Where did Sheba Come from?
Hi,
A lot of people often ask me where do I get my ideas for characters and storylines from. Well in Sheba's case it was from a Staffordshire Bull Terrier I owned in the 1980s.
My wife and I had just moved into a new house when we were burgled. At that time alarms were expensive to install so I did my home work and discovered that pound for pound Staffies were the toughest dogs around.
So off I went to Wendesbury on the bus to buy a six month old pup. Ressu, as we called him, was black with a patch of white on his chest. The breeder was selling him because he had a minor fault with his lower teeth, which meant he would never make a show dog.
The breeder told me that if I could get him to 12 months without having a fight he'd be no problem with other animals. Well, you know what's coming, I got him to about 11 months and he was enjoying running around Hill Top when he went to say hello to a little Scottie. She turned on him and he ran away. That was the last time he ever ran.
Now Ressu wasn't one of these big Staffies. He only weighed about 30 pounds. But after his encounter with the Scottie he was fearless. It didn't matter how big the dog was he'd fight it. He took on one Boxer that was twice his size and would have killed it except the dog was wearing a thick studded leather collar. Obviously, we ended up keeping him on a leash at all times.
Ressu was never a threat to people. My young nephews at the time loved taking him for a walk. And their usual refrain when passing another dog was, 'I bet Ressu could take him.'
He was also the only dog I've ever known who willingly swam under water. I threw a branch into a pool one day. He went after it. But before he could reach it, the branch sank. He swam around for a bit then dived under and emerged with an eight foot branch as thick as my calf, covered in mud and slime, and proceeded to carry it around the forest for the next 30 minutes.
Ressu had a huge personality and loved people. On one occasion he ran to greet a friend of mine. With four foot to go he took off and two stone of solid muscle and bone hit my unfortunate friend full in the family jewels. He was unable to speak for several minutes. And what did I do? Like most men in that situation I tried not to laugh - and failed.
However, when my wife became pregnant with our daughter we both recognised that if Ressu ever accidently hit the baby with his head he would probably kill her. So we had to get rid of him.
We took him to a pedigree dog sanctuary that guaranteed that they never put any animal down.
I always think of Ressu when I see a Staffie and I hope that he had a great life after he left us.
I suppose Sheba is my memorial to the best dog I ever had.
Cheers,
Jim
A lot of people often ask me where do I get my ideas for characters and storylines from. Well in Sheba's case it was from a Staffordshire Bull Terrier I owned in the 1980s.
My wife and I had just moved into a new house when we were burgled. At that time alarms were expensive to install so I did my home work and discovered that pound for pound Staffies were the toughest dogs around.
So off I went to Wendesbury on the bus to buy a six month old pup. Ressu, as we called him, was black with a patch of white on his chest. The breeder was selling him because he had a minor fault with his lower teeth, which meant he would never make a show dog.
The breeder told me that if I could get him to 12 months without having a fight he'd be no problem with other animals. Well, you know what's coming, I got him to about 11 months and he was enjoying running around Hill Top when he went to say hello to a little Scottie. She turned on him and he ran away. That was the last time he ever ran.
Now Ressu wasn't one of these big Staffies. He only weighed about 30 pounds. But after his encounter with the Scottie he was fearless. It didn't matter how big the dog was he'd fight it. He took on one Boxer that was twice his size and would have killed it except the dog was wearing a thick studded leather collar. Obviously, we ended up keeping him on a leash at all times.
Ressu was never a threat to people. My young nephews at the time loved taking him for a walk. And their usual refrain when passing another dog was, 'I bet Ressu could take him.'
He was also the only dog I've ever known who willingly swam under water. I threw a branch into a pool one day. He went after it. But before he could reach it, the branch sank. He swam around for a bit then dived under and emerged with an eight foot branch as thick as my calf, covered in mud and slime, and proceeded to carry it around the forest for the next 30 minutes.
Ressu had a huge personality and loved people. On one occasion he ran to greet a friend of mine. With four foot to go he took off and two stone of solid muscle and bone hit my unfortunate friend full in the family jewels. He was unable to speak for several minutes. And what did I do? Like most men in that situation I tried not to laugh - and failed.
However, when my wife became pregnant with our daughter we both recognised that if Ressu ever accidently hit the baby with his head he would probably kill her. So we had to get rid of him.
We took him to a pedigree dog sanctuary that guaranteed that they never put any animal down.
I always think of Ressu when I see a Staffie and I hope that he had a great life after he left us.
I suppose Sheba is my memorial to the best dog I ever had.
Cheers,
Jim
No comments have been added yet.
