RIP To The Best Ones I’ve Ever Owned

[Austesus]

Today I am heartbroken. It’s my wife’s birthday, and Instead of celebrating, I’m living with he worst day of my life. Today was the last ride for two of my best friends. Thorn and Dum Dum. Thorn was the first dog I ever owned and me and him have had so many experiences together that are unforgettable. First and foremost he was my pet. I raised him and trained him and loved him as a son. Once I started hunting, he became my trustworthy catch dog. He was weird sometimes and he hated riding in the box, but he loved hunting and he loved catching pigs.

Dum Dum was my absolute favorite dog I’ve ever owned. He was my only lead dog. He found 99% of my pigs. He was trust worthy and consistent and always gave 110%. He loved hunting more than anything and would give it his all just to find and catch a pig. Any size, it didn’t matter. He once held a 225lb-250lb boar out in 3ft water by himself and controlled him while I was on the pigs back to make sure that pig didn’t get to me. Dum Dum was the best dog you could ever ask for. All you had to do was open the kennel and he would load himself in the dog box. I planned on breeding him to a good female and having everything on my yard based on him. He was some of the last of a disappearing bloodline off of Donnie Vandalen.

I looked at my security cameras today and thought something looked off, I rushed home. Dum Dum looked like he was hanged out the side of his kennel. I rushed home as fast as I could, and I found my best friend dead. Thorn managed to escape his pen and get locked up with Dum Dum. Dum Dum died with his head still pulled through the pen. I got him free and did cpr and did everything I could to bring him back but he was gone. Thorn was hurt and laying a little ways off. I had to put him down. I lost two of my favorite dogs at the same time.

Nothing could ever make this pain any easier. I blame myself for everything that happened the way it did. If I would’ve just been at my house to hear them I could’ve stopped it, but instead me and my wife stayed at my parents house. If I would’ve left thorn on his chain it could’ve stopped it. If I would’ve just put thorn down when they had a bad fight a year and a half ago it could’ve stopped it. But I didn’t. And now I have to live with the fact that my favorite dog, being my only lead dog, is gone. He’s never coming back. I brought him back to health when he was sick, I had surgery for his eyes to get fixed, I thought of him like a child and like a best friend, and he’s gone. And Thorn was my first dog, he was my best friend and everything for quite some time. I wish he would’ve never done this. I wish he would’ve never made me put him down.

All in one day I’ve been crushed and brought to my knees with sorrow and pain. All in one day I’ve lost my only lead dog and my catch dog, they were everything to me. Dum dum was everything I wanted my yard to be built off of. I don’t even know where to go from here. I don’t even have a team anymore, they were my family. I have no lead dog and no catch dog, and no desire to run the woods without them. I never thought things would happen like this. I had my catch dog on a chain and my wife insisted she wanted him off the chain and in our fenced in area around our pool. He broke out and and that was the end of it. I just took Dum Dum yesterday to lead some pups on a run. It was his first time out in a while since I’ve been so busy. I just wish none of it would’ve happened this way. In one moment my whole team and future plans for breeding are gone.

If any of you put take anything from this, don’t ever give them the opportunity to mess up. In one day I’ve lost everything. And nothing I can do can take that back. Learn from the mistakes I’ve made. I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone. I’ve never lost a dog before and this entire situation was avoidable.




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[Reuben]

I am sorry for your losses and your pain...and as you said, learn from it and keep on keeping on...

[Judge peel]

That really sucks young man I been on that same street it just sucks. One thing about these kinds of dogs is they touch us a little harder then a Ol yard dog cuz we do battle along side of them and make lasting memories. I know it hurts but it’s part of it


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[Austesus]

Dum Dum was my only true lead dog and was going to be what I based the rest of my yard on. I just ran him yesterday to show two puppies the ropes. Thorn was my only legit catch dog and was my pet and friend before I even got in to hunting. I’d give anything to change all of this. On top of losing two amazing friends, I can’t even hunt. I no longer have a strike dog or a catch dog. All I have left is two pups, and two help dogs that are also RCD. This just tears me down to the core. I always thought Dum Dum would retire and end his days in the house.


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[chestonmcdowell]

Sorry for your loss brother. I know it’s rough as hell.

[Austesus]

Sorry for your loss brother. I know it’s rough as hell.

Dum Dum was the one I just showed you pictures of. He was my ride or die. He was everything for me, my lead dog and my best friend. I took him for one last run yesterday before this happened.


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[chestonmcdowell]

I sent you a message. Yeah man I didn’t know what I was going to see when I saw the topic. He sounded exactly like what I bred for. I hate that you lost him Don’t be hard on yourself we all have hiccups some hurt a lot more than others

[t-dog]

Sorry for your loss bud. It won't be the last mistake you make unfortunately. All we can do drive on.

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[TheRednose]

Man I sure hate to hear that. I always thought that black dog of yours was a really nice looking dog. My condolences, I know how you feel I lost my best dog this year as well due to my own fault. You have to just learn from it.

Keep moving forward and keep hunting them dogs, you never know one of them help dogs may step up or one of those pups depending on how old they are.

[Austesus]

Thanks for all the kind words guys. I have security cameras around my entire house after an issue before with neighbors. I made myself go back and watch them to see what happened. Thorn escaped the fence he was in on the opposite side of the yard and went and laid on the ground right in front of Dum Dum’s kennel. He then jumped up and attacked another dog for a minute, left, came back, and then got ahold of Dum Dum. The hog panel on my kennels is big enough for the dogs to fit their heads through. Dum Dum stuck his head out and thorn grabbed him and he didn’t stand a chance. They were locked up like that for over an hour. It was about 12 hours later when I got home. I was crying like a baby holding Dum Dum and then saw thorn laying down in some wheat straw about 15ft away. When I walked up to him he just gave me this sad look like he knew what he had done. He was my first dog and we had a great bond. We lived in 4 different houses together and I had him before I even met my wife. It was hard for me to put a bullet in him but it had to be done. Those same two got in a fight when I was in Afghanistan. They had locked up inside he house and Dum Dum nearly killed Thorn. Ever since then they had been separated outside of hunting.

All I’m left with is two young pups from Justin Corbell that are under a year old, Dum Dum’s sister (not as good of a hunter and not built as good as him), and Dum Dum’s niece (Dum Dum’s sister bred to Thorns now dead brother, and she’s just an RCD) even hunting those two I could probably adjust and catch some pigs but the risk would be too high of them getting injured without some back up.

I planned on using Dum Dum for my foundation for breeding. He had everything I wanted. Even though his sister doesn’t really compare to him, she’s now the last access I have to his blood so I’m probably going to put her up and use her for breeding when I’m able to take on pups again. If something happens to her I’ll lose that blood forever. I just hate it because while she’s a decent dog, and she will find pigs... she doesn’t have the drive, the skills, or the build that her brother had. He had the perfect build, great swimmer, awesome confidence, he’d do it all. Even at the end, he was game. With both ears ripped off and his face and neck tore to pieces he continued fighting until his death, trying to live. Finding him and holding his body was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I just ran him the day before to help a buddy try to find an escaped pig, now I wish I would’ve taken some pictures of him showing the two pups how to get out there and hunt.


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[WayOutWest]

If you don't learn anything else from this remember that a fence without a top will not keep a bulldog in. Neither will those cheesy snaps hold one for very long. Most of us bulldog guys have learned those lessons the hard way.

[t-dog]

You are EXACTLY right WOW. Curs are curs and they will fight and raise hell and now and then there is one that is as tough as he thinks he is. Anytime you have most any type of bulldog but especially the pitbull, you have to take every precaution not to allow the opportunity for them to get into trouble. I realize you thought you were but now you can see to what extremes you have to go. When you cross it into anything you have to treat those crosses the same as if they were full bulldog. People will say oh not mine, he better not, mine knows better, etc. and I will say this.... BS! It's the same as saying my dog would NEVER bite anybody....BS. There isn't a dog alive that can't be made to bite someone. When animal is put in the perfect storm, they will be animals. All my kennels are completely enclosed and snaps on the gates. I have cable runs that I alternate do on and off of. I am very careful about who is where for the sake of accidents. They are gonna happen but we can make it harder for them to get into trouble when they do. Just the other day one of my males slipped his collar 2 days in a row. I haven't been hunting since bow season started. He went and got in the hunting trailer and sat in the box both days until my son got home from work. It could've been worse.

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[Reuben]

Pit bulls and Pitbull crosses are treated like loaded 357 magnums...my cur dogs are alpha types and they will tangle with the best of them...when I clean pens and feed dogs I turn them out in sets of 3, sets of 1 and 1 at a time...all pens have a snap on gate latches...I have had accidents over the years as well...the fences need to have the holes small enough to not allow a dog to bite another dog through it...they can do severe damage to each other if the holes are larger...just make the adjustments and move forward...

Once the dogs are fired up they can break their own teeth on fencing as a minimum...

Been there done that too...

[Austesus]

Well said guys. I hope others see my post and learn from it. I thought I was taking every precaution I could. I have kennels have thick hog panel that can’t be broken or spread apart, the latches for the doors are padlocked so they can not come open and nobody can come in the yard and open them, and the kennels have no gaps at the top for a dog to get out.

Around the yard, I do not let more than one dog out at any given time. Period. Like Reuben said, all my cuts are Alpha mentality and half of my dogs have put crossed in to them and are very hard dogs. As this unfortunately proved, they have true game blood. When they were young and I was just starting, they were together a lot. They started fighting and after a few semi bad fights I made the decision that no dogs would be out together unless they were in the dog box or hunting. That has worked fine and outside of puppies penned together I don’t have problems on the yard.

But like stated, things happen. I had a heavy chain set up for the bull dog on the back corner of the yard. Several times he managed to get the clip unhooked from his collar. I should’ve fixed that but thought it was a fluke. He would be just laying around the yard when he got off. Well he was the only one on a chain and my wife didn’t want him on a chain so I moved him to a fenced in area on the opposite side of the yard. He ended up getting out and went straight to the kennels. I just reviewed all my security camera footage from when it happened until I got to the house and shot the bulldog. After killing Dum Dum he went back to his dead body and attacked him again multiple times. He also jumped on my Ladner that was kenneled next to Dum Dum multiple times throughout the night. He was circling the kennel like he was stalking him and would try to snatch him anytime he came close to the fence. The Ladner got a hold of him one good time and was trying to pull his head through the fence. The Ladner was good buddies with Dum Dum. I honestly think he wanted revenge for him. What I saw on that camera wasn’t the dog I knew. Something snapped in him. He looked like he was stalking prey.

It’s something that I will ensure never happens again. Any sign of a dog that wants to provoke fights and he will be buried on the spot. I will never allow a dog to be put in this situation again. Just goes to show you can never be too safe. Like I said, I thought I had it down pat. This one day showed me how terribly wrong i was. And the messed up part is that I grew up around bull dogs and was always the first person to tell someone not to trust them, and I didn’t. I kept all my dogs isolated from each other except for seeing each other through fences.


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[WayOutWest]

I am just going to address the snap issue since I  and many other bulldog guys won't use any type snap. I made my own swivels for years using 3/8 " round stock to make a ring the collar goes through and an eyebolt with a nut welded to it. You have to remove the collar to take the dog on and off but I never had a failure. Gary Hammonds and Floyd Boudreaux  will both tell you they are as secure as you can get.

[Austesus]

I am just going to address the snap issue since I  and many other bulldog guys won't use any type snap. I made my own swivels for years using 3/8 " round stock to make a ring the collar goes through and an eyebolt with a nut welded to it. You have to remove the collar to take the dog on and off but I never had a failure. Gary Hammonds and Floyd Boudreaux  will both tell you they are as secure as you can get.

If you get the time could you please take some pictures of your set up and send them to me? I would like to see what you have.


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[Jason Dunn]

I have a great catch dog you wouldn't think he would harm a fly he's kill 2 of my best dogs all my fault for not having him secured properly I should have killed him but now he is secured and can't get out I've owned him so long I just couldn't do it he's caught alot of hogs never fights in the woods dogs 8 going on 9 we all have regrets and things we should have done differently hope you get back going soon and sorry for you bud.

[Reuben]

I have a great catch dog you wouldn't think he would harm a fly he's kill 2 of my best dogs all my fault for not having him secured properly I should have killed him but now he is secured and can't get out I've owned him so long I just couldn't do it he's caught alot of hogs never fights in the woods dogs 8 going on 9 we all have regrets and things we should have done differently hope you get back going soon and sorry for you bud.

Yep...usually it is not the dogs fault for what we should have done to prevent what could happen or what will happen...

[WayOutWest]

I will get pics of the swivels I made for you to tomorrow Austesus.

[Austesus]

I have a great catch dog you wouldn't think he would harm a fly he's kill 2 of my best dogs all my fault for not having him secured properly I should have killed him but now he is secured and can't get out I've owned him so long I just couldn't do it he's caught alot of hogs never fights in the woods dogs 8 going on 9 we all have regrets and things we should have done differently hope you get back going soon and sorry for you bud.

I understand completely. If Dum Dum wasn’t so mauled up I don’t think it would have been so hard. I took a picture of him for myself, I could never post it anywhere due to how graphic is, nor would I want to. After looking at the footage I’m just thankful that my Scooter dog is still with us after thorn repeatedly tried to attack him multiple times throughout the night after Dum Dum was dead.


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