Lynn -
Dennis and I wanted to drop you a line and let you know how Mr. Ezekiel - aka
Zeke - is doing. We met you at a dog show and fell in love with Sugar and gave
you a deposit on the spot for the upcoming litter. From that litter we drove
from our home in Georgia and picked out the puppy that would come to steal our
hearts - along with anything else we were silly enough to leave laying on the
floor.
Lynn, we love that dog more than we thought we ever could. Zeke is now
17 months old and has turned into the most amazing dog. It's been an absolute
adventure to watch him grow from a tiny puppy completely full of piss and
vinegar into a young adult with the confidence and stability of a fully grown
male. He really is amazing.
As you may remember we had a 7 year old AB, Agatha, at the time we brought Zeke
home. Agatha took Zeke and raised him and they were inseparable to the point of
sleeping together. As they got older Zeke became more focused on his humans but
Agatha will probably always remain his "first love". In some ways she was able
to show him the ways of the household faster than we could and teach him manners
in the space of two lessons that would have taken us a few days. We tease that
she is his "cougar girlfriend". To give you a quick example, when Zeke was four
months old he met our grandchildren for the first time. The children were 4 and
2 and not much taller than Zeke. Zeke had never seen little people and had no
idea what to make of them so he treated as if they were dogs. He was barking and
pouncing, butt up front down, trying to get them to play. Before we could even
step forward to correct him Agatha did it for us - she positioned herself
between the children and Zeke and would not allow him to come near the children
until he calmed down. Within the space of 30 minutes she taught him something
that would have taken us a day or two. It really was amazing to watch because
she was never aggressive with Zeke, just patient. You could actually see him
thinking about and it was like a light bulb for him when he realized that what
he was doing was wrong. The breed is absolutely amazing and one of the smartest
we've ever seen.
Zeke has quite a sense of humor and loves to play. One of his favorite indoor
games is steal the shoe. When he was younger shoes were casualties that we
quickly learned to pick up. He outgrew the chew tendency pretty quick, but not
the habit of taking the shoes to begin with. The funny thing is he waits until
we're watching and then he snatches and runs like Hades through the house. If he
could laugh I'm sure he would. We have seen him grinning when he does this to
us.
When Zeke was old enough Dennis took him through Basic Obedience classes which
Zeke sailed through. I'm sure this will come as no surprise to you, but Zeke
actually got bored with the classes as there was not enough to challenge him.
The lessons he learned have stayed with him and solidified the relationship
between he and Dennis. Of the two of us I'd have to say that Dennis is his
alpha.
We were recently moved back to the Washington, DC area and live in a wonderful
area right outside the Nations' Capital known as Old Town
Alexandria. There is no city anywhere that is more dog friendly than
Old Town Alexandria and it has been heaven for us. Zeke and Agatha have dog
parks everywhere and are actually allowed inside almost every store in the
downtown area. They have parades with dogs in them and a hotel around the corner
from us has Doggy Yappy Hour every Thursday in an outdoor courtyard from 6 until
9. The dog parks have been the best though as the dogs really have the
opportunity to socialize with so many other dogs. On most nights after work
Dennis and Zeke can be found at their favorite park playing with his dog buddies
and playing catch - his second favorite sport. His first favorite would be
swimming.
Unfortunately when we moved we gave up our wonderful pool! I have attached a
link to two videos on UTube that I took of Zeke when he was just five months old
swimming. You might find them interesting. At the dog parks we go to there are
anywhere from 4 to 20 dogs on any given day. Zeke is always so confident and
calm even when other dogs are behaving badly. We have yet to see him respond
with an aggressive response - it has always been a measured response from him.
And there are several dogs in these parks that are not confident and pick
fights.
He generally responds by ignoring the other dog and moving onto something else.
He's not at all concerned with other dogs trying to be dominant and even other
dog owners have commented on how calm and stable he is. He really is the most
stable dog in the parks when we go.
Lynn, I cannot say this enough - we are sold on the American Bulldog and are so
happy that we met you that day at the dog show. I have some newer pictures of
Zeke and will send them shortly after the New Year.
Please feel free to post them on your website if you want to.
Take care and I'll send you updated pictures as soon as I can. He is a beautiful
dog and we get stopped all the time when we take him out. I just thought you
might like to see him again!
Happy New Year Lynn.....
Susan and Dennis Gwozdz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmPZavW6T4Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yWq6eQWJtU
