Pam and I arrived in Melbourne in 1987 when I was posted in the RAAF to attend training at RMIT for 2 ½ years.  I came from a sugar cane/cattle farm where there were always cattle dogs and Pam and her parents grew up with a number of dogs with the favourite being a German Shepherd/Collie cross in a housing commission area after migrating from Holland.  We never had dogs ourselves (had a short stint with two Siamese cats named Benny and Jemma) until we came to Melbourne.  My cousin who was also in the Air Force and lived in Laverton suggested very strongly that, as we too were about to take up position in the sunny metropolis of Laverton that we should have a dog to protect our property and us.  Pam had seen a Rottweiler somewhere and she had to have one! 

Pam had transferred from the Tax Office in Brisbane to the Tax Office in Melbourne and happened to be working with Yvonne Hill at the time.  Yvonne told Pam that if she wanted a Rotty not to look in the papers but to buy through the Rottweiler Club of Victoria Inc.  She went on to say that she knew of a litter at the moment nearby in Deer Park at Les and Barbara Setterfield’s Rotset Kennels.  We rang and made an appointment and went over to see the pups.  I was very frightened!  There was one boy left with a blue ribbon.  He growled when we picked him up, but Barbara explained everything to us and we decided to take him.  Pam named him Kane.  Kane spent the first night outside under the carport in the back yard in a cardboard packing box with blankets in it.  He was never to come inside!  However, from night two onwards he lived every day and night with us in the house (funny that!). 

From a very young age we started him at Altona All Breeds Obedience where Alan Hill and his Rottweiler, Max were attending.  In fact, there was only one other Rottweiler and Max there when we started.  Max was in the top class (Class 7) and was well regarded, but still Rotty’s in general were not really accepted in the club.  Pam took Kane in the classes every Sunday morning as I sat and watched from the side.  He did very well in the early part up until he was around 8 months of age where he became quite aggressive towards one particular Doberman.  The guy with the Dobe used to frequently turn up late and Kane would know when the car had entered the car park and watched that Dobe all the way to class.  Pam got very frustrated and the instructor at one stage took Kane and hung him to try and fix the problem.  The instructor advised us that I should give it a go seeing he was in class one for about 6 months and did not look like leaving.  I took him and he passed class one the next week, two the week after and three the week after that.  Pam was furious!  I continued with his obedience and by the time he gained his Novice Title in August 1990 (with three passes in 9 days) many more Rottweilers attended Altona Obedience and in fact Rottweilers won every class at their annual Club competition.  Les Setterfield made me the umps for Open work and we had done all of the exercises to perfection, but I was so nervous when trialling I never went on to actually trial him in Open.  This is one of my regrets.  Another is that I never got him on video trialling because he loved it so much, his work was fast and happy and I wished I could see him working again.

We showed him with small amounts of success as a puppy always handled by Pam.  One day when he was around about a year old Pam felt faint at a show and I had to show him.  I did not win but it wasn’t as traumatic as I thought.  That was the beginning of my handling, but as I did not do a good enough job Pam took back the reins until Kane started to fire up and Barbara took over.  Barb did a great job with their best win being winning Best Exhibit in Show at the 1989 Rottweiler Club of Victoria Inc. Open Parade.  Eventually even she could not handle him because he became a bit of a ‘bugga’ (as Barb would put it).

This is when his obedience became more intense and I decided to trial and show him myself.  It was 1990 and he had about 40 challenge points at this stage competing in huge classes of around 10-12 intermediate dogs each week and Rottweiler total entries of 80 or more at point scores.  He was titled in December 1990 and by mid 1991 Kane had over 500 points achieving a runner-up to Best in Show at an all breeds championship show along the way.  He faired quite well at specialties, never winning, but he always seemed to be in the placings.

Terry McHaffie MBE  judged the 1990 Champ Show where Kane finished 5th.  Terry conducted a character assessment for the Club so we entered Kane.  We usually put Kane in everything we could.  We did not know what any of the exercises were going to be and where some others had practiced, Kane and I went in raw.  Terry graded Kane’s character as Excellent and he got ‘Dog of the Day’.  In fact afterwards at the presentations Terry stated that Kane was the type of dog he would like to take back home to the UK.  We were very proud of him.

Kane sired only three litters.  Another regret was that we did not collect semen from him.  I consider that the character, ironing board topline and balance that he had could offer so much now.

  In 1995, soon after he had won the first All Breeds Veterans class he had competed in, we noticed he had a limp in the front.  He was the kind of dog that only went to the vet once a year for vaccinations and nothing more.  We persevered for a while until we noticed a hard lump forming above his front left pastern.  We had him x-rayed and the vet informed us that he had bone cancer.  The vet advised us that by now the cancer would have spread and even if we decided to remove his leg he would most likely die of a secondary cancer.  In any case we were not going to remove the leg from such a proud dog.  Coming to grips with watching your pride and joy wasting away before your eyes is not easy.  Those of us that have been through it will understand that you sort of know when it is time to do the best thing for your best friend.  The vet said when he goes off his food and becomes more and more lethargic it is time.  He was on painkillers on increasing doses but still the way he flew around the yard on his three good legs almost to the day was amazing.  Eventually he would cry out in pain whenever he even slightly bumped his leg.  The day came and I rang the vet and said we were bringing him down.  We are glad we stayed with him and held him in our arms on the Vet’s floor when he was put to sleep.  

But when I think back at what I remember about Kane it is not the shows, trials and character tests, it is that great dog that went everywhere with us and did everything with us that I remember.  His begging, his standing up all the way in the car for 17 hours all the way to the 91 Nationals in Queensland, his happy face, his unconditional love.  We still miss him very much.

 We will never forget our ‘Boy’ and there will never be another one like him. 

 Dan & Pam Johnson