Once again, an American Bulldog has proven how heroic the breed can be, and this time it was my grandpuppy, Ch. Majec’s Torsade of Topline doing the proving!!
Torsade has always been very protective of her family.   From the time she was a little pup, Torsade has shown her mom and dad, Mary and David (Mac) MacNeal that she means business when it comes to their safety and well-being.  For example, Mary and Mac raise horses on their North Carolina farm and Torsade accompanies Mary daily to care for these horses.  Torsade takes great care to put herself between Mary and these huge creatures should they come too close for Torsade’s liking.   Torsade protects Mary and Mac from anything that she feels could cause them harm….including themselves!!  One time Mary was slapping her own knee to get Mac’s attention and Torsade ran over and forcefully pushed her head down on Mary’s hand, effectively pinning it to her knee to stop the slapping.  Last week, Torsade’s protective instincts went a step further when  she actually saved her family’s lives!
On Wednesday, February 7, the weather was beautiful.  The sun was out and the temperature was warm.  That evening, however, the temperature dropped and Mary felt quite chilly in the house.  Mac decided to warm the air with their gas fireplace.  Turning it off before bed, Mary and Mac turned in for the night.  Mac left for work as usual the next day, but Mary felt quite ill and decided to stay home.  As the weather warmed up, she opened all the windows in the house and kenneled Torsade and her companion American Bulldogs Buster and Mattie Jean.  Mary spent the day in bed and woke when Mac returned home from work.  As the temperature was dropping again, Mac closed all the windows in the house and went outside to care for the horses and dogs.  After an hour or two, he returned to the house with Torsade, Buster and Mattie.  The family ate dinner in the kitchen and then retired to the living room for computer work and television.  It was at this point that Torsade ran to the fire place snarling, growling and barking.  Assuming that a mouse had gotten into the chimney, Mary called off Torsade.  Torsade, a normally very obedient bulldog refused to budge.  In fact, her barking increased as she backed up and charged the fireplace over and over.  When Mary went to investigate, she discovered, to her horror, that the gas was leaking and that the fireplace had not been completely turned off the night before!!  Mary and Mac immediately rushed about opening up all the windows and doors, airing out the house.  If it had not been for Torsade, Mac would have lit that fireplace later in the evening and that whole house could have gone up in flames!
 It is frightening to think how close Mary and Mac came to tragedy and how close the American Bulldog community came to losing such loved members!  You bet that Torsade has gotten the royal treatment in her home the past week!  Mary and Mac are very grateful to their “girly-girl”, but not surprised at her actions!  They don’t expect any less from their Toro/Sha-Nuk daughter and know they can always count on Torsade to come to the rescue!  I promise you this:  That grandpuppy of mine will surely get a big hug from me next time I see her!

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