Joshu's Homepage

Joshu, the King of Dogs (with Carmen, his Dober-friend)

Sometimes, if you are blessed, an animal or human being comes into your life with such power and grace that your heart, your life, even the way you view the world, can never be the same.
Joshu is such an animal.

This page is too small to contain the wonder, the stories, the mythos that surround him. A dozen pages would still be too small. Perhaps there is not enough room in all of cyberspace to do him justice.
Yet these few words will have to suffice for my friend, my trusted companion, the most amazing canine I have ever known.

As I write this in January of 1997 Joshu is nearing the age of 13. He has mellowed with age, as have I. I no longer have to worry about him getting into fights (his youthful habit of trying to rid the streets of dogs larger and more aggressive than himself, although surprisingly successful, was trying for me), and his other inter-canine social skills are greatly improved. I suppose that meeting other new dogs (at least other male dogs) was never his strongest suit.

And yes, that was true both before and after he was neutered. Neutering does little to dim dog-agressive behavior in the Bull-and-Terrier breeds, because that behavior is genetic rather than hormonal. But that would be food for another page...

And I digress. Thus far what I have said does not point to any great or new qualities that my friend posesses. I have not yet spoken of his uncanny ability to judge human character, or of his unflappable demeanor, or of his tremendous courage. I have not touched on the subject of his great strength, or of his drive to achieve the unachievable. Joshu is the dog who learned to climb to the top of playground Jungle Gyms (we lived in the city, and these were the greateset obstacles we could find). And I have not even begun to tell of his deep and profound intelligence, or of the depth of his love.

Joshu's Arrival

A friend of mine was driving from the Mojave Desert into L.A. one spring day in 1985 when he saw a big black dog sitting next to a box by the side of the highway. This was about 30 miles from the nearest town, not a good place for a dog to be. Fortunately Rapa was the sort of person to stop and help in a situation like that. He pulled over and found that the box held 5 small puppies, about 6 weeks old. They all looked entirely like the big black dog. Surprisingly, the adult dog was male, but nonetheless he wouldn't leave the puppies (though he could easily have gone off to a shady place a few hundred yards away). All of them were starving.

Rapa, having a very kind view of human nature, thought that perhaps they had all fallen off the back of a pickup truck, so he waited around for half an hour or so to see if the people would come back for their puppies. Finally he decided to take them with him, and return later to post "Found Dog" signs (which he did - are we surprised that there were no responses?).

Rapa was coming to LA to visit me, and knew that I loved dogs (though as a working musician I had decided that my lifestyle was not suited to having one). He brought the dogs in. We didn't have enough dog food to feed them all, but we made a big pot of brown rice to mix with the dog food we did have and set it out in two large bowls - one for the big dog and one for the little ones.

Surprise number two - the adult dog wouldn't eat until all of the puppies were eating. Not that he wasn't hungry, mind you. We were amazed. This was clearly an exceptional dog. When he did start eating, he ate pretty much non-stop for four days. His muscles filled in, and his coat began to shine. He was breathtakingly beautiful.

Still, it was not my plan to keep a dog, even though he and I were becoming great friends. We put all the puppies (and Joshu) up for adoption. He actually found a home for two of the pups himself (but that's another story). By the end of the week it was clear that he had taken me as his person, and he simply wasn't going to go with anyone else. I had myself a dog.

And what a dog! 90 lbs of muscle, brains, and courage. He loved toys that he could chew up, but they didn't last long. Took him less than 8 minutes to take apart a regulation softball. Coconuts took him a little longer, but he'd manage to crack them open - and then what a treat there was inside! Joshu accompanied me to gigs, taught me (with help from some very good dog trainers) about being alpha and dog training in general - especially about finding out what makes a dog special, "what song a dog sings" as Vicki Hearn puts it. Joshu's song was deep and complex, full of love and vitality.

A Recent Story:

Beth gave birth to our son Samuel in September of 1996. Joshu was well over 12 years old, and spent most of his days sleeping. He's earned his rest. At any rate, Sam was born at home, with two wonderful midwives and our three dogs in attendance. The other dogs wandered in and out, checking on us periodically. Joshu, for all appearances, slept through the entire labor.

But there was more to his slumber than met the eye. Wherever Beth was during the labor, that's where Joshu was, seemingly sound asleep. If she left the room, he would get up, move to wherever she had moved, and lie down within a few feet of her. Whenever she moved, he moved with her, quietly taking his new position within at most a minute of her move. When we noticed what he was doing we were amazed. He managed to "sleep through the labor" while remaining within a few feet of Beth the entire time.

Once Sam was born, Joshu shifted his attention. He continued his "sleeping survielance" but now it was Sam whom he followed. Beth could come and go, but wherever the baby was, Joshu was there with him. He continues to dote on "his baby", sitting close by him on car rides and tolerating all sorts of climbing and face-pulling.

He was, and is, an amazing dog.

There will probably be more stories about Joshu as I find time to write.