The Dog Journal

ROTTWEILER STEPS IN AFTER AKITA PUPPIES LOSE MOTHER - “They took to her right away and she took to them right away. She’s even counted them, so if you take one away she was sort of like ‘what are you doing with my puppy?”

After the mother of eight Akita puppies passed away, an organization called Cause for Critters in Canada helped out and found a Rottweiler who could take over mothering duties. It appears that the Rottweiler had been lactating but was not pregnant. Here’s more from draytonvalleywesternreview.com:

Never having had so many puppies at once, volunteers put out the word that they needed to find proper care for the eight babes. Thanks to the commitment of volunteers a vet based out of Evansburg was able to connect the local not-for-profit organization with someone who would be able to care for the dogs.

“[The vet] had heard about the puppies from one of our volunteers and he had just been in contact with the owners of the rottweiler, who for some strange reason was lactating but wasn’t pregnant, they say it was a false pregnancy,” explains Lauren Schmidt, vice-president of Cause for Critters “So he let us know and I brought the puppies there to see if she would adopt them as her own and to see if she would produce any more milk.”

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“Obviously it’s an amazing feeling because as soon as we called out saying that we had an emergency and that we’ve never had this many puppies before, the response we had within half an hour was remarkable,” she shares. I had to even post on Facebook that we had solved the problem and would let them know if we needed anymore help, because there were so many calls coming in from people who knew somebody, or they wanted to help, or they could take one or two, or whatever. So it was really great.”

Hopefully the puppies grow stronger and all end up with great families. Click here for the full story and here for more about Cause for Critters. (Photo from Cause for Critters Facebook page)

FAMOUS DOG FROM THE DOG/CAT/RAT TRIO PASSES AWAY - “The creatures bucked stereotypes of animal behavior, and even their basic nature, to band together and form a one-of-a-kind animal pyramid: rat on top of cat on top of dog.”

A 13-year-old Rottweiler-Labrador mix named Booger passed away in Colorado recently.  Booger became famous because of the relationship she had with a cat named Kitty and a rat named Mousie (there have been several different “Mousies” but Kitty was the same). They often walked around stacked on top of each other. Read more from dailycamera.com:

Booger, 13, died Monday night from kidney and liver failure at a veterinary clinic in his hometown of Telluride, Pike said. He had raised the Rottweiler-Labrador mix from a puppy.

“I think my eyes are drained. It really hurts,” he said Tuesday. “She didn’t die in pain at all. She passed away in comfort in Telluride, where she loved to be.”

Soon after he was given the puppy, he began his dog-cat-rat act on whim, he said…Spurred on by the sadness he saw in people after 9/11, Pike said he liked the reaction the animals got when they were walking around stacked on one another.

“Everywhere I brought them, they made people smile, and it just made me feel really good inside…Pike said the dog will be cremated, and in the spring he will climb to the top of Gold Hill in Telluride — her favorite place on Earth — to spread her ashes.

Booger and her friends brought a lot of joy to people.  May she rest in peace. Click here for the full story, and here to watch a YouTube video about the three animal companions.

DOG SAVES FAMILY FROM HOUSE FIRE - “When he smelt the fire, which had started in an empty bedroom…Bruno opened Mr Singh’s bedroom door, pulled off his blanket and began barking furiously.”

A Rottweiler-Doberman mix named Bruno saved his family from a house fire in London by opening a bedroom door, pulling the sheets off his owner and barking. Although there was extensive property damage, everyone escaped safely.  Here’s more from northlondon-today.co.uk:

“Bruno was outside the spare bedroom whining. Santa opened the door and when he saw the fire he rushed to get our two daughters up and took them outside.” 

No one suffered any injuries in the blaze. 

Mrs Kaur says that if Bruno, a two-and-a-half-year-old Rottweiler Doberman cross, had not woken her partner up her two daughters would have perished in the fire. 

But only days before the blaze Bruno was given to a couple in Kent because Mrs Kaur did not have the time to look after him. However, her daughters were left distraught and refused to eat until their much-loved pet was returned. 

“We had to get Bruno back, the kids were too upset,” said Mrs Kaur. 
“I am so glad we did, I can never thank him enough. I can’t get over the shock of what happened. I owe everything to him and we are never going to give him away again.” 

Bruno was almost given away by his family, but it appears he’s not going anywhere now. Click here for the full story.

DOG SWALLOWS VENOMOUS OCTOPUS - “…the blue-ringed octopus contains enough venom to kill 26 adults.”

A Rottweiler named Axel was playing at a beach in Australia and accidentally swallowed a poisonous octopus. Fortunately, Axel was rushed to the vet and is expected to make a full recovery. Read more from the Hills & Valley Messenger:

“We were coming back from a walk I do with my mates along O’Sullivan Beach down to the Onkaparinga mouth on Saturday mornings,” the Happy Valley dog owner said.

“He’d found an old tennis ball, which we discovered had a split in it.

“A blue-ringed octopus was obviously hiding in it and when he picked the ball up it popped out and Axel swallowed it.”

Mr Freeman said, within 15 minutes, Axel could barely lift his head and legs.

“He was in a bad way and we nearly lost him … he was going downhill fast,” he said.

Mr Freeman rushed Axel to the O’Halloran Hill Veterinary Hospital where he remained on a drip over the weekend…Axel was at home this week being pampered and will return to his Saturday morning walks soon.

It was a close call, but Axel is now at home and recovering. Dogs will eat just about anything! Click here for the full story. (photo courtesy of Adelaide Now)

A Boxer named Sadie and a Rottweiler named Eli, helped saved another dog in the same household from an owl attack.  The three dogs were in their backyard when an owl attacked.  The owl lached on to Ramadi, a 7 pound shih-tzu mix.  Sadie fought the owl and tried to get it to let go of the smaller dog. Here’s the story from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Fresh from an Army tour in Iraq, Evans’ daughter Amy was visiting for the holidays with her husband, five kids and two dogs. One of her dogs, Ramadi, a 7-pound shih-poo (a mix between a shih-tzu and miniature poodle), was in the back yard with her parents’ rottweiler, Eli, and their 70-pound boxer, Sadie.

“When I came out the door I saw Sadie on top of something and thought it must be another dog, but it was really dark so I couldn’t see,” Evans said.

He called the rottweiler inside. Little Ramadi came running too, dragging something, with Sadie giving chase.

“Suddenly I realized an owl had its talons sunk into Ramadi and Sadie was trying to get it off of her,” Evans said. “When they got to the door we were able to separate Sadie from the owl and my wife pinned the owl to the ground with her foot as I ran to get some gloves.”

Evans had to work to free the bird’s two-inch long talons. He believes the dog’s thick coat helped it escape injury.

On occasion, I hear stories about hawks or other birds of prey attacking small dogs.  It must have been a scary moment for the little dog, but fortunately everyone seems to be ok thanks to the heroics of Sadie.  Click here for the full story and more pictures.