UKC CH Gabriel von Snowcloud, GSDCA 13 Club Member, CGC, OFA, MDR1 +/+ 25 April, 1997-3 May, 2010 What a long, wild ride you and I had together...

Our big guy, and alpha dog, "Gus", was born April 25th, 1997. I 'found' Gus at a small breeder in Plainfield, IL. Their house was on one of my routes (as I was a semi-dump truck driver at the time) and I kept seeing Gus's parents out in the yard. They had such a breath-taking look of nobility to them!!! I just had to stop and meet them, and wait for pups to come. I had my heart set on a boy; when they came, there were 6 girls and only 1 boy-my Gus was born!! So, at 6 weeks, Gus moved in with me. Until he was 2, we lived in a condo; the neighborhood children (ranging from 2 to 8 yrs.) would knock on my window and ask, "Can Gus come out and play???" And, I'd hook him on his leash and send him out the back door to play 'pony, and ball, and Frisbee, and tag, and the like out in the yard. The little ones just loved that he let them ride on his back!!! Gus is the friendliest temperamented dog I've ever seen. He even raised his own kitty---grooming it, letting it eat out of his food dish, and even carrying kitty around in his mouth- scooped-up with a front & back leg out each side and head out the front of Gus's mouth!!!! We moved out to the farm shortly after Gus turned two-- Gus was (and probably still is!) in doggie heaven here. I had broken my back shortly before moving out here and was partially paralyzed for 3½ months until a fusion surgery and 3 months after. Shortly after the accident, Gus was trained in as my service dog, able to pull me around, pick things up off the floor, etc., and, to this day, he wears a harness in bad/cold weather to help me up and down the stairs. He is so devoted and loyal, always by my side. Gus is a bigger boy, standing fully 26 inches tall and when he's trim, weighs in at 85 pounds; up to 100 in peak muscular condition. He has fair/good pigment, he has a snow nose(not a bad one, however), but, his lips/pads/etc. are black, and has mostly grey skin. His coat is quite white, only having a small amount of biscuiting on his ears. As I can't mention enough, Gus's temperament couldn't be any better---he'll bathe a baby with kisses and sit patiently for pets from a senior citizen (he's done therapy work at the retirement homes) and has protected me from strangers in the night. He's a great leader of our "pack"; he gets along with anyone (or anything!) that gets along with him. Gus is such a wonderful judge of character, too----- I can trust my life in this dog's hands, I have a few times so far in his life!!! Gus has been recently neutered, in June of 2003-he's now over 6 years old, and the three of the bitches we currently have are his daughter, his granddaughter, and his great-granddaughter. Look out for his Carbon Copy, "Capone" out there in the show ring, as Capone is the closest thing there's ever been to another Gus, both in looks, and thankfully, temperament, too!