Saturday, August 27, 2011

The puppy is here....There...and oooover there!


Gorjira has joined my life! She is an active happy, alert Cane corso girl! She has already joined me in walking every morning with Kai-ju and Lilianna minpin.
She has about 60miles under her paws now and she will be my 5k racing partner for this fall. She is leash broke and now working on her harness skills.

Friday, July 29, 2011

In Honor of katona!


I bought my first Cane Corso, Katona over 18yrs ago from a breeder outside of winsor. She came with the promise of full registration papers and promises of being able to show her.....
I fell in love with her and quickly became my only big dog amongst a pack of little minpins. I had shown minpins for 7 years and finished championships and performance titles on many of them. I felt up for a new challenge and Katona was it.
I never got the papers on Katona, her breeder conveniently disappeared afterwards.
8 months later I found out that Katona had stage 4 hip displagia in both hips. So bad that my vet just shook his head and said he was sorry. She has popped a hip out of joint and after X-raying her we realized the was no Hip socket to put her hip back into.
I sat home the rest of that day, Crying! Here was the most beautiful dog I had ever seen and now I was devastated that she had no hips. But Katona had no remorse! She was strong willed and refused to be a couch dog.
I had begun walking her 2miles a day early that spring and The muscles in her legs and hips were strong and defined.
What had started out as my way to weight lost and fitness became Katona and I path to life together. Every day we would walk 2-5miles depending on the weather and how our bodies felt. Kotona added more inches of pure muscle mass to her legs and body. I entered a 5k run/walk race and won 1st place for my age and weight group.
We built each other up, there is no better motivation coach in the world then a 105lb Cane Corso mastiff who knows what time the walk is each day and would slap with her paws to make you get going.
During my years of walking Katona I burned out 10 personal Cd players, I now have a MP3 player, put hundreds of miles on my shoes, Lost 50lbs, Plotted and planned my way through life's obstacles and always had a training buddy who was ready to go.
As Katona got older and slower I started walking the minpins more. After being my walking buddy for over 13 yrs. katona retired to sleeping on the coach and relaxing.
She still liked going for small walks at the local park, her head held high, new bandana around her neck and silver painted nails. She was after all a lady and
high classed at that.
In December of 2010, Katona passed away. She waited until after Christmas. It was days later when I was feeling sorry for myself that I stumbled across a site that had dogs listed for each state and city. I typed in Cane Corso and there was a dog that reminded me of Katona. One road trip later and Kaiju became a member of my family and pack. She walked in as if she had always been there and acted as if she already knew everyone's story.