When the small female Rottweiler named Queen was surrendered
to the shelter, the score was Queen 3, Cats 0.
Even being just sixty-five pounds and having bad hips, Queen was still
very adept at dispatching her feline foes.
Her family, unable to keep her contained at the small trailer they
rented as well as deal with the city fines for having a dog at large, had no
choice but to turn her over. The tragedy
of this was that they were alive because of Queen. Not
just once, but twice, Queen had saved her family. The first life-saving incident had occurred
when she chased off a Grizzly bear that had charged the family while they were
out cutting wood. The second was the
reason they were living in a rental where her containment had been an issue.
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| Her majesty, Queen. |
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| The story about Queen's heroics |
Queen was just as her name described, though small in
stature, she was a regal and powerful female, controlling all she
surveyed. Queen soon became the majesty
of the shelter, ending up as the canine ambassador, when visiting local
elementary schools, since her demeanor towards people was exceptional.
Aside from her friendly disposition
towards people, Queen also became known for a few quirks she had. One involved buckets. Yes, buckets.
Queen, for the most part, could care less about her regular water dish,
but when someone donated a bunch of large, thick rubber-sided, horse watering
pails, something triggered in Queen. She
would become totally fixated on the buckets, replete with destructive
intent. Her favorite pastime quickly
became “get the bucket”, as the staff would say. Now keep in mind a couple of things. First, this six-year-old, small Rottweiler
with bad hips seemed a mismatch for the large, thick rubber-sided containers
that held nearly twenty gallons. Despite the odds, however, Queen decimated
every bucket she could get ahold of. In
less than a week, her first bucket looked as if the local militia had used it
for machine gun practice. Its sides were
perforated with countless, perfect canine tooth-sized holes and large chunks had
been removed and tossed about the pen. This
tenacious behavior with the buckets carried right over to tires and trees as
well. Yes, trees. She might have been a small Rottweiler but it
was common to take her for a walk, only to have her drag back a ten-foot-long
log she found along the way. These,
along with her amazing ability to catch mice and leave them in her water dish
for the staff, and her love of tennis balls and a green squeaky moose toy, made
Queen one of the most beloved dogs at the shelter.
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| Queen and her tire. Who says diamonds are a girls best friend? |
In 2001, after 22 months at the
shelter, I wondered if perhaps Queen would ever find a home. Still, like with all the dogs I worked with,
I held out hope that God had a home waiting just for her. In late May, the
shelter decided to hold a remote adoption at the local Costco store. Costco was kind enough to allow this to
happen and had always been supportive of the shelter and its efforts, even
setting up bins so people could donate items purchased there to the
shelter. Several dogs were taken for the
remote adoption event, but the two that I took were Queen and Adonis (See the
blog, Heaven Sent, for his story). Both dogs had been there almost two years,
and I desperately wanted to see a good home come along for the both of them. The crowd was thick on that beautiful
Saturday, and though many people stopped to pet Queen, no one showed particular
interest.
This was the case until a woman and
her teenage daughter stopped to ask more about Queen and what was involved in
adopting her. Queen put on her normal
charms and rolled onto her back for a belly rub. Amy, the woman, explained that they lived out
of town and were there to pick her husband up from the airport. They just
wanted to get some shopping out of the way while waiting for the plane to
arrive. She talked about how her husband
used to own Rottweilers but hadn’t had one for years, and she said she knew
that he would love to have another. I
told her about Queen’s issues with cats along with all her good traits. Amy told me she would talk to her husband
when they picked him up in a few hours and if he was interested they’d stop
back by.
After they left I didn’t get my hopes
up, as promises from people to come back are rarely kept. I knew this having been doing rescue work for
several years at this point. The following is in the words of Crystal about how
they broke the news to her step-dad:
We got to the airport and Mom
had told Rich we had a surprise for him. He said, What a dog? Mom
said yes! You could see the tears welt up in his eyes. He excused
himself. We went back to Costco to talk about Queen. Queen what a
beautiful name.
It was a pleasant surprise when Amy,
Rich and Crystal did return that afternoon.
Rich, was a quiet man and seemed somewhat gruff, which I understood considering
he had just been on a long flight. Still,
he at least tried to get to know Queen.
As usual, Queen rolled over onto her back for a belly rub but looked
away from him while he petted her. Rich seemed a bit bothered that she appeared
disinterested.
“I don’t think she cares much for me,”
Rich said dryly.
I was just about to explain to him
how Rottweilers take a while to get to know and trust someone, but Queen beat
me to it. She rolled her head over and
licked his hand gently. The deal was
done. In that moment, the gruff and
tired man’s heart melted. The
application and checks were completed, and Queen went home to her new
family.
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| The happy family on adoption day |
I thought it was a happy ending and
for a while it was. Throughout the
summer, the shelter would get updates from Amy about how Queen and Rich were
always together, and they even heard that their favorite pastime was going for
a ride in the jeep on their mountain property.
Sadly, after only a few months with
her new family, tragedy struck. In
August, while sitting at his desk at home, with Queen at his feet as was typical,
Rich died of a heart attack. Crystal
describes that dark time:
In August of 2001 a
friend and I were visiting Montana when Rich passed away suddenly. Our
lives were crushed. Queen would not leave the front door, she knew
something was wrong, she knew Rich wasn't there.
After everyone had left, Mom had Queen. She was there for my
mom when she was alone on top of that mountain. I would occasionally go back
out to see them. Queen was so smart and she helped me heal from my broken
heart. One night we came home to the front door wide open, we were
scared! Queen could sense it, she went into protection mode. She
stood straight up, ran around the house, woofed, checking everywhere she went
for a intruder. She didn't stop until we stopped. I look back now
and think she would have done anything to protect us, to protect the ones she
loved.
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| Queen and Amy |
I didn’t hear from Amy again until
Christmas, in the form of a letter. It
was one of those standard letters that people send out to all their family and
friends as a Christmas gift. Its purpose
was to let everyone know of the events of the past year. Amy’s letter was more somber than most. She told about the elation of adopting Queen
and then the sudden loss of her soul mate.
She then went on to explain how she knew that Queen was sent to her from
God, to help her through this tragic time.
It seemed that Queen, once again, was a hero, saving her loved ones from
tragedy. Like most Rottweilers, Queen
became more than just a dog; she became a protector, a confidant, and a
supporter. Queen’s excess of confidence
was exactly what Amy needed during this dark time.
For many years, Queen continued her
watch over Amy and her daughter Crystal, making sure that the deer or other
trespassers didn’t get to close to the house, while being wise enough to allow
the moose to wander as close as they wanted. Queen was smart enough to know not
to tangle with a moose.
There will never be another dog like Queen, she was one of a
kind. I still think about her 11 years after she passed away. You
wouldn't think a dog, would have an impact on you like that and people that
have never had an animal will never understand. They are a part of your
family, when you lose them it's like losing a part of yourself. Queen
will always have a place in my heart.
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| Queen and Crystal |
The reason this latest blog has taken as long as it has is that I was focused on publishing my second novel, Lost Horse Park. Though a stand-alone novel, it connects to my first novel, Stranger's Dance. You can learn more about them at my website, www.troykechely.com.
