apartment to come home to every night. One day at work, one of the women I worked with asked if I knew anyone who was looking for puppies, and I let her know I might be interested. Once she let me know that they were Saint Bernard and Rottweiler mix and they were 6 weeks old, I instantly agreed to take 2. I trained them from the day I had them, and they were very social (just like myself), so we definitely got a lot of attention wherever we went. They were there for me when I came home, when I felt down, and they protected my home when I had a break-in occur. They knew all the basic commands, and once they had those mastered, I trained those dogs to do things like search and rescue, acting based on minor cues instead of verbal commands, and opening and closing refrigerator doors and cabinets. When I brought them out to Illinois for the holidays, my parents and their neighbors were extremely impressed with my dogs and how well they behaved and were trained, particularly since my dogs each weighed around 170 pounds each.

 

 

Sadly, the best dogs I've ever owned are no longer with me... in January 2008, they contracted a virus from someone else's dog (they didn't pick up after their dog right in front of my apartment building). I watched the two best dogs I've ever seen let alone owned slowly dying, and after spending a lot of money trying to help them, I was told they would not live more than another month. I watched them suffer for a couple more days, and decided that I couldn't let them suffer any longer. March 12th, 2008, I took them in to have them euthanized, which was definitely extremely difficult to do but I knew I couldn't see them suffering any longer. I still greatly miss them, as they truly were the best dogs anyone would have been lucky enough to own... I know I certainly was. R.I.P. Sugar and Sin, you are still missed deeply!

 

 

This rave written by Joe Rosendorf Jr.  This is merely an opinion based on personal experiences, and is intended to inform based on those experiences.