Junior
A donation was made in memory of Junior by Lori and Dr. Bunch, WSU IVM on May 04, 2022.
The brothers are together again. 💔
54 days after we said goodbye to our dear Hugo, our beloved Junior has suddenly passed away. Sadly, he was never the same after he lost his brother. 😥
September 29, 2012 - May 3, 2022
Bear with me here, if you will, because Junior has quite the unique story to his life. He was Camelot’s Ragin Cajun and here is why… At the sonogram halfway through his momma Stella’s pregnancy, the veterinarian declared him “not viable” and “likely to be re-absorbed”.
For nearly a decade, he blessed us with countless happy moments throughout his remarkably healthy life. He certainly proved how “viable” he was!
Like his brother Hugo, Junior was born into my hands. But instead of entering the world in the whelping box at our home (at the time in AR), he was born across the state line in an ER room in Monroe, Louisiana after Stella stalled in labor.
The puppy before him was stillborn and Junior was so tiny that I thought he must also not be alive. So, I quickly handed him to the vet tech and I continued to be preoccupied with caring for Stella and her two surviving puppies.
Just a few minutes later after we paid the bill and were preparing to leave for home, the vet called out to us “Wait! He just let out a scream!”. ☺️
He was just 6 oz. at birth, so his puppy name “Junior” just stuck even though he grew to be an 88 lbs. dog. He refused to nurse until several hours after his birth but then once he figured it out, he pretty much never wanted to stop eating. During his lifetime, he loved eating any of the food we offered to him but oddly he really loved green veggies, especially celery.
When he was 8 weeks of age he and I traveled to the Bay Area where he was diagnosed with Achondroplasia, a congenital bone deformity which is exceedingly rare (if not unknown) in Rhodesian Ridgebacks. The orthopedic surgeon who diagnosed him said that he wouldn’t live more than a few years at most and suggested that he be given to UC Davis Veterinary School as sort of a “guinea pig”. 😳
It was also suggested that he be euthanized. At that moment, Scott and I knew that he would be ours forever. Absolutely no one could care for him better or love him more than us.
Junior was a multi-purpose “perfect pet quality” Rhodesian Ridgeback — He also had a severe kink in the base of his tail, a third crown in his ridge and he was a Cryptorchid. He was certainly perfection to us. 😍
This strong-willed little boy was a captivating puppy and he quickly stole our hearts. Junior and I had an especially deep bond. He was my “Junebug” and I was besotted with our “kinky-tailed boy.” It was an honor to be his person… How my heart and soul aches for him now.
What he lacked in proper RR conformation he more than made up for temperament: calm, steady, confident, intuitive, sweet, sensitive. Truly a wise old soul. His ideal temperament made me feel so proud of this dog I bred and raised.
As the quintessential cool dude, Junior’s alias was Batman / Bruce Wayne. I loved gazing into his soulful dark chocolate brown eyes and feeling his wonderful presence near me, which was his favorite place to be. If Junior really loved you, and you were lucky, he would give you his famous tiny nose nibbles. He was so big and strong and yet so gentle.
Over the past year, every couple of weeks Junior and I made the drive together through the beautiful rolling hills of the Palouse to WSU Veterinary Hospital for acupuncture sessions with Dr. Jessica Bunch. This was one of the most helpful treatments for the severe arthritis he developed in his elbows as he aged.
Junior had quite a few admirers at WSU and charmed many a vet student by “punching” them as his command to continue petting him… and of course give him cookies. (Dr. Bunch has become a dear friend to us ever since she treated Junior’s grandmother Bonnie in 2017.)
Junior continued to fight the odds against him to live the happy life that he so well deserved. We are immensely grateful that he was a member of our family and devastated that he is gone.
Junior and our little French Bulldog Zelda were very close “siblings” and she is very much feeling his absence. Just like us, Zelda has experienced the loss of all 4 of our Ridgebacks over the last 3 years and my heart cries for her. Scott and Zelda and I are all lost without our boy in our home. 💔💔💔 He passed away in his sleep right beside me on the sofa. In the end, what failed our Junior was the part of him we adored the most — his magnificent heart. ❤️🩹 Junior was bred by me and Clayton Heathcock out of my Stella and sired by Michelle Michael’s Dallas. (There is one remaining littermate and she lives with a longtime friend in Port Townsend, WA.)
54 days after we said goodbye to our dear Hugo, our beloved Junior has suddenly passed away. Sadly, he was never the same after he lost his brother. 😥
September 29, 2012 - May 3, 2022
Bear with me here, if you will, because Junior has quite the unique story to his life. He was Camelot’s Ragin Cajun and here is why… At the sonogram halfway through his momma Stella’s pregnancy, the veterinarian declared him “not viable” and “likely to be re-absorbed”.
For nearly a decade, he blessed us with countless happy moments throughout his remarkably healthy life. He certainly proved how “viable” he was!
Like his brother Hugo, Junior was born into my hands. But instead of entering the world in the whelping box at our home (at the time in AR), he was born across the state line in an ER room in Monroe, Louisiana after Stella stalled in labor.
The puppy before him was stillborn and Junior was so tiny that I thought he must also not be alive. So, I quickly handed him to the vet tech and I continued to be preoccupied with caring for Stella and her two surviving puppies.
Just a few minutes later after we paid the bill and were preparing to leave for home, the vet called out to us “Wait! He just let out a scream!”. ☺️
He was just 6 oz. at birth, so his puppy name “Junior” just stuck even though he grew to be an 88 lbs. dog. He refused to nurse until several hours after his birth but then once he figured it out, he pretty much never wanted to stop eating. During his lifetime, he loved eating any of the food we offered to him but oddly he really loved green veggies, especially celery.
When he was 8 weeks of age he and I traveled to the Bay Area where he was diagnosed with Achondroplasia, a congenital bone deformity which is exceedingly rare (if not unknown) in Rhodesian Ridgebacks. The orthopedic surgeon who diagnosed him said that he wouldn’t live more than a few years at most and suggested that he be given to UC Davis Veterinary School as sort of a “guinea pig”. 😳
It was also suggested that he be euthanized. At that moment, Scott and I knew that he would be ours forever. Absolutely no one could care for him better or love him more than us.
Junior was a multi-purpose “perfect pet quality” Rhodesian Ridgeback — He also had a severe kink in the base of his tail, a third crown in his ridge and he was a Cryptorchid. He was certainly perfection to us. 😍
This strong-willed little boy was a captivating puppy and he quickly stole our hearts. Junior and I had an especially deep bond. He was my “Junebug” and I was besotted with our “kinky-tailed boy.” It was an honor to be his person… How my heart and soul aches for him now.
What he lacked in proper RR conformation he more than made up for temperament: calm, steady, confident, intuitive, sweet, sensitive. Truly a wise old soul. His ideal temperament made me feel so proud of this dog I bred and raised.
As the quintessential cool dude, Junior’s alias was Batman / Bruce Wayne. I loved gazing into his soulful dark chocolate brown eyes and feeling his wonderful presence near me, which was his favorite place to be. If Junior really loved you, and you were lucky, he would give you his famous tiny nose nibbles. He was so big and strong and yet so gentle.
Over the past year, every couple of weeks Junior and I made the drive together through the beautiful rolling hills of the Palouse to WSU Veterinary Hospital for acupuncture sessions with Dr. Jessica Bunch. This was one of the most helpful treatments for the severe arthritis he developed in his elbows as he aged.
Junior had quite a few admirers at WSU and charmed many a vet student by “punching” them as his command to continue petting him… and of course give him cookies. (Dr. Bunch has become a dear friend to us ever since she treated Junior’s grandmother Bonnie in 2017.)
Junior continued to fight the odds against him to live the happy life that he so well deserved. We are immensely grateful that he was a member of our family and devastated that he is gone.
Junior and our little French Bulldog Zelda were very close “siblings” and she is very much feeling his absence. Just like us, Zelda has experienced the loss of all 4 of our Ridgebacks over the last 3 years and my heart cries for her. Scott and Zelda and I are all lost without our boy in our home. 💔💔💔 He passed away in his sleep right beside me on the sofa. In the end, what failed our Junior was the part of him we adored the most — his magnificent heart. ❤️🩹 Junior was bred by me and Clayton Heathcock out of my Stella and sired by Michelle Michael’s Dallas. (There is one remaining littermate and she lives with a longtime friend in Port Townsend, WA.)
