Day Two - err, scratch that. Make it Round Two in the battle between goliath and the midget.

Little baby Bessie has gotten both Ruffin and Axl on the run. Today, I actually heard old man Axl bark at her for the first time since we adopted him 6 years ago. And it was a loud bark when Bessie decided she was going to take on both of the big boys. Grandpa Axl may turn out to be a stern old man to be reckoned with. But back to the arena and some new pictures of this epic battle and some blow-by-blow commentary.

Ruffin is now remembering the Sassy approach to disciple training, grabbing the young pup in his mouth. But will it work? I'm sure he is aware of his own strength and won't hurt her. Meanwhile, in the background, Axl snoozes through the whole event.

The head grab didn't work. Now Ruffin is trying to scare the little puppy by making ugly faces.

Bessie responds by biting Ruff's ear. And she has some pretty sharp teeth so I'm sure that hurt.

More ugly faces from Ruff but Bessie won't stop her attacks. I sure hope Ruff remembers how to make these faces if a bad guy ever gets in our house.

And the battle ended as quickly as it started and the two fighters decided to hang out on the couch waiting for the judges to make their announcement.

And the winner of Round Two is, Bessie.

  

School starts and the lessons begin.

Our reluctant foster-father Ruffin spent a quiet afternoon in the house playing with baby Bessie. And as violent as it seemed it was all done in complete silence. Not a whimper or growl or cry was heard. And Bessie seems to be as slow to learn as Ruffin was almost 8-years ago when Sassy was teaching him discipline.

Then Bessie decided it was time for a break so she went and visited her new Mom.

 

Our baby Rottie girl Bessie has two fathers. Reminds me of the movie, Two Men and a Baby.

It wasn't too long after we got Bessie home that the big question was answered. Can an adult male Rottweiler take the place of a mother. In our home in the last 19 years, we had Mocha adopt and raise Sassy and then Sassy adopted and raised Ruffin. And if Sassy taught Ruffin anything it was discipline. And she was a brutal teacher. And that was because Ruffin was a very slow learner. But she taught him well and Ruffin grew up to be the most lovable and respectful Rottweiler in the world.

Well now I know that Ruffin is beginning to remember his lessons.

A few hours after I brought the puppy home I had her and Ruffin outside. Ruff was laying in the grass and Bessie was attacking him with tiny bites all over his face. Instead of getting up and walking away, Ruff began to try and stop her. He raised his paw as if to hold her down but hesitated as if he was afraid to hurt her. Then he pinned her to the ground with his head and held her still. This went on for some time. I could tell by the look on his face he was trying to remember how it was done.

As for Grandpa Axl, that is another matter. In the last six years he has lived here I have never heard him growl or bark once. Last night when Bessie was climbing on him he expressed his displeasure by actually growling in a soft voice. Bessie got the message. So now I think our little girl will have two fathers to raise her.

This morning I will take Bessie to see our veterinarian for a Rabies shot and then we will start her lessons. First thing will be to get her house-broken. I have to rush her outside to pee after she gulps down some water and I'm trying to move faster before she goes.

  

First photos in her new home. Her name is Bessie. She is 8-weeks old and she weighs 13 lbs.

No need for many words here. I'm still assembling crates and gates and stuff but I had to grab some pictures. Especially of the three of them on the couch. The reason is explained below.

 

Had to take these because of the much earlier one taken 11 years ago. Three has been our lucky number.

Mocha, baby Sassy and Nikko (Mocha's father)

And here is Bessie's first meal.

And this one...

... because of this.

Ruff was 8 weeks old when this was taken. Same age as Bessie in the above photo.

We have finally filled the vacancy. Now we are three again.

Ruffin's greatest adventure finally caught on film. 

Over the past weekend I came to realize the futility of ever finding an adult female Rottweiler to take Sassy's place. I have had three people change their minds at the last minute after telling me they had to give up their Rottie girls because they had to move and couldn't take them. I can only attribute this to the ability they possess in capturing a human's heart and these owners ended up keeping their dogs. I know from first hand experience in 1996 when after only two or three weeks of trying to find a home for Nikko and Felony, the parents of my first Rottweiler. In the short time these two adult Rotts were in my home after my wife drove back to Long Island to rescue them and all the while I was setting up plans to get them adopted, they were working on me to stay. And the feeling I got one day after looking deep into Felony's eyes and realizing I could never part with them, ever. That is how Thief of Hearts began.

Our management vacancy has been filled but we'll have to wait a few years till she grows up.

Well, back to the story. Saturday night my friend Barb who works at the Kenton County Animal Shelter sent me a picture of a 7-week old female Rottweiler puppy that someone had just surrendered to the shelter. Barb knew I was looking for an adult female but decided to tell me what she had. I fell in love all over again and this morning, as soon as the shelter opened, I took Ruffin and the camera to go for a visit. I should mention that ever since Sassy passed away I have been telling Ruff I was looking for a Rottie girl to keep him company. Now I had to change this and since Saturday I've been telling Ruff he was going to be a foster-Daddy, and I also told old man Axl that he was going to be a grandpa.

Once in the door Ruffin did his usual leap up on the counter to say hello. I often write about this but have never taken a picture until now. Ruff does the same thing in every place we go.

This is one of Ruffin's favorite places and he loves all the attention he gets. But then came the big surprise when Barb brought out the little girl for him to see.

I think he likes her.

Then it was my turn. I haven't smelled puppy breath in 8 years.

Then we turned them loose in the viewing area and a few people came by to watch.

I couldn't resist adding this one, even if it was an accidental photo.

Well, after growing bored with her first encounter with the giant-sized version of herself, the little girl Rottie began to look for other things to play with. Like my shoelaces. And after that she attacked the cuff of my jeans. And she reminded me of my first girl, Mocha, back in 1995. So I think the fun is going to begin all over again.

So we left them out in the arena to play while I sat down to fill out the paperwork. And another staff member kept them company and gave Ruff an opportunity to make a new friend.

Then Ruffin gave a last kiss to our friend Barb and we left to come home.

We have to wait until Thursday to pick her up and bring her home. She needs to visit a veterinarian for her shots and surgery to get her fixed. Then she gets to meet her new grandpa.

By the way, I haven't decided on a new name for her yet. She actually doesn't have a name and I was thinking of something German like Gerta or Matty but for some reason the name Bessie keeps popping up in my head. If anyone is interested in sending a suggestion I'll post it.

Nap time.

I see a lot of this around here every day and it always makes me smile. This place is very likely nothing more than a retirement home. You can hear the sounds of snoring all through the house all day and all night long.

And a longer view shows the whole crowd.

I sure do love living with Rottweilers.

 

Ruff loves his new headrest plus some other exciting things that happened around here this week.

Just walked into the family room last night and caught a glimpse of Ruffin dozing on the couch next to his Mom in his typical upside down position. I quietly walked out and grabbed the camera and got this first photo.

Went back to my den and dropped off the camera and when I returned to the family room Ruffin had grabbed a corner of my wife's foot rest to use for a pillow. Once more I quietly went back to retrieve the camera and got this photo.

Then Ruffin sort of woke up from all the camera flashes and raised his obviously sleepy head for a look to see what was going on.

Just as quickly, he laid back down, half on and half off the foot rest. With his eyes still open and his feet dangling in the air, he went back to sleep.

Yep, this was the most exciting thing that happened around here yesterday. (Except for the two women nurses and their evaluator from the Caregivers group who came to work on Jackie's physical therapy.)

Now on that subject I might add that while they didn't have much choice being here, though I always ask people if they are afraid of big friendly dogs, they have all enjoyed coming into our home this past month and doing their job while Ruff and Axl tried to interrupt them with sneaky kisses and constant attention. But once the two boys got used to seeing these women twice a week they soon just laid on the floor and took naps while they were here. But one of the therapists named Stephanie, came over last Tuesday and got here earlier than I expected. I was in the midst of getting my wife dressed when the doorbell rang so I quickly let her in and told her to go wait for us in the family room. When I went back to finishing dressing my wife I heard some very loud uncontrolled laughter. I called out and asked if everything was OK and Stephanie answered back, "YES, Ruffin is in my lap giving me kisses." And that was the most exciting thing that happened Tuesday.

   

Urgent: Jan Cooper, the great Rottweiler lady in California, needs our help.

Updated August 11, 2014. See below.

Please pass this on to anyone who may know of or heard of Jan Cooper in Anaheim, California. Her mailing address is 10172 Gilbert St., Anaheim, CA 92804. Her email address is Jan4Rott@rott-n-chatter.com and she does not know I am posting this. I have known Jan Cooper for over 10 years and she is one of the greatest champions of the Rottweiler breed. She has also single-handedly compiled a database of Rottweiler bloodlines in America.

Those were during the good times, then things got bad.

Jan just sent the following letter to Glen Beck trying to get someone interested in a growing problem regarding senior citizens with reverse mortgages losing their homes but the real problem is she is about to lose her own home because of it.

If you belong to a dog list then someone must have heard about Jan Cooper and may be able to get her some help or have her message made public. Just pass it along.

Thank you,

Nelson

From: jan cooper

Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2014 5:26 PM

To: me@glennbeck.com

Subject: 1000's of US Seniors kicked to streets by HUD!

Mr. Beck, can you please let the public and media know what is happening to "non-borrowing surviving spouses" when a spouse dies and their home had a reverse mortgage on it?

HUD is the agency that set up this program and yet, has had to be forced by the court this year to address this growing situation to prevent seniors from literally being kicked out of their homes. I know, I am such a victim.

My husband and I purchased our older home together 36 years ago. As we aged so did the house. We qualified for a low income loan from the County of Orange, CA., to upgrade and do a lot of repairs. Since we were on Social Security only we opted to take out a reverse mortgage to pay for the loan and additional repairs, (2004). When interviewed by a 3rd party as required by law, we were instructed to take my name from the deed to obtain more funding along with removing our Living Trust in order to obtain the reverse mortgage.

Fast forward:
Husband developed Alzheimer's disease and cancer so we renewed the reverse (2006).  January 2014 my husband passed away. I was informed even before my husband was buried (Military cemetery, he was a WWII Veteran with several medals) that I had to either pay the reverse, sell the house or sign it over to the mortgagee.

Fast forward again:
Currently our home is in foreclosure, scheduled to be sold via Trustee sale on Oct 3, and I will literally be homeless after 36 years living in my home.

HUD has issued 2 new policies to mortgagees and banks holding reverse mortgages: 1. For all new reverse mortgages effective August 5, 2014, non borrowing spouses or significant others do NOT have to be on the deed, rather by living with the person on the deed and remain living in the home after death they can remain in their homes....
BUT 2. For non-borrowing surviving spouses, the policy effective June 25, 2014 is so restrictive that virtually none in my situation can qualify.  There are 1000s like me but no one is aware of what is happening to us, it is a very well kept dark secret.

The irony is that I will be homeless and have to turn to HUD to help me find someplace to live as I cannot afford to rent because of low Social Security income.  I even receive food stamps from the county and help from the local food bank.

Please address this very important issue so that the public knows what is happening every day to US senior citizens and perhaps HUD will find a way to let us live in our homes and not be putting us out in the streets, and that is exactly where I have to go...

Oh...I just learned yesterday that I have no legal rights to the house to even try to sell it because of the negated Living Trust....I have to go through Probate. I cannot even afford the filing fees, so after 37 years of marriage, a lifetime of working, on October 3rd I end up alone, with my dog and just enough belongings that will fit in my minivan...

I am 73, have severe heart disease.

You can put a face to this note if you do a Google search on "jan cooper burglar"...you can also see my beloved late husband and our service dog....please let the county know what is happening every day. 

It might not be enough to help me, but perhaps it may help other US seniors.

I will put a face on it for you Jan. Here are some pictures of you when you came here for a visit.

American Rottweiler Club Nationals, Mason, Ohio 2004

Postscript: I received another email from Jan tonight along with a video she made to bring attention to this reverse mortgage scam being played on Senior Citizens.

From: jan cooper

Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2014 8:06 PM

To: undisclosed-recipients:

Subject: Senior with Assistant Dog kicked to street

I have finished putting together a 10 minute video that hopefully explains the situation of losing my home resulting in me and my registered Rottweiler Assistant Dog being kicked into the streets. I will literally have enough belongings that will fit into my mini van and my dog.

I now come to you and ask that YOU please forward the following link to all on your email lists, FB, Twitter, Instagram, news reporters/magazines and any other media you can think of. The story is on video, you don't have do anything other than share the link.

Maybe, just maybe it can help me but if not maybe someone else.

Remember the media blitz across the country and other parts of the world when I shot at a burglar last year...I have fought to save my family and home already and now I am fighting for me.

I love all of you and words cannot explain my deepest gratitude for what you have done to give me support and let me use your shoulders to cry on.

Now I am prepared to just step back and hope and pray the media will pick up the story and put pressure on HUD. It is my only hope left.

Hugs and tummy rubs to the all the Rottweilers and G-d bless each of you!!!...jan

--

jan cooper: jan4rott@rott-n-chatter.com
Manager of Rottweilers: at Pawvillage.com
Original Rottweiler items: cafepress.com/rottweilers
oldest Rottweiler domain in the world: rott-n-chatter.com
"The Lord will never give us anything greater than He knows we can bear."

  

Enjoying a few moments in the sun.

Its official, Summer here has lasted all of 96 hours (so far). Personally, I can't stand too much heat so I'm not sorry we are now having Spring-like weather in the mid-70s during the day and 50s overnight. But I did manage to grab my camera after my wife sat down in a chair by the front door with her ever-present protectors. This was one of the last days when we had near 90 degrees outside. That's probably why their tongues are hanging out.

A new lifting chair for Mom and a new headrest for Ruff.

Maybe I'm getting old but my back is taking a toll trying to lift my wife off the couch every day. Its one of those side effects from her Alzheimer's that I have to live with but not after today. I spotted a powered recliner chair that lifts the person from a sitting position to standing straight up. I knew the moment I saw it that I had to have it. And within a few hours Ruff found out it makes a very handy headrest so he can lay a bit closer to his Mom. Check out his new sleeping spot. Meanwhile, Axl has been voicing several complaints.

It has been very quiet around here lately. Now I know why.

It has become very obvious that with the passing of our girl Sassy that something else has also gone away. No one has barked at anyone walking down the street or coming up to our door any more. I used to think of Sassy as our Early Warning System because she was the one who let everyone else know that "danger" was coming. Now it seems no one else cares. When Sassy sounded the alarm the two boys would instantly arrive to back her up and we'd have three Rottweilers standing guard inside the front doorway. Now, if I'm lucky, Ruff goes to the door with me out of curiosity to see whose there but he doesn't make a sound. Of course we have a full glass storm door so when I open the front door his huge presence is very obvious. Maybe he doesn't have to bark and maybe that's a good thing. I used to try and get him to be a "Stealth Rott" but I thought it wasn't working out right. Now that we are missing our little instigator (or cheerleader) Ruffin has become the stealth rott that I always wanted.

We are still looking to fill the vacancy in our lives. I have several people watching out for an adult, female Rottweiler that need a good home. I think Axl and Ruffin need a new leader and I have told a few people that we have a management opening here.

P.S. Summer is here and so is the outside work that comes with it. Soon as the cleanup is done I'll be posting new pictures.

 

Watching the Belmont Stakes horse race with Ruff and remembering old times.

This has become something of an annual tradition. Ruff has a fascination with horses. Always had since he got to kiss one when he was about two years old. So every year we seem to watch one particular horse race together, the Belmont Stakes. Well this year we were rooting for California Chrome hoping it would win the Triple Crown, but it didn't. I'm glad Ruff didn't bet any dog biscuits. I did manage to get one decent photo.

OK, for those who may not have seen them yet, here are the pictures that forever changed Ruff's opinion about horses. And makes him charge at the TV screen whenever he sees another one.

Here is how it all came about. We took Ruff over to the horse farm where his father lived to meet him. I spotted three horses in the pasture and asked if it was alright to take Ruff out to meet them. The horses were used to Rottweilers since the farmer owned about 6 of them. When the horses spotted us one began to slowly walk toward us and Ruff kinda lost his nerve. Especially when he realized how big it was. Anyway the rest is history. Here is the whole group of shots.

And then the clueless dingbat dog did what every other dog does, he went around to sniff the horses butt.

That's when the farmer told how lucky I was that the horses were used to Rottweilers. If the horse was skittish he would have instinctively kicked back at Ruff. Lucky I yelled at him as I took the picture.

Sassy - one last time.

For a little Rottweiler who I sometimes referred to as being anti-social because she kept to herself in her later years, Sassy has made a deeper impression on my life than I would have ever thought. And from the way Ruffin looks when he lays on her bed it seems that her passing has affected him as well. I just finished designing her headstone and will be ordering it next week and I came across a few older pictures of her when she was not quite 2 years old.

 

 

Sassy wasn't a champion or anything fancy like that, she just received a medal for entering the Parade of Rescued Rotts. But we were still very proud of her and she looked very proud of herself. That's the way it was when she was young.

The title of this post may be incorrect. The tears are welling up in my eyes again as I write this. I don't think I can ever forget her. Rest in peace little sweetheart and wait for us at the bridge.

 

Ruffin is still in mourning.

After our little girl Sassy passed away one of the first things I did was to move her bed out of the family room where it had been almost all of her life. She actually had more than one bed in this same spot over the years and this one was about five years old. I took the bed and stuck it in a corner of the living room so it wouldn't keep reminding the two boys about her since they both spend most of their time in the family room with their Mom. I was mistaken. On several occasions I have now found Ruffin laying on her bed, something he never did when Sassy was alive. He doesn't sleep on it he just seems to be laying there thinking about her. I realize now that he still remembers her and misses her very much and this is taking much longer that I expected. I took this picture tonight and the look on Ruff's face tells me he is still in mourning. 

I just realized it has been a month since I posted the sad news about Sassy. I think we have all been in the dumps around here so it isn't just Ruff who misses his little girl. I have asked several people who are involved with Rottweiler rescue to keep an eye out for a mature adult female Rottie about 5-7 years old that I could adopt. We have always had a female Rottie in our house since the day in 1995 when I got my girl Mocha and it seems very strange now without one.