Megan & Willie
Ch. Revilo's On The Road Again Vicdory (Willie)
December 16, 2003 - July 2006
A very Special Saint has died. His name was Willie.
Willie's sire was Ch. Lynchreeks Ace V Stoan, HF, PE and his damn was Ch. Stoan's Quintesse Vic Revilo, WP. He was born in the back of my Van as I had to go to work that day to complete two cases. He and his sister were about 1-2 days over due and I had called the vet to say we would be in for a C-Section. QT never looked like she was in labor. The two cases took me 1.5 hours tops. Got in the van and here is this little baby boy nursing as content as could be. I wrapped him in a towel and took him in to show my co-workers who had never seen a new born Saint Puppy before. Returned to the van and started driving home in Rush Hour Traffic telling QT that I would be home soon. Judy, Willie's sister, was born on the way home.
Willie was a wild child, never quite leash broke. There were times when he was like having a Marlin at the end of the leash. If he wanted to see someone, he could jerk me right off my feet. As a consequence no one else could take him in the Show Ring. If someone did, I told them to just hang on. He loved everyone, but had the attention span of 10 second Sam. He would greet someone, get distracted, then greet them again like he had just met them. In the ring when the judge would approach he would practically crawl into the judges hands. I would always have to reset his feet once the judge had finished going over the head. Sometimes I just did not bother, I was content if he just stood still. He finished his Championship in 2005 with 4 majors including a win at our Summer Specialty under Doug Mahon. He has sired one litter and his son is an AKC Champion and his daughter needs only one Major win to finish.
I have never kept males for long as I live on one acre and the dogs all run together, so in February I was contacted by a lady in Alabama who wanted to adopt Willie to start her breeding program. She also wanted to dabble in the show ring and thought she would like to have a finished Champion to learn with. Sharon lives on a farm in the boondocks of Alabama and has one daughter, Megan, who is 9 years old.
The week Willie died I got this letter from Sharon:
Vickie,
I am very sorry to say I just lost Willie. I was responding to an email from _______ and I heard my daughter screaming. Willie was fighting with a Rattle snake and my daughter was screaming for me. She told me she was riding, playing and saw the snake, screamed for me and Willie was playing outside with her and ran inbetween her and the snake. He was bitten several times that I saw and would not back away from it. God, we are just devasted here but I couldn't get him to back off so I could shoot it. He killed it to protect my baby and I couldn't help him. I am sorry I had to tell you like this but I just can't talk right now. He died very quickly. I am so sorry to have to tell you this, I honestly don't know How I or my daughter is going to handle this, she is very upset right now, She will be 10 the end of this month and she understands that he just saved her life, she is blaming herself for his death and is going all to pieces. I am sorry, I have to go for now.
Sharon
I am saddened with his loss, but oh so proud of his act of heroism. Since going to live with Sharon and Megan, Willie has been Megan's constant companion. He slept in her room and was always around when she was outside playing. Always nearby.
Sometimes the Good die Young.
