Bendegeit's Wayward Son
August 26, 2017 - June 14, 2023
Loki was my 2nd pick male out of our litter with Rouge & Jules, and was ½ way to his Canadian Championship after only 2 weekends. He spent the majority of his life in what was presented to us as a loving home with 2 young girls and their mother. Unfortunately, at some point before I was called, the eldest daughter developed “severe allergies” to him, which led to Loki spending probably ½ of his life living in a crate in the basement, being rarely allowed upstairs to visit his kids, and spending minimal time with his owner.
When his mom called to say they needed to rehome him, my friend Lisa (Fortress Mastiffs) and I took a 10 hour round trip to go and assess him. What we found was a 5 year old boy who just wanted to be loved and doted on. At 230ish pounds, that's a lot of love! His skin and coat were greasy, his nails were way too long, and his mom said the only food he would eat was the bargain basement food from Walmart. I offered to take him right then, but the family hesitated, asking for a bit more time. A couple of weeks later, they contacted me to say he had to “go now”. I was in the hospital at that time dealing with some serious medical complications, so once again Lisa stepped up, driving not only ½ way to his home, but then keeping him for a week, before finally driving ½ way to Northern BC to meet up with my friend Carrie (ThunderBaron Mastiffs), who had offered to take him.
Our initial hope with Loki was that with some time, better food, conditioning, etc. we would be able to get him in the ring competing again, but it became apparent that his issues went a little more than skin deep. We discovered that he had a blown cruciate in one knee, likely arthritis in his other, and multiple, systemic allergies that Carrie spent months trying to combat. He developed massive irritations on his feet causing them to swell and weep, and then anemia out of the blue.
Unfortunately, in June 2023, Loki developed serious, acute symptoms that led to him being rushed to the vet. After many hours, tests, phone calls, text messages, and conversations with the vet; it was determined that this was something Loki wouldn't recover from, despite any medical intervention we did. The vet was strongly leaning towards a leaking hemangiosarcoma based on all the investigations he'd done, and so, Loki was sent peacefully across the bridge in the arms of his family that had showered him with love & attention for the last 16 months.
Despite everything that went on/happened to Loki in his 6.5 years of life, he always had a tail wag and a head bunt for anyone in his vicinity. He was the quintessential Mastiff… quietly humorous, peacefully protective, and loved his dad Jeff sooooo much.
We will miss seeing his big mug and getting our Loki snuggles when we go to visit Carrie & Jeff, but I know that he lived his best life under their care. God Speed Across The Rainbow Bridge Sweet Loki. May you enjoy your days in the warm sun, until we all meet again.
