Last Dog on the Hill by Steve Duno

Author:Steve Duno
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781429950459
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

At two years old and nearly 130 pounds, Branka the bullmastiff prided himself on having an infamous reputation among the Beverly Hills landscaping community. Owned by a Hollywood film producer, Branka lived the lush life at a lavish Beverly Hills estate, with housebreaking and a few tricks being his only training to date. Willful, spoiled, and iron strong, Branka had begun systematically terrorizing the gardeners hired to groom the grounds of the estate. His grounds.

Branka’s bullmastiff genes came out in spades. Historically bred to track, take down, and hold game poachers until their masters showed up, they can quietly subdue even the strongest brigand without difficulty.

Branka had decided that the Mexican gardeners who showed up in the mornings to trim, cut, and plant on the property were in fact poachers. He’d run them down, knock them over, bite and terrify them. Branka had quickly become a near-legendary character among those who made their livings tending to the plush Beverly Hills estates.

The gardeners stopped coming. Lawsuits and local authorities forced the owner’s hand: if Branka couldn’t be controlled, he’d have to be put down.

“This one’s for you and Lou,” said Colleen, smirking, handing me the paperwork.

“I love bullmastiffs,” I said, looking over the information sheet.

“He flew in over the weekend, from Tinseltown. You’ll need a red cape, flame thrower, and a suit of armor.”

From the start, we knew that Branka would need more than the normal four weeks to be turned around and rebooted. He was strong—beastly strong. He had no manners and didn’t think twice about knocking you over and gnawing on you like a Slim Jim. And he didn’t discriminate between man and beast—most dogs got the same rough treatment.

‘Why me?” I asked Colleen.

“Because you look like the guys he’s been mauling.”

“How thoughtful of you.”

“Take your time. He’ll be here at least two months. Double-leash him with another trainer at first if you think he’s too dangerous. He needs the fundamentals but he also needs to feel leadership. You need to become his master and commander.”

Bullmastiffs fascinated me. Smart and quiet, they were the ultimate home security system. When raised by competent owners willing to set ironclad rules, they make great pets who accept those you accept and vanquish those you do not. But when put in the hands of someone better suited to a toy poodle or a kitten, they can turn into a Stephen King plotline in a heartbeat.

There was just something about the breed’s calm diligence and easy, authoritative demeanor that impressed me. Branka had that, but it was wrapped up inside layers of cheeky impertinence so thick that you could barely see the dog inside begging to come out and play.

I read to him for a week before feeling safe enough to go into the kennel. I’d chosen Beowulf; it seemed right at the time. He’d slammed himself into the gate a few times and roared like Grendel but soon calmed it down to a rumble and an occasional head butt.

Like Kong, he’d been taken from his island paradise and put into captivity.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.