Prince’s Death, No Surprise To Vet

A Look Back At Prince and His Career

Prince the famous pit bull, was just a little over the age of eight (57 in dog years) when he died suddenly last week, shocking the entertainment world. His longtime veterinarian, Dr. Hugo Z. Clydell in a news conference said today that he was “not surprised by Prince’s death” and revealed the likely cause of his demise.

“Although Prince seemed to be in good health,” Dr. Clydell stated, “he had been secretly battling the mange for quite a while. Prince was also suffering from distemper, so it was just a matter of time before he died of natural causes or had to be put down.”

The intensively private pooch also had some bad habits which few on the outside knew about. Dr Clydell told reporters that for the past few years Prince had been drinking out of the toilet bowl.

“It was something he was ashamed of, but couldn’t stop,” said Dr. Clydell. Frequently after drinking from the toilet, Prince would chew on a shoe and then pee on the rug.

“Prince tried all sorts of therapy to stop this behavior,” Dr Clydell added, “but it never worked. It was only after the fact that he realized that he may have been doing something wrong. He was then made clear of his transgressions when he was hit on the snout with a rolled up newspaper and yelled at by humans, ‘Bad dog! Bad dog!'”‘

Some of Prince’s playmates were also aware of his maladies, weaknesses and recent changes in behavior.

Snoopy, a beagle owned by C.M. Schulz of St. Paul, MN knew that Prince was not himself when they met last week at Perkins Hill Park. When Snoopy greeted Prince in his usual fashion, Prince did not reciprocate and sniff longtime pal Snoopy’s testicles. “Something is wrong,” thought Snoopy who retreated to lay on the top of his doghouse.

Below: video of Prince playing and singing at home.

A Career In Retrospect
Prince gained prominence as a precocious puppy by finishing second in the Westbrook, MN dog show in 2008. After the show, Prince was signed to a long term contract by Weaning Bros. Records, a deal Prince later regretted and growled about as his fame grew. Prince put out numerous albums and appeared in dozens of television commercials, music videos and a feature film over a seven year span.

Prince’s first television commercial for Alps dog food, was a smashing success, spurring the catchy Alps theme song Let’s Go Gravy on to the Billboard semi-hot 100 music chart. Let’s Go Gravy remained on the charts for 41 weeks peaking at number four and made Prince a household name at least in his home state of Minnesota.

From there Prince went on to star as the dog who chased (always without success) a car with shiny hubcaps in a series of Chevrolet ads for the failed re-launch of the Corvair. The song to these commercials written and barked by Prince was also a top ten hit with its catchy lyrics:

“Hubcaps so shiny, / Car that can explode / Make you all miney / Chase you down the road / Little red corvair, / slow down, / you’re….wooof, much…. wooof…. too…. woooofff, ……fast.”

Prince started his own production company Diminutive Dog Inc. to control his own destiny and not feel owned. Prince was ubiquitous in this era, appearing on MTV every half hour with videos and going on worldwide tours so people could see and pet him in person.

Favorite dog to critics and masses. More discriminating felt he was overrated
Prince was beloved by music critics who seemed bewitched by his loud barking and wild costumes. His early music albums were unique and garnered large sales. Prince had number one hits with, When Dogs Howl (2010) I Ate Your Raspberry Sorbet (2011) and Lick (2012).

Prince’s demeanor offstage could be somewhat surly. Prince often had to be fitted with a muzzle, but that seemed to further spark the public’s imagination that Prince really was just like his dangerous “bad dog” image he liked to portray.

But there were more than a handful of doubters who were puzzled by Prince’s musical ability and openly questioned if Prince was literally just a one-trick-dog.

Despite all of his pop hits, many felt Prince was not in the same musical league with such acts as, Three Dog Night, Temple of the Dog, Bonzo Dog Band, Snoop Doggy Dog, Bow Wow Wow, Cat Stevens or even Scooby Doo.

There were quite a few dogs that resented Prince, saying he was a marginal talent at best.

Brian the Dog from the TV series Family Guy said, “I’m sorry he’s dead, I know what that is like. But I speak for many other dogs in our industry when I say he was a narcissistic, megalomaniac. The real giants of our industry; Marmaduke, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Pluto, Underdog and others, they tolerated Prince, but didn’t really like him. He was always standoffish with the other dogs. Like his poop didn’t stink. Let me tell you from first hand experience – it did.”

His one film
Prince’s first and only feature film Yellow Rain was the second highest grossing movie of 2010, bringing in over $700 million worldwide at the box office. Prince became the first dog to write and direct a feature film, while starring in it.

Yellow Rain told the semi-autobiographical story of a lonely mutt played by Prince, who finds he has a talent for retrieving. He falls in love with a collie, Polonia, played by Lassie, from the wrong side of the tracks. He gives up his retrieving and when Prince’s father Fang, played by Rin Tin Tin, finds out about the illicit relationship, he sends Prince to the doghouse without his supper.

Prince runs away and starts engaging in bad behavior that is eerily similar to his father, like sticking his head out of the window of a moving car. In one dramatic scene after being captured by the ASPCA, Prince bites the hand that feeds him and is then compelled to wear a choke leash.

Incarcerated, Prince forms his own gang, escapes from the ASPCA and the dog pack goes throughout the city marking their territory by urinating on every fire hydrant they find, hence the film title, Yellow Rain.

The dogs then go out howling for hours on end, even when there is no full moon. Polonia pleads with Prince to give up his gangster lifestyle. Prince confronts the errs of his way, picks up retrieving again and settles down to a life of domesticity with Polonia.

Surprisingly the howling sequences yielded two hit songs Snarling Nikki and Leash for $19.99.

After 2012 Prince continued to tour and put out albums, but never had a major hit song again. But his fans remained true to Prince even if his glory days were in the past. They followed him on his daily walks and would frequently scoop up anything he left behind as a souvenir.

Prince is to be buried at an undisclosed location later this week with his favorite rubber toy, his purple collar and a bone.