Dedicated to those who started Lionheart name.
Ch. Haslemere Duncan Lionheart
/93
Ch. Elfming Discovery x Ch. Haslemere Sterling
Silver
This was me, Danny, one handsome dude!
At 13 years of age, I had a perfect bite with a flawless scissor fit, superb
top line, and mom said that I still moved like a dream - movement full of
elegance, with lot's of bull terrier power in it even then ,when I was old.
I was gentle and well mannered dog.
At 15 months of age I took Group 1 in the Terrier
Group.
I lived good life and made lot of nice babies and had lots of friends.
Danny with Abby and Piggy.
Danny’s
Last Chance
The new
life story of Danny/Ch.Haslemere Duncan Lionheart.
Danny was a brindle and white Bully, who had a number of group placements,
including Group 1, as a show dog.
He was the very first Bully we showed and finished as a Champion.
After many years in our home and successful shows we placed Danny in,
as we believed, a WONDERFUL retirement home at age of six.
Based on our frequent (2 to 3 times/year) communications, his new parents
were great. We truly believed that they loved Danny and took good care
of him for 7 years.
Imagine our surprise, when we got an e-mail from Lisa
Patefield,
Director of Human Society in Wisconsin, stating: “Your Danny is
in our Humane Society Shelter".
We
could not believe it. Not our Danny, who is 13 years old, they would
not do that! They send us pictures, letters and homemade cookies every Christmas!
No, no way!
But,
Lisa was right, it was our Danny.
It
was so sad, this old dog ripped out of his secure home.This old dog
with a bad heart, deaf and a large tumor growing in his rear leg. We
could not imagine the circumstances that would occur that would change his
destiny so.
We
do understand that lives change and people's priorities change too.
As breeders we can only hope to find the best homes and parents, but in the
end this does not always work out. HOWEVER,
we always tell everyone (it is in our Contract as well) that
we will always take our dogs back, no questions asked, no judgments made.
Our mission is to provide long and great lives to all the Bullies we
breed.
Thanks
to Lisa, who let us know about Danny and thanks to many “Friends
of Danny” like Glena of Glentom Bullies, Stu and many others who offered
help and their heart, people from Bull terrier and French Bulldogs Lists.
Thanks to them, Danny made the trip from Wisconsin through PA back to our
home in Crossville TN.
He was content, happy and with family, including his daughter Bonnie
Brown and grandson Randy in the hills of Tennessee, where no garden
hose was is safe from him again.
I
write this story with the hope that it will save some of our Bully friends
from untimely deaths.
As
I was working on this letter, Email came from Lisa Patefield. This is a
part of it:
<<Just
checking in. Hopefully Danny has settled in with you and your life is none
the crazier for the unexpected addition to your household.
Last
week one of my staff, a Rat Terrier lover, took an ancient Rottie from another
shelter here in Wisconsin. The dog was 98% blind and had no kidneys left.
She would drink a quart of water which would make her sides swell like she
ate a softball only to urinate all over everything within an hour. We brought
her to our shelter, made her beds deserving of a queen, fed her delicious
human foods, let her roll in the sun, gave her full body massages several
times a day and after she suffered what seemed to be a rapid decline, was
put to sleep in the arms of her adopted "Mom." She couldn't bear the thought
of this old girl dying on a stainless steel table, uncertain of being
loved.
Sometimes,
it isn't pretty, but I wouldn't do anything else with my life. We owe it
to them.
Lisa
>>
So,
please, if you are in trouble, contact your breeder or BTCA or any BT breeder .They will at least
point you the right way. You do not need to give up your dog to a shelter.
We will find them homes and owners that can care for them and make them happy
again.
In
these times of Breed Specific legislation/Pit Bull frenzy, many bullies
will die needlessly.
Same
goes for any other breed, work with your breed's Rescue, they will
help.
Thanks
for reading
Danny,
Yana, Milan and all The Critters
This was Danny the day he came home again.
Danny died of stroke 5 months after he came back to us.
He rests under the trees in our back yard, with blue
birds singing to him.
And here is Danny now - making the Cherubs jealous!
Here is Young Danny practicing (HUCKLEBUTTING) for the
Doggie Olympic Games. Just 10 weeks old, but practice is the key to a great
future.
Visiting Budweiser factory in Colorado, was fun and many people
called us Bud /Spuds dogs .
Here are some of the fruits of Danny's and Meggie's labors.
The dark
one is Bonnie (Ch. Lionheart's Bonnie Brown ROM). ROM means "Recognition
Of Merit". This is an award given to top dogs to recognize their breeding
potential and to identify those that are likely to advance the
breed.
CH.EXCALIBUR MEGAN
LIONHEART 1992
Ch. Bedlam's Polar Night Cap ROM & Am.& Can. Ch. Excalibur's
Nostopping Me Now
Best of Variety
Meggie (on the left -4 years old here) with young Jennifer.
Meggie, Meg-Peg or Megulyetka
was our first Bully .
When she was young, we thought she was insane. Running around, hitting a fence breaking her leg, jumping down 10 stairs landing under the
Lazy Boy and breaking her leg again. She would run around at great
speed and at the same time she would turn around. No other dog could catch
her.
Nipping people making them black and blue, eating
everything, especially the toilet paper. But after she turned two
she was the best behaved Bully or pet we ever had.
So there is a hope!!!!
Meggie retired to Pennsylvania to live with Hartzell
family.She loved their grandson Frankie and slept in the bed with him .
She was the only dog in the house and she loved it. Rest in peace, Meggy!
