Jazmyn was a Belgian Malinois that joined our family in 1999 at the age of 18 mths. She was imported from Holland for another family but escaped her pen and got pregnant by a Belgian Shepherd. The owners culled the puppies and sent Jazmyn to a trainer, asking him to find her a home. The day I met her she was a scrawny girl that rubbed up against the kennel, begging for attention. It was love at first sight for me. Jaz became the love of my life. Malinois' are very active dogs with strong prey drives. They are used a lot for Search & Rescue, and in Law Enforcement. I attempted to take Jazmyn to Schutzhund training in a hope to use her for Search & Rescue. But, the previous owners had beaten the drive out of her and she preferred to go on long walks and just stay close by my side. When Kato joined our family as a young pup, Jazmyn took him in as her own, teaching him the ways of dog life and satisfying the loss she had felt regarding her own pups. On December 30, 2008, Jazmyn & I were heading to the bedroom for a nap when she collapsed on the floor. In a panic I rushed her to the vet where it was discovered that she was bleeding out from a pancreatic tumor. Not once did she complain or show signs of being sick. Needless to say, my heart was broken as I held my beautiful dog while the vet put her to sleep. She will always be my special girl.

This is Kato - another Belgian Malinois, and the love of Tom's life. In 2000, we were looking for a playmate for Jazmyn when we came across an ad for a batch of Malinois puppies for sale. When we went to view the dogs we were told that the previous homeowner moved and had left 8 puppies and their parents behind. The new owner did not want the dogs and was trying to get rid of them. The parents were kept in a separate kennel - dad aggressive and mom frightened. We spent time looking at the pups and one little guy climbed over the top of the others and began tugging at Tom's pant leg. He was not like the other pups and Tom loved him immediately. When we got home with our new little guy we put out a notice to the Malinois rescue board and found that we were able to facilitate the placement of all the other pups & their parents.

Kato has been an extraordinary dog with a prey drive like no other. Early games consisted of hide & seek at the local elementary school, where Kato would search out & find Tom in a matter of seconds. He loved to climb the steps and slide, would jump up on and over objects on command, caught frizbees out of the air, and chased balls until we were exhausted and he was still ready to go. Our stories would fill a book. One day we came back from running errands and Kato had found the solid horse ball (about the size of a basketball) and had taken it out of the pasture. From the looks of his nose he had been playing with it for quite a while and was upset when we took it away.

In 2008, after moving to our ranch, Kato had gotten a tick bite which resulted in him finally being diagnosed with Lyme's Disease. He was running the trails with me on rounds, checking horses, when he collapsed. We took him to the vet who found a narrowing in his spine & gave him a steroid injection. However, Kato didn't recover. After thousands of dollars and several vets, we were told to put him down. Once last trip to our local vet and a blood test revealed the Lyme's Disease. Fortunately he had already been put on antibiotics, which is one of the primary treatments for the disease. Not ever free of the disease Kato got sick, again, at the beginning of November, 2009. Treating him for the same symptoms Kato didn't show any signs of coming out of this bout. This time, though, it had been compounded with his severe arthritis in his hips from the early years of constant jumping.

Kato sleeps on an airbed to help avoid bed sores. Sometimes "his" cat enjoys naps with him.

Although it's a 24/7 watch right now to help him get up to go potty, he is slowly becoming more mobile with the wheelchair we had made for him by Dwane Carts.

This is Toro. He's the goof ball of the family and another rescue. 1/2 Belgian Malinois, 1/2 Belgian Shepherd. At 5 yrs old he still acts like a pup but towers over all the other dogs. Kato was raised with wolves and developed that "one human" bonding with me. He loves to go anywhere I do, is as gentle as can be, and loves kids. He, too, has a special cat that loves to cuddle with him.

This is Kyra, a 12 yr old retired police drug dog that was caught in the middle of a political mess. She was put into a cage, behind a walled fence with no contact except to be fed. And, because she barked begging for attention she had a barking collar put on. When I met Kyra she was about 20 lbs underweight, depressed & scared. Before I could turn the department over to the humane society and call in PETA Kyra was given to us. Within a week she was at the vet's with IV's and going through a batter of tests to help her. It took her a few weeks to figure out that barking was ok, and that when we lifted our hands to pet her she wasn't going to get hit. The next picture shows how well she's adjusted.