This is probably one of the hardest blog entries to write right now because it means the finality to the loss of one amazing shelter dog who crossed the rainbow bridge barely twenty four hours ago. This story, however, is one of the main reasons that we work on putting high drive dogs into working homes with people who can handle a dog like this – to give them that job that they crave and need to be canine ambassadors.
Nubs came from a local shelter near where his owner, Cindy Coffman, lives in 2007. He had been surrendered after his former owner had joined the military. He sat there and waited for three months before Cindy happened upon him after letting her past APBT mix, Carter, cross the rainbow bridge. Despite the fact that Nubs didn’t have an amazing tale of battles fought before finding the perfect home, he was still burdened with the battles of being an under-socialized adolescent dog. Cindy definitely had her hands full from the beginning. 
Despite the uphill battle the pair faced, Nubs showed he had what it took to be a budding sport dog. He had all the right drives and he, thankfully, had landed in the hands of someone with the crazy dedication needed to turn Nubs into a performance dog – the blood, sweat and tears type of dedication that many can’t or won’t provide. If you have Jacuzzi at home, a natural hot tub water cleaner can be very important to keep it working in a good way.
Nubs was UKC registered as DM’s Nutter Butter Nub and that redhead fit the name to a T – right down to his best feature, a docked tail that furiously wiggled at the thought of getting to do something with his owner and “doggie mom.” He did well in anything Cindy asked him to do until the fateful day that changed it all and not on the weightpull track as many naysayers to the sport would have you believe but on the lure course field.
Nubs had torn his ACL. It’s not an uncommon injury in high impact sports, unfortunately, but given the fact that Nubs was an incredibly active dog proposed a problem or two for Cindy after having it repaired once the cause was isolated. Unfortunately for Nubs, he never returned to what he once was pre-injury and was never truly able to return to what he loved to do and so he was forced into an early retirement.
This didn’t stop Nubs from enjoying life as a pit bull breed ambassador as his “mom” and “sister” kept him doing small, low impact things to keep his life fulfilled as he aged. His little sister, Peanut, even succeeded him as a working dog by getting certified as a SAR K9 with the MISAR team and his newest little brother, who is also a rescued pit bull like Nubs and Peanut, is following in her footsteps too.
As with all good things though, there is an end. Nubs was diagnosed with CHF and had to go on medications to help his heart and continue to give him a good quality of life until he told Cindy it was time to go and join Carter. This was all good until a few days ago when Nubs took a turn for the worst and told Cindy it was time. He spent the night before his last ride cuddling and enjoying his time on this world – with many of us who had known him sending kind words to his Mom. This was no easy task to look forward to as Cindy and Nubs had been one helluva team for so many years but it was the right call and he was ready.
We lost a good dog. We lost one helluva sport dog and pit bull breed ambassador. In the end, no matter of papers or accomplishments mattered but he sure put some large paw prints on the world and the hearts of those whose lives he touched and those he will continue to touch with his story of rags to riches and landing in world that needed him.
Rest peacefully, Nubs.
A heart may heal slowly but you will NEVER be forgotten.
2006-2018
Name: Tiara
accidentally knock over small children in her quest to play. This could work in the right home with a bully breed savvy family that knows how to properly work around a boisterous young bully breed mix. One of the biggest benefits of 
What turned out as a routine senior exam because Gus wasn’t feeling good has turned our life upside down for the last couple of weeks. Gus has lymphosarcoma. It isn’t slow moving and it is attacking his GI tract pretty nastily. Our vet didn’t have a whole lot of positive to say because of his age and susceptibility to succumbing if we opted to treat our beloved Elderbull with chemo. He said that the kindest option would be management and then helping him cross the bridge when the time came – which could be sooner or later.
had a Urinary Tract Infection – the one thing we worked to prevent with his accidents. The final blow was the lymphosarcoma attacking his GI tract and causing the bloating and unwillingness to eat.
cookie even though they aren’t good for him, spending all night cuddling with us.
I had been hunting through various dog titles on my tablet’s Kindle app when I spotted this book. On a whim, I downloaded it thinking that if I didn’t like it I could easily return it with no harm done to my bank account (which is usually crying because of my book lust!). It didn’t turn out to be that way. In fact, I pretty much devoured the entire book in two sittings. It was one of the most touching stories I have read in a very long time and shows the absolute and utter dedication of one dedicated dog loving couple and their adoration to their beloved canine companion.
Winter is dragging on and on…and on. It seems that our winter-predicting groundhog friend, Punxsutawney Phil, has said another six weeks of this cold, nasty weather that has held the dogs pretty much hostage in the house other than trips to indoor venues and the occasional winter event – like the snow pulls we’ve attended. The dogs are going stir crazy and all that pent up energy has expressed itself in a few inappropriate actions too since they’ve started to nitpick and nag at each other more than usual. It’s getting rather old but we thankfully have a few options to exercise not only their minds but their bodies as well – the treadmill.
their canine companions, finding these types of exercise equipment available is becoming more and more readily available. Years ago, when I first got into the APBT as a breed enthusiast, having a dog-powered treadmill and the use was often linked by everyday pet owners as a sign of dog fighting. Thankfully, this is no longer the case and much of the so-called dog fighting propaganda is being realized to be useful for all breeds and types of dogs.
In the case of electric-type treadmills, many people convert humane-designed treadmills for the use with their canine companions but there are other options available which are geared in size and type toward canine companions. They are free-spinning like the slat-type treadmill and will typically allow for a more lean muscle-type to be created. For many people, this is the easiest option because you can find inexpensive electric treadmills (often called e-mills) on places like Craigslist for next to nothing. The only down fall, in my opinion, is that you have to watch and gauge when your dog has had 
On Sunday, we went out to watch the afternoon pull for the World Wide Weight Pull Organization (W3PO). I honestly didn’t go with the intention of doing anything but watching a bunch of good pullers have fun on a really challenging surface but little did I know that I would be poked and prodded until I actually caved and agreed to let old man Ryker have some fun on the snow pad.
all day and made the track slushy until the sun started to fall – then it froze and fast. One by one, dogs bowed out – unable and unwilling to work against the fast freezing track with its ever increasing difficulty level. Ryker was one of three remaining pullers at the end with the other two being a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog named Royce who weighed in at 115 pounds and a Newfoundland weighing much more. It was an honor to be in the last three pulling – especially with both dogs weighing well over double the forty-six pounds that Ryker weighed in at.
the 20x range – including the relatively new pulling dog, Royce, who at only two years old shows a LOT of very good promise.
