Thread: My Dog Basil

Benjamin,

Wanted to thank you for what you mentioned about your friend's rescued Pit Bull. Your couple of sentences there pretty accurately sum up the breed. They are actually people dogs by trait...intelligent, love to play, love to please and just won't quit, as evidenced by Basil's hobby.

At one time, the were nick-named "Nanny-Dogs" because they are so good with children.

The entire problem with Pit Bulls is people related...and then...the media having another horror topic to sell copy on.

I take care of my mother, who is 90 and my three Pits sit around her chair like court jesters. She walks with difficulty, cannot see very well and of course has some bad days. When she gets up to walk somewhere, one or more of them follow her into the kitchen, her room or will wait outside the door if she's in the private room; they'll wait on one side or the other of a doorway to allow her to go through first. Truly great dogs!

Anyway...bwattie...very nice looking pup and companions.

This is my dog Rosco. I recently had to have him put down because of kidney disease. Evidently, there is no treatment for it in dogs.

Rosco was a looker...sorry he's gone. How about getting a Rosco II?

O' how I wish that I could but I don't have the contacts to where that bloodline comes from nor would I feel comfortable spending money. He was a gift from a good friend of mine.

I recently moved into town and I have made many, many trips to the shelters around here and they are full of bulldog breeds; mostly the APBT. The last time I visited I brought home an American Bulldog pup. She'll be the first non-APBT I have ever owned except for a stray that I took in 3 years ago. She's white with brown ears and her face looks like someone poked her several times with a sharpie. Gotta get some pictures of her.

American Bull-Dogs are great dogs...know you'll enjoy her and good for you getting one from a shelter. My first, Romeo, was from a Breeder, (my daughter's purchase), the other two are rescues...I'll never buy another one...plenty of wonderful dogs in shelters.

Anyway, best regards to you and your new pup! Thanks for the pics of Rosco!

Originally Posted by AnarchoPhil

This is my dog Rosco. I recently had to have him put down because of kidney disease. Evidently, there is no treatment for it in dogs.

Wow Roscoe looked more than a little like a young Basil! There's an internet community called True Grit which is geared toward bully breeds http://true-grit.org/smf/gallery.html The folks there taught me about bloodlines and tugged my coat specifically to what they called Hemphill Saronna. I did some quick searches and found page after page of photos of Basil. Being the cynic that I am I do have a certain degree of skepticism. I can't shake the doubt regarding the bloodline. While Basil may bear a striking resemblence to these Hemphill Saronna bowsers, I am more like to believe Basil is not as much Hemphill Saronna as he is Williams Sonoma. The reason is that Basil really digs the kitchen.

good to see you're back icedog

Do you have the paper work on Basil? Rosco was basically an Eli dog but his color came from dogs way way back in his pedigree. The majority of the pups in his litter had that real deep red color but Rosco was the only one with severely bowed legs and that was what drew me to him. I also believe that if "mentally deficient" animals occur in nature then Rosco was such an animal. He would urinate in his feed pan and set his nose in the water when he drank.

Originally Posted by AnarchoPhil

Do you have the paper work on Basil?

I'm sorry but Basil's father was an unknown quantity so we have no pedigree.

Yesterday I brought Basil to visit a friend in hospice.

During the visit, people stopped by from neighboring rooms asking if Basil would introduce himself:




I am considering bringing Basil back on a daily basis and introducing him to anyone who shows interest. Basil and I know nothing about making money but we seem to be naturally skilled at making friends. In fact, if you could watch the interaction between Basil and the patients, Basil seems adept at bringing the warmth of the sun into an otherwise gloomy room.

Brad,

That is amazing "work" for a dog like Basil to be doing. You can see how the folks are enjoying it (and Basil doesn't exactly look like he's hating it either!)
Good on both of you. I introduced my dog to a woker at a home here when she was about one. I had her in a sit stay, introduced myself to the woman, turned around to release Kacey, who promptly jumped on the woman (fail)...when calmed down with a hand, she followed that up by peeing on her shoes (fail).
I never told Kacey's mom (my wife) about the failed experiment. Kacey is now limited to warming the hearts of the (very) few people who can calm her down and deal with her rediculously untrained and illbehaved manner. We have had out money returned by two trainers, and the one with in home "unlimited gaurenteed" return trips to the home has stopped returning our calls. We have both had dogs before, have trained them succefully, and well....she is a lovable, sweet little terror.