My Amazing Huerta Hof Dog :)

[jturcotte]

Hope you all don't mind me sharing a story about my 17 month old boy, Topolobampo von Huerta Hof, a Cuervo x Inca son.


One thing for sure, our dogs are amazing and we will probably never truly know all that they are capable of!


Let me provide a little back story so it makes sense but please understand I am not trying to tell a sob story or get any sympathy, just want to impart how remarkable our dogs really are.


The last 2 weeks have been a little rough. I was pretty ill, spent a week in the hospital and had 2 surgeries. Two days after being released from the hospital I was still very sore and weak. Topolo, as we call him for short, had been absolutely wonderful. He is a true gentle giant, weighing in around 88lbs and being quite the big boy. He never left my side, and watched over me constantly. He layed curled up next to me in bed all day and my husband would have to make him go outside when he got home from work. He would periodically *check* my incisions with a subtle sniff and then lay his giant noggin ever so gently back down on my lower abdomen or thigh so as to make sure he never actually touched any of the incisions (one of my surgeries was a laproscopic abdominal surgery so there are 5 incisions on the right side of my abdomen). It was so amazingly comforting having him with me while at home healing, it was definitely quite sad to return to work earlier this week and have to leave him home.


Ok, back to the story, 2 days after release from the hospital, still swollen, sore and weak, I was downstairs in the kitchen in the middle of the day to get something to drink when my phone rang. It was a coroner from southern CA calling to inform me that my brother had died several days earlier (essentialy while I was in surgery he was in autopsy). It took the coroners office several days to locate a family member to notify of the death and I was the one they located, no one else knew yet, not even his ex-wife and 4 kids. He was only 34 and this wasn't at all expected, apparently he had a rare heart condition and he passed away in his sleep while at a friends house. After hanging up the phone I started to lose it, I began sobbing uncontrolably. All the weeping combined with already being so weak caused my body to temporarily give out and I started to collapse towards the kitchen counter. Topolo who had been right by my side the whole time immediately sprang into action and to my rescue! He quickly positioned himself between me and the counter, then put his front feet on the counter and placed his big head square on my chest and pushed me up, he then stood there bracing my body with his head and shoulders on my chest and supported my body weight for a good 2 minutes until I was able to calm down and get my strength back enough to support myself and reach over for a chair to sit on. Had he not been there and not reacted the way he had I probably would have fallen and slammed my head on the counter and it would have been several hours before my husband would have been home to find me.


Now, if you know me at all or have ever met me you know that I am not a weak person by nature, I am very strong, physically and mentally, so this behavior is not normal from me, hence Topolo is not accustom to this behavior, so he has never had reason to "take care of me" before. And just as the shoemakers kids go without shoes, Topolo goes without training, my time is all spent training police dogs and my clients dogs so he has had very little training, just a little bit of basic obedience. I have certainly never taught him to brace. This is what amazes me, faced with an emergent situation that he has never before experienced he immediately assesed the situation and reacted with complex behaviors that he was not trained to do, had never been asked to do before, had never experienced before at all. Instictively he knew what had to be done to protect me and he did it without hesitation and he stayed calm the entire time. He wasn't anxious or nervous.


Topolo is so very special to me, when I got him last year my mother was terminally ill, she passed away when he was only 4 months old. My mom taught me all about dogs and training and she instilled in me to never live without a GSD. During her last few months she was in the hospital A LOT and most nights I would stay with her so she wasn't alone, Robin would text me new pics of my pup all the time and I would hold up my phone for my mom to see his cute fuzzy face, she loved him so much and we loved to sit and look at all his puppy pics and talk about bringing him home. She did get to meet him a few times, and even being a rambunctious baby, when we were with her he was a perfect gentleman, so calm and quite and never got in any trouble, I have a few precious photos of them together and everytime I pet him I know that she too pet him and that is one of the last things that we shared together. Even though the end was coming she loved to dream about the Huerta Hof dog that she would get for herself as soon as she got better, sadly that day will never come but she and I will always share Topolo.


Topolo is quiet yet strong, gentle yet tough, social yet aloof. He can kiss the tears off a babys cheeks then turn around and protect his family. Even though he is Mr Mild I have no doubt he will be there to protect me, when he interprets a threat he is a total badass!


Sorry for being long winded, just wanted to share a special story of a special dog. Thanks for listening


Below are a few more recent pics of Topolobampo von Huerta Hof.

[4TheDawgies]

Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story! He looks just like his father, VERY handsome!

<3

[jprice103]

What a wonderful story!! Thank you for sharing your special boy with us!!

[1sttimeforgsd]

Surely a wonderful story, about an amazing and handsome boy. Thanks for sharing with us, enjoyed reading it.

[marshies]

Thank you for sharing your story. I am sorry for your loss and hope that you can find joy and comfort in your life soon.

Hearing about your precious dog gives me alot to look forward to in my Cuervo daughter. They have the same gentle eyes and I can only hope she will be half as sweet as your topolo.

[mysweetkaos]

Sorry about your rough times and the loss of your brother. What an amazing dog you have. Reading your story of his intuition and helping you was very sweet.....and then I saw his picture, I think I'm in love

[KZoppa]

thanks for sharing your story. Sorry about your brother.

[drosado]

I hope that you are soon feeling much better physically. I am so sorry about the loss of your brother. I know your wonderful boy will help you through this just as he did with your mother when he was a puppy. These wonderful dogs of ours are amazing in their intellengence and compassion.

[jturcotte]

Thanks everyone for all of your kind words. Honestly, I am just fine, I have healed well and am back at work with no restrictions, feeling much much better. It was a shock to lose my brother so suddenly but I am at peace with it as I know that he is now at peace.

[Hillary_Plog]

Jody...what a compelling post...I was so touched. I, too, had soooo many moments like that with my last Huerta Hof boy that just died last year.

I am sorry for your recent loss, but feel a fullness in my heart for you knowing that you have that special boy, Topolo.

He looks great...hope to see you soon at training with him! Miss you and glad you are feeling better!!!!