Mighty Zeus

My family was looking for a watchdog back in 1968. We went to the Bide - A - Wee in Wantagh, Long Island, NY since we adopted our first dog, Duchess, there a year earlier, and we were very happy with the results.

We were looking for a strong, assertive, dog that could be Duchess' companion, work with her and like her too, as well as guard our home. We found what we needed in this dog we named after the king of the Greek Gods, Zeus.

The story was that my father had eyeballed a number of pens that the dogs were in and he was trying to figure out which dog he wanted. All of a sudden, Zeus, jumped on top of his two siblings, knocked them aside (without hurting them) and finally my father realized he found his boy.

Originally, I wanted to name him Hercules, but my father wanted a short, snappy name if he needed to give a quick order to the dog. So we gave him an even more exalted name and a promotion from the Prince of the Greek gods to the King of that pantheon.

Zeus was not the biggest German shepherd, he weighed about 80 pounds but he was low to the ground and built like a tank. He had a very big chest that used to jut out like a professional bodybuilder's. I used to get a kick out of play wrestling with him.

My father employed an obedience trainer to make sure that Zeus would be a good, useful, dog. He also was a very loving member of our family. He took to his training very well.

We lived in a house on the corner of the street, surrounded by three houses all of which were robbed. We, on the other hand, were never targeted largely due to Zeus' presence in the house and also due to the fact that I was a competitive weightlifter who could bench press 400 pounds. Between Duchess, Zeus and me, burglars just decided to bother a less troublesome house to rob.

One day, our next-door neighbor complained to my Dad that his house was robbed and our dog Zeus didn't do anything about it. My father informed the neighbor that "Our dog gets paid to watch our house, not yours."

Zeus had a run in our back yard that was about 40 feet wide, attached to two very thick poles and a chain was attached to the nylon ropes to give him about ten feet of leeway in depth. One day, he pulled on the chains so hard that he snapped one of the two thick poles. He really was incredibly powerful, especially for a dog his size.

Four dogs invaded his (our) property one day, and they attacked Zeus. He successfully fought all them off and drove them away including two dogs that were about his size.

On the day of my twelfth birthday party, we had to lock Zeus up in the downstairs bathroom when my friends came over. (He also ate some of the snacks we bought that were in the car with him for some dang fangled reason). We put two chains around him, a muzzle on him, locked the door from the inside and threw chairs up against the door. It didn't stop him. Zeus broke out and everyone scrambled for cover.

One of my friends, the slowest runner in the grade actually, almost didn't make it. But in the final analysis everyone was safe.

One day, my father forgot to feed Zeus. My father was doing some work in the kitchen and was on a ladder when Zeus approached my father and my Dad said, "What's wrong, Zeus? What's the problem?" Zeus went over to the cabinet where we kept the dog food, took a can up in his teeth and threw the can at my Dad's feet. My father was really shocked by this. Before this we viewed Duchess as the brains and Zeus as the muscle in their tag team operation. When it came to his stomach, Zeus was a genius.

One time, Zeus jumped up on top of the kitchen counter and got the toaster down. It was plugged in and my mother yelled at him saying, "You could have been electrocuted!"

Another time, he got up on that same counter and licked my mother's delicious roast beef or London broil (I forgot which). He had good taste even if he could be ill-mannered when it came to food.

I used to suffer from bouts of depression as a child. It started very early. I was only nine when the family adopted Zeus and what happened was that every time I started to sink really low. Sometimes, I felt like I could die and sometimes I felt like I wished I had died. Then, the cavalry used to storm into my room.

Usually, I'd be sitting on the edge of my bed facing the door to my room, with my hands folded on my lap and my head bowed down in depression. Zeus and Duchess would start playing with me, batting my hands with their muzzles. I'd start playing with them and I'd feel much better.

Dogs are very empathetic with human beings. They can actually be lifesavers and some people have dogs for therapeutic reasons. My family's dogs functioned as such and I don't think my parents even know this story about the dogs and myself.

Zeus was not all business. He and Duchess, who weighed only 30 pounds, used to play for endless hours at a time. The truth is that Zeus was actually afraid of Duchess and it was somewhat comical.

One day, Zeus had Duchess' head inside of his Godzilla sized head and he bit down on her by accident and hurt her. She yipped. He felt so bad. He spent about the next hour or so licking her over and over again. Zeus really had a very special love for and kinship with Duchess.

Zeus contracted leukemia in his final days. His hips failed him and one day, he could no longer rise. At that point in time my father could no longer hold off on putting Zeus to sleep; my, how the mighty had fallen. My father was inconsolable over the loss of his beloved adopted son.

One day, soon after his being put to sleep, my mother started to vacuum the carpet and my father told her to stop because Zeus' scent came up. I know about this because of a cassette tape I heard that my family had put together. I heard the tape, which just managed to find its way to my hands.

I was overseas in Israel at the time Zeus was put to sleep, August 25, 1978 and right

before that my Mom sent a card to me written in Zeus' persona. She also mentioned how he couldn't be cured but he could be kept comfortable. I still have that letter, along with the lock of Zeus' fur that was scotch taped to it.

I always felt so bad that I was not near my family member in his final days but I needed to be where I was. Every year, I venture out to Long Island the second Sunday in September, to pay my respects to my canine family during Bide - A - Wee's memorial service in the complex where the dogs are interred.

This year, the service corresponds to the day our third adopted dog, Princess, was put to sleep. So the service has a timely and poignant significance to our family. All three dogs, Duchess (April 1967 - December, 29 1983), Zeus (April 1968 - August, 25 1978) and Princess (April 1981 - September, 10 1998) are buried in the same plot on Long Island. I know that they are resting in peace together..