THE STORY OF GOLIATH
by Jodi and Kenny

(This was sent to me from a family who adopted one of Dodgers puppies when we shut down the puppy mill 3 years ago. I told them we would help them adopt another rescue. Stace Eakle)

About 2 years ago we wanted to get a puppy and, after much research, finally decided upon a French Mastiff. We searched high and low and visited many breeders, but one day my girlfriend's Mom was sitting at an Emergency Vet with their family dog, and found herself speaking to a woman who rescued that exact breed. Many know French Mastiffs from the movie "Turner and Hooch" but they are a rare breed and hard to find. After speaking in length with the rescue woman, she found out that there were 6 pups needing a good home, including the one that was having heart surgery that day. We made a date to meet the rest of the clan and fell in love with the entire litter. Since we are both young, we could only handle one puppy, but we would have gladly taken them all. I sat on the floor and waited for the timid pups to come out from behind the safe place behind the dryer, out of sight and touch of the humans. We chose to rescue the one pup that seemed to need our love the most, because he was the last to venture out from behind the washer, and was the first to run to us. This is the story of our strong French Mastiff puppy we named Goliath.

Today would have been his 2 year 7 month birthday. We counted Goliath's birthdays by the month because every month seemed that much more special to us. From the beginning Goliath had it harder than most puppies. He was rescued by Stace Eakle from a puppy mill. Courageous Stace took the whole litter away from their mother and stuffed 5 puppies in a small animal carrier. There were actually 6 puppies but one never made it. After our first visit with the pups, we decided to adopt Goliath. We went back a second time to make sure that it was right. There was no question that he was our baby. The rescue agency came to our house, as they always do, to check to make sure the environment was safe for the puppy. To our surprise we were able to keep him that very day.

Goliath was our pride and joy. We would never leave him alone and if dogs weren't allowed somewhere, we didn't go. Within the first few weeks we took him for his regular check up and the doctor noticed he had a little mange, but we nipped it in the bud and we thought that would be his one and only problem. The three of us were inseparable. After a while, we noticed that he was walking a little funny, so we took him back to the doctor. When the doctor said he may need hip surgery, the only question we asked was "how soon?" Manny people would shy away from this expensive process, and even consider putting the pup to sleep.our even put their dogs to sleep. Not us! We took him straight to the best surgeon in Los Angeles. At the age of one and a half he had already undergone two TPO hip surgeries. Even with these aliments, this baby was going strong. He never left our side for a moment. After these two surgeries we thought to ourselves, "What else can one little baby handle?"

Just a little while after these surgeries, I was at work and Jodi was at home with Goliath. Goliath started shaking uncontrollably and we called the vet, and he advised us to watch him for he may had just had a bad dream. Some time later, the shakes continued along with an elevated temperature, so we rushed him to the emergency hospital. We had to leave him there overnight, until we could see our regular vet. We had never left him overnight, except for the two days he had undergone his hip surgeries. Our house just seemed empty without him. The next day we rushed him in a somewhat comatose state to our regular vet, and he sent us to the best animal hospital I have ever seen. We jumped in the car and rushed from the San Fernando Valley to Fountain Valley to All Care Animal Referral Center. There, we were greeted by an amazing team of doctors. Just when we thought no hope was left, they diagnosed and saved our precious baby. Jodi and I couldn't imagine life without him, even though Goliath had only been in our loves for five months at that time. After a week of various tests and MRI's, the doctors found the problem. Goliath had a slight inflammation on his brain, causing him to have seizures. The doctors assured us that these seizures weren't hurting him, and many animals live long lives with occasional seizures. After this prognosis we took Goliath, and his many bottles of medication, back home for a large dose if the best medicine, love. Even through all the ups and downs, Goliath pulled through. Just when we thought he couldn't handle any more, running back and forth to "All Care" once every month, he pulled through like a champ.

We finally acknowledged that we were all living with seizures. I believe the seizures affected Jodi and me more than Goliath. It was hard to see him like that and those few seconds seem to last an eternity. Goliath came out of every seizure with a kiss for both of us.

Right before we celebrated his second birthday we found ourselves in the emergency hospital again because Goliath's breathing just didn't seem right. Goliath was diagnosed with pneumonia and mega esophagus. The doctors advised us that 98% of these pneumonia cases were fatal. We never left his side because we realized he knew how much he meant to us and would try his best to pull through for us. We received the best New Years present by being able to take our New Years baby home so we could celebrate his second birthday on the January Fifth. Even in his weakened state he fought the pneumonia and was part of the 2% success cases. At "All Care" he was known as "The Fighter".

We took it a day at a time and lived each day to its fullest that month. We felt blessed. Unfortunately, early February we heard that familiar sound of wheezing coming from Goliath. We immediately rushed him to "All Care" again. It didn't seem good and the doctors were preparing us for the worst. We assumed that no one would be able to fight another battle especially not Goliath. Days passed nothing changed. We kept on repeating to Goliath is that he was our love and we needed him home for Valentine's Day. Goliath The Amazing, pulled through and the three of us shared Valentine's Day together.

With an occasional seizure here and there, Goliath seemed like a new dog. For six months he was living the life we dreamed for him. He walked, he ran, he played, and he was loved. Just when we thought he had out- grown any of the problems that had weakened him in the past, he had a bad spell of seizures. We cared so dearly for him we ran him directly to "All Care" because we didn't want to take any chances. Once again, Goliath pulled through. We brought him there late Thursday evening after 5 seizures in less than a 24 hour period. He only had one additional seizure and the doctor felt positive about releasing him on Saturday. We went to visit him on Friday, and he acted like the dog we always knew. We spent many hours sitting and petting him, giving him kisses, and promising him a surprise when he came home. The doctor suggested that we have another MRI done to find out what was causing these problems. Jodi and I were very hesitant to put him through more testing, but we felt confident that if we could just find the cause of his problems he would have at least another six months of good health. We agreed with the doctor and scheduled his MRI for the following morning. The doctor called us early Saturday morning and told us that they were putting Goliath under and they would call us the second he came to. After the MRI the doctor felt confident that Goliath could live with more pills to control the water on his brain. The doctor suggested he stay the evening and we could pick him up Sunday morning at 9 AM. Both Jodi and I couldn't stop talking about Goliath's home coming. He was and will always be our happiness. We checked on him twice Saturday afternoon and evening. The doctor informed us that he had a slightly elevated temperature and they would watch him overnight. Early Sunday morning we awoke to a phone ringing, and it was the doctor. Goliath' s fever had increased and he was not responding to anything. We immediately jumped in the car thinking to ourselves that us being with him would calm his nerves and bring his temperature down. When we saw Goliath neither of us could accept that he could no longer the fight. He was tired.

We spent the day with him, as we always did when he was at the hospital. We lay on the floor with him petting him, kissing him, talking to him, and loving him. On Sunday, August Fourth, a day shy of his 2 year 7 month birthday Goliath passed on.

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The past 2 years 3 months we had with our baby is mostly filled with amazing memories. All the battles with pneumonia, seizures, and any other diseases don't compare to the amazing memories of the good times spent with Goliath. Goliath is still loved by anyone and everyone that ever saw or met him. He will always be beautiful both inside and out. Jodi and I have memories not of him in the hospital, but of him running in the sprinklers, drooling everywhere, and always running to us when he saw or heard us. He is our boy.

This is our story of our courageous baby. He has touched our lives and will never be far from our hearts and thoughts. The house is empty and we are looking for a sign that he is all right. We miss him dearly and can't imagine life without him. Through tearful eyes, we try to remember all the good times and think to ourselves that he is now running around with no hip problems, no more seizures, and no more medicine. We know that he is living the life we have always dreamt for him. We miss him and love him. Our lives are forever changed. Rest in peace our beautiful Goliath. Both Jodi and I love you very, very much.