2009 has by far been the worst year of my life. Not only did my 19 year marriage break up and I then lost an entire litter of pups which all had deposits and great homes to go to, but on Christmas Eve I lost my best Stud dog and main breeding bitch.
It is hard to believe but we took the Avalanche and Shiloh for a walk and they died from heat stoke. When we left it was not hot but half way along the sun came out and a hot wind got up. We had only walked about 4km and they both went down. I tried to get them to a water trough but they would not move. I went back and got my car and put them in it and drove home. We squirted them down with the hose and got electrolytes into them. They did not look too bad and I kept an eye on them and regularly wet them down over the next couple of hours. I went out again to check on them and they had both gone backwards, so I took them to the vet and they put them on a drip and thought they would be ok..........this was 3 hours after it had started............ but the next morning, on Christmas Eve at 8am they both died. I can not believe this.........one minute Avalanche was chasing hares and the next they could not get up and now they are both dead. I use to run Avalanche up to 10km a day and to die whilst walking 4km is beyond belief.........I am in total shock.
We had sold pups from the breeding of these two to every state in Australia as well as overseas.........they produced the most awesome bulldogs. I was waiting for Shiloh to come on season again in the near future to join her back to Avalanche as we already had the entire litter sold with deposits paid.......I will have to refund the deposits or give the people a choice from my other breedings at a later date.
Many people have asked if I am sure it was the heat and that they may have been baited, poisoned or bitten by a snake. I doubt this very much as I had got them straight out of the kennels before we left and Shiloh was never off lead. All my other dogs at home are fine. The vet believes also it was the heat. In hindsight the thing I would do different is put them in a dam or trough and leave them there. If anybody else ever has this problem happen to their dogs, make sure you totally submerge them in water with only their head out and leave them there until they recover. It can happen so suddenly without warning even to the most fittest of dogs. The other mistake I made is when I went back out to check on them, after a number of times they had stopped panting and looked better, but the vet believes this is when they went backwards because they had stopped panting and they heated up even more. If nothing else comes out of their deaths I hope it makes other people aware how easy this can happen and what the symptoms are.
Avalanche was nearly 3 years old and Shiloh was almost 4 years of age.......way too young to die when they had so much to offer. Thank you to all those that sent me condolences and the following was sent to me which not only made me cry but highlighted what others thought of these two great dogs...........I will miss them both of them so much!!!!
STEVE!,
I cant believe this, I am so so sorry. I don’t know what to say, im blown away by this tragedy. Condolences to you and your family at this hard time. They will be both sadly missed not only as your family pets but also in the bulldog society around Australia. I feel very privileged to have one of their pups in the family. If there’s anything I can do please don’t hesitate to ask.
I know this has ruined you Christmas but try and keep your head up. They live through their pups now.
Yours Sincerely,
Shannon
I am looking forward to a much better 2010 and have a number of breedings planned with progeny of Shiloh and Avalanche.
Steve
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Avalanche and Shiloh
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