Debbie’s & My Little Boy Santino Corleone Berkwitt A True World Champion
By “Bad” Brad Berkwitt
In September of 2016 Debbie and I rescued our beloved little boy, Santino Corleone Berkwitt when we lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was in a puppy mill and treated very badly. That ended the day he walked into our home starting with a trip to our dog groomer who had to cut him short because they let his beautiful coat get matted!
From that day until this day, Santino is the most loving, loyal and kind little boy both Debbie and I could have ever asked for. When his beloved sister, another rescue Bella Dawn Berkwitt sadly had to be put down in November 2023 due to cancer, Santino didn’t miss a beat to be beyond loving towards Debbie and I filling a hole in our hearts with the loss of our little girl.
Sadly, in February of 2025, Santino was diagnosed with cancer too. This time around, we decided to go to the holistic approach to dealing with his cancer. In November of last year, we had tests run on him and we were devastated to learn that his liver had shut down. Along with having Anemia. We were told Santino had days to a week left to live.
Debbie and I both walked around in a grief fog! There wasn’t a day that one of us didn’t cry due to the love we have for Santino during that first week not knowing if it was our last day with Santino here on earth. Well, today is April 18th my 58th birthday and Santino Corleone Berkwitt, the world champion, is still here with us fighting every day! “Toopie” as we affectionally call him is the greatest birthday gift I could ever asked for, and Debbie felt the same way this past February 21st on her 56th birthday. He has more good days than bad…
There is not a day that he is ever alone, and our little loved rascal goes around the house always looking for his daddy. Make no mistake, I am his dad as Debbie is his mom. There are no words and my Debbie is the “Queen of the Word Game” she plays that we can write to express the love we have for Santino.
Every night at 12:00 PM which I am usually up, I look above and thank God for another blessed day with our little boy.
I will close with this…
If humans were as loving as our beloved dogs, in my Louie Armstrong voice, “What A Wonderful World” it could be.
Please be kind to your dogs because they love us unconditionally…