Lolabelle
29-Oct-07, 12:05
My brother in law breeds English Mastiffs and this particular girl has us all praying and looking and praising the Lord after her recovery.
This is Steve's email to everyone.
Just thought some of you dog lovers might appreciate how we all felt.:)
CHLOE’S ADVENTURE
Hi Everyone. I just thought I would share a story with you about my girl Chloe and our frozen semen litter.
It all started when I went down to Melbourne to meet with some fellow Mastiff fanciers to check out a potential boyfriend for Chloe. I already had someone in mind for her and was really looking forward to meeting him: BISS Australian Champion Yangderdook The Bronx owned by Paul and Gabrielle Simmonds.
Well from the moment I met him I was in love: beautiful huge head, huge bone, solid and muscular with a temperament to die for! Straight away I knew that Bronx had all of the attributes that I was looking for in my breeding program. Little did I know that this was just the start of what was going to become “Chloe’s Adventure”.
After we had agreed that Bronx was the one for the job at hand, it was then a matter of organizing to get the semen up to NSW and ready and waiting for Chloe to come into season. The shipper was sent up to Calga to my repro specialist but unfortunately the courier decided to leave the shipper at the front gate. Luckily someone spotted it on the way in and the semen was still frozen and everything was OK.
Chloe came in right on time as she always does. Then it was a matter of using my in home Date to Mate kit to keep an eye on her progesterone level until she started to rise. Once her levels started to raise it was a 6 hour drive every day for the next three days until her progesterone level was right for the implant. I’m not quite sure at this stage whether I am dedicated or just plain mad! The implant was done and now time for the waiting game.
Now this is where the real twist in the tale starts. You see I love riding dirt bikes and I had just purchased a new bike. On my first ride I came up over a hill and there were two cows on the road. You wouldn’t believe it but one of them jumped completely in the opposite direction to which it was standing and bang, I nailed it.
I was by myself and it was just on dark by the time I got to our mountain home. I rang Melissa and told her what happened and said that I would see how I felt the next day. That night I couldn’t sleep and the next day I could hardly move. I stumbled around and got my dogs organized and it was off to hospital, Chloe with me because I didn’t know when I would be back up the bush and didn’t want her to be left behind after her recent implant.
When I arrived at our house in town, we decided to leave Chloe in a crate and headed for the hospital. Luckily nothing was broken but I had ligament and muscle damage to my hip and pelvis. I was given some crutches and told to take it easy for a while.
Happy with the outcome, we headed back home but when we got there, Chloe was not in her crate. We called her and looked under the house but she’d gone. After an inspection of the fence, I discovered that she had broken out and gone looking for me. That was when I really start to get worried. She had spent all of her life in the bush and had no road sense at all and where she had escaped from was right on the main road. Instantly, I thought I would find her dead on the road.
We got back into the car and started searching the area but we couldn’t find her anywhere. The only good thing about this was that we didn’t find her the way I thought we would. At the other end of the street there is bush land and a rifle range, then another main road and then bush again that had just been freshly laid with 1080 wild dog poison.
At this point my emotions were in full overload and I thought I would ring Wendy and Daniel of Royz Mastiffs. They were GREAT and immediately started ringing everyone from the taxi company to security patrols and also getting the message out through Dogzonline. The support they gave me and the help that was given to me from the people in the area was unreal. It’s great to know there are still really great people out there who will stop everything to help in a crisis. Gabrielle and Janine were also in constant connection with me by phone and giving me moral support so I must thank them also.
I was literally looking for a needle in a hay stack with so many places for Chloe to hide and so many directions for her to run. I went out every couple of hours and drove around and around in circles just hoping to catch a glimpse of my girl but to no avail. By morning, there was still no sign of her, no sightings, absolutely nothing. I rang the radio station, contacted the vet, the pound and all that I could think of left to do was just keep on looking and keep my mobile phone near. I knew she only broke out to be with me and I felt it was my duty to not stop until I found her.
Well later the next afternoon I received the phone call I had been praying for. There was a voice on the phone saying “we think we have you Mastiff but she has been hit by a car”. My heart sank and that big lump hit my throat and then the voice said “but she’s all right, she’s walking and seems fine but she is very distressed”. She was at the RSPCA about half an hour away so we shot off to go and see her and yes it was my Chloe girl. I was so happy to see her but I could tell that she had been through a lot instantly just by looking in her eyes.
I spoke to the vet to ask her if she had any idea what had happened. She said all that she knew was that she was hit on the main road the night before and the person that hit her got out and had a look at his car and got back in and just drove off. Luckily, some very kind lady traveling along behind that car saw it all happen and pulled over. She made sure that Chloe was alright and called the authorities. The lady that made the call never left her name so unfortunately I could not thank her. The RSPCA had to travel about 45 minutes to get to her and thankfully she was still sitting on the side of the road where she had been hit. I guess she was just so dazed by this stage, she just wanted help. When the ranger came along she just voluntarily gave herself up and jumped into the back of his van.
All of this happened about two weeks after her implant and at this stage with what she had gone through, I held no hope at all for a litter. I now have to wonder if miracles do happen because on the 17/7/07, two beautiful babies were born, one boy and one girl. A fawn and a brindle which is what I was hoping for and as usual Chloe delivered, with a little help from Bronx of course. Their names are Masafari Sudden Impact “Sheriff” and Masafari Dazzle N Daze “Ebony”. Their names will be a constant reminder to me of this whole ordeal. I treasure these two puppies after all that was gone through to put them on this earth.
Steve Papworth
Masafari Mastiffs
This is Steve's email to everyone.
Just thought some of you dog lovers might appreciate how we all felt.:)
CHLOE’S ADVENTURE
Hi Everyone. I just thought I would share a story with you about my girl Chloe and our frozen semen litter.
It all started when I went down to Melbourne to meet with some fellow Mastiff fanciers to check out a potential boyfriend for Chloe. I already had someone in mind for her and was really looking forward to meeting him: BISS Australian Champion Yangderdook The Bronx owned by Paul and Gabrielle Simmonds.
Well from the moment I met him I was in love: beautiful huge head, huge bone, solid and muscular with a temperament to die for! Straight away I knew that Bronx had all of the attributes that I was looking for in my breeding program. Little did I know that this was just the start of what was going to become “Chloe’s Adventure”.
After we had agreed that Bronx was the one for the job at hand, it was then a matter of organizing to get the semen up to NSW and ready and waiting for Chloe to come into season. The shipper was sent up to Calga to my repro specialist but unfortunately the courier decided to leave the shipper at the front gate. Luckily someone spotted it on the way in and the semen was still frozen and everything was OK.
Chloe came in right on time as she always does. Then it was a matter of using my in home Date to Mate kit to keep an eye on her progesterone level until she started to rise. Once her levels started to raise it was a 6 hour drive every day for the next three days until her progesterone level was right for the implant. I’m not quite sure at this stage whether I am dedicated or just plain mad! The implant was done and now time for the waiting game.
Now this is where the real twist in the tale starts. You see I love riding dirt bikes and I had just purchased a new bike. On my first ride I came up over a hill and there were two cows on the road. You wouldn’t believe it but one of them jumped completely in the opposite direction to which it was standing and bang, I nailed it.
I was by myself and it was just on dark by the time I got to our mountain home. I rang Melissa and told her what happened and said that I would see how I felt the next day. That night I couldn’t sleep and the next day I could hardly move. I stumbled around and got my dogs organized and it was off to hospital, Chloe with me because I didn’t know when I would be back up the bush and didn’t want her to be left behind after her recent implant.
When I arrived at our house in town, we decided to leave Chloe in a crate and headed for the hospital. Luckily nothing was broken but I had ligament and muscle damage to my hip and pelvis. I was given some crutches and told to take it easy for a while.
Happy with the outcome, we headed back home but when we got there, Chloe was not in her crate. We called her and looked under the house but she’d gone. After an inspection of the fence, I discovered that she had broken out and gone looking for me. That was when I really start to get worried. She had spent all of her life in the bush and had no road sense at all and where she had escaped from was right on the main road. Instantly, I thought I would find her dead on the road.
We got back into the car and started searching the area but we couldn’t find her anywhere. The only good thing about this was that we didn’t find her the way I thought we would. At the other end of the street there is bush land and a rifle range, then another main road and then bush again that had just been freshly laid with 1080 wild dog poison.
At this point my emotions were in full overload and I thought I would ring Wendy and Daniel of Royz Mastiffs. They were GREAT and immediately started ringing everyone from the taxi company to security patrols and also getting the message out through Dogzonline. The support they gave me and the help that was given to me from the people in the area was unreal. It’s great to know there are still really great people out there who will stop everything to help in a crisis. Gabrielle and Janine were also in constant connection with me by phone and giving me moral support so I must thank them also.
I was literally looking for a needle in a hay stack with so many places for Chloe to hide and so many directions for her to run. I went out every couple of hours and drove around and around in circles just hoping to catch a glimpse of my girl but to no avail. By morning, there was still no sign of her, no sightings, absolutely nothing. I rang the radio station, contacted the vet, the pound and all that I could think of left to do was just keep on looking and keep my mobile phone near. I knew she only broke out to be with me and I felt it was my duty to not stop until I found her.
Well later the next afternoon I received the phone call I had been praying for. There was a voice on the phone saying “we think we have you Mastiff but she has been hit by a car”. My heart sank and that big lump hit my throat and then the voice said “but she’s all right, she’s walking and seems fine but she is very distressed”. She was at the RSPCA about half an hour away so we shot off to go and see her and yes it was my Chloe girl. I was so happy to see her but I could tell that she had been through a lot instantly just by looking in her eyes.
I spoke to the vet to ask her if she had any idea what had happened. She said all that she knew was that she was hit on the main road the night before and the person that hit her got out and had a look at his car and got back in and just drove off. Luckily, some very kind lady traveling along behind that car saw it all happen and pulled over. She made sure that Chloe was alright and called the authorities. The lady that made the call never left her name so unfortunately I could not thank her. The RSPCA had to travel about 45 minutes to get to her and thankfully she was still sitting on the side of the road where she had been hit. I guess she was just so dazed by this stage, she just wanted help. When the ranger came along she just voluntarily gave herself up and jumped into the back of his van.
All of this happened about two weeks after her implant and at this stage with what she had gone through, I held no hope at all for a litter. I now have to wonder if miracles do happen because on the 17/7/07, two beautiful babies were born, one boy and one girl. A fawn and a brindle which is what I was hoping for and as usual Chloe delivered, with a little help from Bronx of course. Their names are Masafari Sudden Impact “Sheriff” and Masafari Dazzle N Daze “Ebony”. Their names will be a constant reminder to me of this whole ordeal. I treasure these two puppies after all that was gone through to put them on this earth.
Steve Papworth
Masafari Mastiffs