August 5th 2006 was the passing of an all time breed great!!!! ATMA/ARBA/UCI&IABCA INT'L/RARITIES AMERICAN/CANADIAN/INT'L GRAND CHAMPION SHANG-HAI'S JACK THE BEAR CGC. He left us for greener pastures around noon August 5th 2006.       About 8 weeks prior to his death, Jack became violently ill and was rushed to the vet hospital. Nothing was presenting itself as to why he was ill or for that matter what was wrong. A battery of tests were run as well as x-ray's and ultra-sounds of all parts of his body. Also blood work and a urinalysis was taken. All interior organs were apparently normal with the exception of one kidney which appeared to be a bit atrophied and an enlarged prostate. On the x-rays and ultra-sound it was also noted that there was a severe infection of pneumonia involving both lungs. Temp was elevated and WBC was extremely elevated showing certain determination of a major infection in his body. His UA was normal. There was no major concern of the atrophied kidney in a dog of Jack's age but the prostate was of course cause for concern. Jack was treated for at least a week with IV fluids and Antibiotics. He would come home every night and sleep and then he would go back to the hospital every morning for monitoring and his treatments. He turned the corner and was back to "BAD ASS JACK".        It was decided that one of two factors caused the infection that Jack suffered, and these factors needed further attention.        1) It started in the prostate and spread rapidly throughout the body as this is not unlikely in a dog of Jack's age that is still intact.        2) He aspirated something off of the ground into his lungs....with Jack having very large flews and tons of lip and jowl he was very much an open mouth grazer. He snored when asleep and snorted when awake.       Fortunately the first one had a cure to insure that this did not happen again but of course the second did not. After a lot of thought and consideration we decided to have Jack neutered but felt it best to wait a month or so to allow him to gain his weight and health back. We did blood work on Tuesday with all coming back completely normal. He was scheduled for surgery on Friday. I was allowed to assist in the OR so I was with Jack throughout the procedure. He came through with flying colors. He was not off the surgery table until around 1:30 pm.He was up and eating by 7:30 pm on Friday. He had his evening biscuit and pig ear and even got to exchange growls with Taz. All was well. The next morning everything was very normal. Jack went out with Kasha and played in the yard for 2 minutes, laid down until I was done with the rest of the dogs. When I was finished I called him to the house from the left kennel yard and he came as usual, making sure to stop and urinate on Abe's pen on his way in. He ate breakfast and was off for his mid-morning siesta. Phil came in from working outside to fix his lunch and of course the King of Pack Jack sat and begged with streamers from both sides of his mouth. Phil asked him to go lay down and when he was done eating he would get his share...Jack always got his share. Within approx 30 seconds, Jack let out a whimper and fell over on his side. His eyes were gone immediately with no sign of life and his heart had already stopped before Phil could jump out of his chair to get to him. He attempted CPR to no avail. At least, Phil said it was fast and seemingly painless.      We requested a determination of death by our veterinarian due to the sudden onset of this awful thing that killed my dearest Jack as well as to make sure that it could not be something that could have been passed on to his many kids, and grand kids etc. The cause of death has been determined to be an aneurysm or clot, if you will thrown from the central nervous system. It is possible that the aneurysm was somehow sped up by the sudden changes in blood pressure from the anesthesia but it is certain that it was not the "cause." Jack, as many of you know, is the sire or grand sire or great grandsire of most of the dogs at Shang-Hai and in my opinion expressed the epitome of breed type for the Shang-Hai Look. His glorious coat and wonderful head piece passed through in so many of his offspring and created the look that many of you know as "typical Shang-Hai" today.       Shang-Hai's Jack the Bear. Jack was perhaps the top producing American Bred TM of all time. He has produced the likes of Multi Champions, Shang-Hai's Queen of Eden, Shang-Hai's Princess Anastasia, Wangdi's Fuso Spittin Image O'Jack to name just a few as well as many that have gone abroad. He was 27.5 inches at the shoulder and weighed approx 140 lbs. Jack was OFA Good hips and still at 9 years of age tested thyroid normal. He was a National Specialty BOB winner and multi Best in Show winner at many all breed dog shows. Our pet name for Jack was the Doo man as he acted like a real Dufus. He was great with all the dogs here and was the love of my life. Sometimes my husband was not real keen on sharing the bed with him but he knew better then to kick him out. Through many years of judicious breeding, Jack's legacy will carry on here in the US and abroad. He will be greatly missed but will live on in his progeny for a very long time. Click any thumbnail to view larger photo. Home | | Our Dogs | | Puppies | | Planned Breeding | | Contact Shang-Hai Tibetan Mastiffs and everything contained within these pages, all text, images and photos are the sole property of and owned by Sabrina Novarra Copyright 2006 all rights reserved, unless otherwise stated. All other trademarks/copyrights belong to their respective owners. Web site created and maintained by Crystal Abbitt.