Aegis Grab Life By The Horns

May 29, 2009 - July 10, 2009

This adorable little boy, from our Moxie x Bowie litter born the Summer of 2009, was tragically and violently ripped from our lives on the morning of Friday, July 10, 2009.  Dodge, who was just six weeks of age and getting over a stomach bug, was resting on a dog bed with his Mom in the living room while I was keeping an eye on his littermates in their exercise pen outside, and the big dogs were "doing their business" out in the yard.  In a split second, one of the adult dogs -- a 2 year old female Swissy who had been visiting here for a few months while I was showing her to her championship -- disappeared from my view.  Normally she'd be circling the puppies' pen outside, but suddenly she was gone.    When I called her and she did not come (she normally had a very good recall), I immediately ran into the house but it was too late.  Dodge was laying on the dog bed, in the throes of death, bleeding profusely from wounds to his chest and abdomen.  His lungs were punctured as you could literally hear the whistling of the air escaping from his lungs as he gasped for breath. His heart was likely punctured as well and he bled out  within a matter of minutes.  

I have no idea how this dog sensed that one of the puppies might still be inside, but she clearly did as she broke through the plexiglass panel in the storm door and then knocked the door from the mudroom into the kitchen completely off its hinges to get to the main part of the house.  Moxie, always so trusting of people and other dogs around her puppies, did nothing to defend Dodge because that was not her nature.  Even as Dodge lay there screaming and bleeding, Moxie was visibly upset -- crying and stomping her feet -- but she did nothing to retailiate against the dog who had just killed her puppy.  

That morning was the single most disturbing event I have experienced in 35 years of owning and breeding dogs.  And it will be a long time before the vivid memories of that day will fade from my mind.  While I will never understand this girl's motivation for killing Dodge -- whether it was some feral instinct (alpha females in wild dog packs will often kill puppies who are not their own) or she simply thought Dodge was a fancy toy to be torn apart -- it was clear that she had no clue she had done anything wrong, standing their with her blood-soaked muzzle, tail-wagging.  But I have learned that I will never trust a strange dog in my home while I have puppies on the ground.  And it serves as a reminder of how fragile life is and the tragedies that often come with the joys of bringing puppies into this world.  

We will never forget you, sweet Dodge with the crooked blaze.