A German Shepherd Never Forgets

When I was 13 years old, my parents purchased a male German Shepherd puppy from some reputable breeders in Gretna.  While I no longer remember their names, or the name of their kennel, I do recall that the puppy was descended from a champion German Shepherd named Wilva Don's Bikini.  His name was Count of Holland.

As a child, I was unable to appreciate the extraordinarily calm temperament and stoic personality that Count possessed.  I thought he was boring.  He almost never barked at anyone (a simple stare sufficed to chase most people away), his only sign of anger even in the most provoking of circumstances was a low growl, and he greeted all visitors at our house calmly and politely.  The only naughty thing he ever did was steal our dolls' babies, which he would never chew up, just take in his mouth and run away with.

The only exception he ever made was for the boy who lived next door to us.

Count of Holland

Although Count had never barked at any of the neighbors, they all displayed an inexplicable fear of him. Perhaps it was this that motivated one of them to shoot Count in the leg one day, when he was briefly outside by himself.  We never heard anything, but he came to the back door on 3 legs when we let him in, and when my father promptly took him to the veterinarian, he was told that somebody had shot Count in his left front leg.

Since nobody had seen anything, we figured we would never know who the culprit was...but we hadn't realized how furious Count was about the situation.  The next time we let him outside, and the neighbor boy came into his yard, we saw a side of Count we had never seen before.

Count literally went insane... all of the hair on his back rose up and he started throwing himself against the fence, acting as if he were going to clear it and rend the boy limb from limb.  The boy instantly went back into the house, and my father went over to talk to his parents, realizing who the culprit had to be.

The parents never admitted that their 16-year-old son had actually shot our dog, but the boy almost never came into the yard again when Count was outside.  When he did, even years later, Count would react in exactly the same manner, promptly driving him back inside.  Even when Count was very old, and the boy left for a period of time and then came back to visit, Count still remembered what he had done.

With the memory of what had happened to Count in my mind, I have always attempted to be outside whenever Prince is, or at least standing in the doorway watching him.  Even these efforts, however, could not prevent Prince from going through his own traumatic event...which he, as well, has never forgotten.