Apollo grew up like any other dog. He was well taken care of and he took care of us. He was the much feared rottweiler. The Rolls Royce of guard dogs. Yea, right! He was as gentle and loving dog I ever had. He was a 135 pound dog who loved to sit in your lap. His dearly departed mate, Sable, was just as good. They were never trained to be attack or guard dogs. They learned to be members of the family. They were another one of my children. He was family.

He and Sable could sense when something was wrong. When my wife and I separated, they knew I was deeply depressed. At night when I went to bed, Sable would get up on the bed and lay on one side of me and Apollo would get on the other. One particular night, I was depressed more than usual. They got on the bed and literally had me trapped under the covers and I couldn't get up. There was close to 300 pounds of dogs holding me under the covers. Made me mad in the beginning, but then just had to laugh. They were being there when I needed someone. Later I met a woman named Melanie. When she came to my house for the first time, she just about freaked when she saw Apollo in the house. She had always been scared of rottweilers. She always gave him the space she felt he needed. She never made attempts to touch Apollo if I wasn't there. He also gave Melanie her space as well. Apollo knew something was different about the family now, and he felt he had to make us whole again. He started getting friendly with her, showing her that he wouldn't hurt her. One night when I was at work, he jumped up in the bed with her and lay down, as if to say, Can we be friends now! They began to feel more comfortable with each other. They had accepted each other. When Melanie moved in with me, she brought her male chocolate lab, Hershey, with her. Apollo even befriended Hershey. They later became buddies. After a while we were one big family again.

Now, after nearly ten years, Apollo is gone. He was buried in our backyard cemetary beside his mate Sable, and their daughter Chyna. His family is together once again.

He will be sorely missed