In the Beginning ....

Shortly after my husband, Gary and I got together we had a conversation about getting a puppy “for the kids”.  My Father was a Veterinarian, and having grown up with labs, I just assumed the puppy we were talking about would be a lab. One morning my husband said he had a puppy he wanted to go see, so we jumped into the car and headed out.  We had almost reached our destination, which was approximately 2 hours away when my husband mentioned “bull terrier”.  I looked at him in disbelief and said, “I thought we were going to look at labs”!  He shook his head, “No” and said he had been a fan of bull terriers since he first saw “Willie”, George Patton’s dog.  Immediately I said let’s call Dad – he will tell you how bull terriers aren’t good with kids, are aggressive and don’t make a good family pet.  So we searched for a phone booth – no cell phones in those days – and called Dad.  When he answered I said let me put Gary on the phone so you can tell him about bull terriers, and my Dad proceeded to tell him how great they were with kids, how protective they can be to their loved ones and what wonderful family pets they make.  The only warning he gave us was that they are strong-willed and we would have to be just as strong-willed in training them. So the adventure begins ...........

Our adventure began in 1988 with our first standard bull terrier – Suds.  Suds was a red and white bitch and, realizing very quickly our love of the breed and of Suds, we determined she required a friend.  Then came Mugs in 1989. He was a male black brindle and white.  The two were great together and we had them for almost 14 years.  We acquired Shiner in 2002, a white bitch.  Her name came from a brand of beer called “Shiner Bock” and the fact that she had the very popular black eye.  As you can see with Suds, Mugs and Shiner, Gary’s love of beer was only surpassed by the love of our dogs. 

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Again we wanted a friend for Shiner and another family member for us.  In 2006 we flew to Ohio to pick up Tusker, a male, our first mini.  He was a tri-color, black, tan (almost yellow) and white.  His name came from a brand of beer brewed in Kenya, Africa.  We were on a fly fishing/photo safari in Tanzania and Zambia, when we had a late afternoon beer – a Tusker (obviously - an elephant on the label).  One of the couples we were with said, “Boy what a great name for a dog!”  So, when searching for a name Gary realized that the Tusker Brewery colors were black, yellow and white.  After that his name was a given.  He was a tough little guy (but very lovable) and lived up to his name.

At this point we were deeply into mini’s and that brings us to Kali.  Kali is a white bitch, has black ears, a perfect scissors bite  and is extremely lovable.  Just a sweet dog!  Her name was my pick (this time) and comes from an Indian name for “one with black ears.”  Ooopps!  Not a theme name.  Well Gary researched the name Kali further under breweries.  He found, at one time, a Portland brewery named a new wheat ale “Kali-Ma.”   So now he is completely comfortable with Kali as the theme continues.  I think maybe with the next new pups we will try wines ... Merlot, Cabby, Malbeki, Syrah, Barbarossa, Franc, Abrusco - oh ya this is good!  Can you think of some?