BARKING and cage rattling warn trespassers to walk at their own risk when entering Marlon-Brando Powell’s yard. The proud owner of a Shih-tzu, a Rottweiler and a Pitbull says that he is more fond of his Rottweiler. “I prefer the Rottweiler because to me, it is the perfect family dog and guard dog as well,” he says.

Powell says his five year-old female Rottweiler, Bishop, is his pride and joy. “I have had her from she was a puppy. She was bred and her pups sold for $20,000.”

The name, he explains, though male, was given to her because of her personality. “All my dogs are female but I choose to give them male names because they are aggressive and they tend to behave like male dogs,” he says.

Bishop behaves like a male dog. Whenever mating season comes around, she attacks the male dogs and overpowers them. Max, the Shih-tzu, Butch the Pitbull and Bishop all share the yard with Powell and his family.

“I have had up to five dogs – Rottweilers and Pitbulls – but because I have been bitten by a Pitbull before, I tend to stay away from them, so I keep only one. The Pitbull that I own cannot be let loose. Pits will kill their owners and children if they turn against you, so I keep Butch locked up,” he says, pointing to a hole in the kennel where she continuously bites in a desperate effort to free herself.

“Bishop is a protective, yet gentle dog. She is trained to shake hands, sit and attack. The one thing I have noticed about Bishop is that as a female she tends to stick to me, the male member of the family. She will protect me, and as soon as she is aware that I am arguing with someone, she will want to attack that person. She gets jealous because she loves attention and if she is not shown enough attention, she will attack you.”

Powell explains that his dog is very smart. “She doesn’t eat from anyone. And by this I mean regular food, apart from her usual Pedigree dog food. The only way she may accept food from anyone is if the person pretends to eat it first. Then and only then will she make an attempt to eat the food. I have proven it more than once. I have bought tin mackerel and corned beef at different times and once I asked a friend to throw it over the fence from next door. She refused to eat it and I had to pretend to eat it before she ate any. She is very smart,

so no one can poison her that easily.”

Powell says that he takes his pets to the vet at least three

times per year to help prevent heartworm and various airborne diseases. They get dental bones to clean their teeth. He further explains that his preference for his Rottweiler has to do with the fact that she does not easily get sick and, “I see where the feeding goes whenever I feed her.”

He explains that while he feeds his pets dog food, the good ole turn cornmeal with liver and chicken leftovers prove just as sufficient.

“Bishop is a good dog, and I won’t trade her for no other,” Powell says.

Send us your pets

Do you have a cute dog that you absolutely love? Or are you into fur balls – cute cats that purr? Turtles, guinea pigs, snakes perhaps? Are iguanas your ‘cup of tea’? Or do you own something fascinatingly exotic? Does your pet – no matter how big or small, no matter the species – represent an extension of you, a big part of your life that you must share with others? Send us photos of your pets (and yourself, if you wish) and tell us why you love them and why

you chose them, and we’ll reserve a space in Pets just for your loving companion. Send pictures by

e-mail to clarkep@jamaicaobserver.com.