Boris is our male Am Staff / American Bulldog mix. He was born on 5/1/95 and we have had him since he was just 8 weeks old. His personality is that of alert watchdog and couch guard! When on the alert he appears ready to take on anything, but when he's on the couch or the bed...that's when he is really dangerous. There's no escaping him as he uses all available space for his comfort! With other dogs he is very social and easy going, and though he will respond to threats, he is not the initiator of trouble.

In October, 2000 Boris was diagnosed as having Addison’s Disease, and we almost lost him. Thanks to the great diagnostic work of Dr. Barbara Lee and Dr. Carolyn Araiza, we were able to turn things around with medication and a natural, raw food diet. Addison’s is a disease that affects the adrenal glands and causes them to stop producing cortisone. Symptoms include weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, shaking/shivering, and depression. The symptoms come and go, and diagnosing this disease often takes time, as many vets aren’t familiar with it. One of the key indicators is a blood test indicating elevated levels of potassium and reduced sodium. Treatment includes monthly shots of DOCP and weekly doses of Prednisone. For more information please go to http://www.addisondogs.com/

It is with a heavy heart and a mind full of sorrow that I write to let you know of the loss of our dear sweet pup Boris. He left our world to continue his journey on April 17th and we miss him so much. He was our loyal companion and taught us many lessons during his time with our family.

He joined our lives 11 years ago as a small puppy. He taught us that we needed a little boy in our lives even though we were looking for a little girl. He was very persistent and picked Nick out, which was the start of a lifelong love affair with our “twins” Boris and Tasha.

Boris taught us to always enjoy life, take a walk every day, savor each meal to the fullest, greet your loved ones with much joy and appreciation each time they return home and finally seek out the most comfortable place to take a nap especially if it is the lap of someone you love.

We have prepared a very special pictorial tribute to Boris that I would like to share with you, it is a large file and on some computers will begin playing almost immediately, while on others it will have to download first and may take quite awhile. You should have the latest version of Apple QuickTime to play it. Please be patient. Click here to open it.

We are thankful that he was a part of our lives.