One of the sweetest and most inspiring pet stories is that of butkus. It is none other than the first dog acquired by Sylvester Stallone, a huge bull Mastiff that acquired around 25.

Sly was of course unknown, lived in New York and decided to name Butkus’s puppy by footballer Dick Butkus.

“When I was 26, completely unprotected, I had two trousers, shoes that had holes and the success seemed as far as the sun … but I had my dog, butkus, my best friend, my trustee, who was always laughing at my jokes,

We were both weak, hungry and we lived in an inn over a subway stop. There was not much to do except spending time with him and there I began to learn the art of scriptwriting. “ He has said.

With Butkus on his side, Stallone started writing the script for the Rocky movie.

The actor moved to Hollywood to chase his career as a screenwriter and as an actor. But the exits were running and had no money for dogfighting.

So in a despair move he decided to sell Butkus at an initial price of $ 100. Eventually someone bought him for only 50 and accidentally shortly after he managed to sell his script for Rocky.

“Yes, I sold Butkus to a petty man. I tied him out of a mall with a sign that was saying $ 100. I got 50 from a guy called Little Jimmy » He said in an interview in 2013.

It was 6 months when Stallone found the new dog owner and asked to buy him back.

“The new owner knew I was desperate and charged me $ 15,000 … It was worth every dime!” He has said.

Butkus not only returned to his boss but also played in Rocky and Rocky II.

Indeed, in the famous Rocky scene that the hero goes up by running the steps of the Philadelphia Museum, Stallone had initially thought to climb them holding Butkus as the dog was so heavy that it was impossible to turn the scene.

Butkus died in 1981 from a heart, a problem often faced by this breed. In a post in 2022, Sly uploaded, among other things, a photo from his computer desktop where he still seems to have his favorite dog upholstery.

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