A Tribute to
River
04/14/2007 to 05/24/2022
I never wanted a Pit Bull. I always thought they were ugly and mean.
Little did I know how loyal and loving they could be. And clown-like.
River never ceased to make me smile and laugh.
I first saw this
little guy on a float trip to Noel, Missouri back in 2007. I wasn‛t
present for this part, but I was told that some man came down to the
river with two puppies in his hands. He threw them into the water and
announced, "ya‛ll want some puppies?" The girls that were staying in
the cabin next door scooped them up out of the river and brought them
back to the cabins. The pups were small and sickly. One was brindle and
one was brown. One of the girls took the brindle one and I agreed to
take the brown one. This little pup with a big round head and dark,
alien-looking eyes slept in my lap all the way home. 
When I got home, I sheepishly led this little pup into my house and
introduced him to my wife, Kim. She didn‛t know quite what to think at
the time. We already had six dogs at home, and were not looking for
another. But she decided he could stay, and I am really glad she did.
We initially thought he was a beagle mix, but as he started to grow, he
developed a deep powerful chest and a very muscular body, even though
he did not get much exercise. We started suspecting he was a Pit Bull
mix. That suspicion was confirmed the first time we took him to the
vet. River was always sweet to Kim and I, but the first time the vet
got near him, River snarled and tried to take a bite out of him. The
vet chastised us for not telling him River was aggressive. We could
only respond that we didn‛t know. We had never seen that side of him
before. He didn‛t go to the vet much after that. Thank God he was
mostly healthy.
River was always a handful. With his little muscular body, River
discovered he could easily climb out of our fenced yard. He usually
went to a corner and climbed up on the corner posts. After raising the
fencing in all the corners, he discovered a better way - he just jumped
over the 4' fence! Thankfully he didn‛t usually run off - he would just
come to the front door and want back in. He knew he had a great life
here, although he did prove to be quite the escape artist.
But as vicious as River appeared to others, he was as loving and loyal
to Kim and I as he could be. River started crawling in bed with me as a
pup, and loved to jump on the bed and give me kisses when I got home
from work. I have always heard that Pit Bulls were erratic and some may
even turn on their owners, but I never had any trouble trusting this
little man and putting my face right next to his powerful jaws. We
always had our special time before I got in the shower every morning.
River would jump up on the bed and smother my face with kisses. I loved
my time with this little man.
River started developing a weird cough in late 2000. I finally risked
taking him to the vet in the late Fall of 2021. An X-ray showed
abnormalities in his lungs. They said it was probably cancer, but it
would take an MRI to be sure. River was already 15 years old at the
time, so we decided to treat him with antibiotics and Prednisone. The
steroids kept him going for a while. He kept up an energetic life right
to the end. I went to California to see my dying sister in late May
2022. Kim had been watching River and my other dogs, and reported that
River was doing well and had a healthy appetite. However, as soon as I
returned, River stopped eating and rapidly started getting weaker. I
knew he was done when he went out to the backyard on a Tuesday morning,
collapsed and couldn‛t get back up. I carried him into the house, laid
him on the bed, and made one of the hardest phone calls I have ever had
to make. My little buddy died peacefully in my arms on May 24, 2022.
I‛m sure that crazy little bugger is doing the zoomies in doggie
heaven. I love you, River!
If you
think the world is being rough on you,
read this .
