The Hill Top Motel has a long history of having canine host(s). Although there probably were earlier dogs, our personal expience dates back to when we purchased the property from Bob & Eileen Budd in 1981. At that time "Jethro" and "Princess" were here to greet and amuse the customers and staff. Jethro arrived about 1977(?) and was joined shortly thereafter by Princess--also a stray. Jethro's most endearing quality was that he would start to bark and howl when he was excited. The harder one tried to silence him, the louder he became. Princess was Eileen's constant companion and was never more than a few feet away at all times. They apparently enjoyed life at the Hill Top because they would come back to visit from time to time--once in particular after Jethro had been sprayed by a skunk.
In the late 70's and early 80's, Hollywood produced a number of films featuring dobermans, so that breed gained a very recognizable reputation as a breed to be respected. We had been doing some research into getting one for the motel. On November 22, 1981 opportunity knocked. A prospective guest stopped at the motel to inquire about renting a room for her and her five dobermans. Being new to the motel business, we had to think this one out for a few minutes. Since this would provide some first-hand insights into the breed, we agreed to rent her the end room at the far end of the motel--thinking that would minimize interaction with other motel guests. Nevermind that the dogs would behave perfectly. We asked her if any of her dogs were available for sale. She stated that since her vehicle had suffered a major mechanical failure and that she had to purchase a truck to tow her dogs and gear, she would consider selling her 11 month-old puppy. She agreed to let us keep the dog overnight. The next morning was the start of a 10 1/2 year relationship.
Trapper John
"Trapper" was our first dog. He was a 3/8 greatgrandson of Ch. Highland's Satans Image, who was one of the top dobermans of that era. He was a very impressive dog and was a hit with motel guests. Dobermans strive to please and readily adapt to a family situation; and with proper socialization, they get along very well with strangers. We trained him to stay in the lobby when the front door was open. He enjoyed sunning, so he soon got us to approve of him sunning on the indoor/outdoor carpeting just outside the front door. Later, he got permission to be outside if one foot was on the carpet.
Late one evening a family of 4 rented a room at the far end of the motel. The father and his young daughter (about 4 years old) came in the lobby. Mom and little brother were asleep in the car. The next morning the daughter came down to the lobby with the idea that she was going to bring the "nice doggy" up to meet her brother. Trapper would not leave the carpeted area and the next thing we heard was the mother's scream when she saw her daughter attempting to pull Trapper off the carpet.
SLY
SLY was a grandson of Trapper John. His owners moved from Kingman in July of 1998. He was quite a bit different than his grandfather. If he thought that an emergency vehicle anywhere in Mohave County was sounding it's siren, he would howl. Toilets were his preferred water dish, even though there was always clean water in his dish. This was quite a contrast from Trapper, who would only drink if the water was fresh.
BOB
For 12 years Bob -- a large brown doberman -- was the official Hill Top Motel canine, providing a variety of services for hotel guests and their canine companions. On May 20, 2006, Bob lost a battle with cancer. He had completed an excellent
job of training his succesor, Rommel. The picture (below and to the right) features Dennis Schroeder, the Hill Top Motel owner, with Bob on the left and Rommel on the right.
Rommel
Rommel is now eleven years old and came to the Hill Top Motel from Las Vegas.
CLEO
Cleo is short for Cleopatra. We had been looking for another dog since losing Bob. This was a hard act to follow. I had made a few visits to the local animal shelter from time to time, hoping to find a suitable pet. We also checked with a privately-run rescue shelter and Holly found a dog that was to her liking. They required that any current pets had to meet the prospective adoptee. This was no problem, as Rommel was very good at socializing with dogs at the motel. They told us that several others were interested in this particular dog, and it quickly became obvious that this dog was going to be placed with another family.
On a trip to the shelter to see what was available, we saw 3 puppies in the puppy room. One was a "Furby-type" that was constantly making noises. There was a brown and white male pup, and a blonde female. The first impression that I got on the 3rd puppy was that it was very alert. It would follow every move that you made with your hand. We returned to the shelter office to find out the story on each of these puppies. After some initial confusion, it was derermined that this third puppy was to be euthanized later that afternoon. Since it was mid-afternoon, this puppy literally had just minutes to live. That revelation made up our minds for us. As we were filling out the adoption paperwork, we were calling out every conceivable dog name, hoping to get some response from our new puppy. Holly is a student of ancient Egyptian history, so she called out a few Egyptian names. We got a response on "Cleopatra" and a short-while later we again got a response to that name.
Initially Cleo could not eat a lot of dry dog food. She was given puppy formula by bottle and later in her food dish. After starting the bottle, she started to grow. Her ears were floppy (one forward and the other slightly to the rear), over the course of a week or so one stood up and then the other stood up as well. They slightly angled off to one side, so she had sort of a "Village People YMCA" thing going.
