My wife and I lost our son, best friend yesterday. He was a German Shepard Rhodesian Ridgeback Mix. We got him at 6 weeks old in September of 94.He was just the cutest thing when he was a puppy.A golden color with black on the edges of his ears and the tip of his tail. He had so much energy that he wouldn't stop some times. He would take off chasing a jack rabbit barking and yipping the whole time. The rabbit would make a hard right or left and Bobbie would keep going straight until he realized the rabbit was gone. He'd come back with a look of "Damn it he got away." Mama would always make up some kind of song with a rhyme to it and somthing about his thighs. Pretty comical. She gave him a dog bone in the house one time and he picked it up and turned real quick and thumped his eye on the corner of the end table and yarped. never dropped the bone. He ate it and went to bed for about 5 minutes. Heard something and came out to the living room. His eye was completely swollen shut. We both laughed our asses off.

He used to sleep on my bed with me every night until he got to big and I couldn't get any sleep. I went down and bought him a dog bed and the first night he and I had a serious discussion on who was sleeping where. Ther for a minute I thought I was going to end up on the dog bed. He finally got used to it but would always sleep on my bed when I wasn't in it. He did this up until a week before he passed.

He would wrap his paw around my feet when I would walk down the hall and bite at my ankles. But not very hard. If I was bare footed he would do the same thing but never leave a mark. He was very aggressive but also very gentle at the same time.By the growling he was doing you'd thought he was going to tear me limb for limb.
He never once hurt me.

I'd be mowing the lawn in the back and he'd sneak up and grab the wheel og the mower and drag it off across the lawm. Was funnier than hell but I had to break him of that for obvious reasons.

He had a big cotton tug rope when he was younger. We've all had that experience. If you can imagine it it probably happened with that rope.

Couldn't say Bye Bye around him or he would go ballistic. Pick up his leash, Ballistic. He would go every where with me.

We noticed about a year or so ago that he was slowing down and couldn't get in the back of the truck very easy so I curtailed the rides except for once in a while.

About 8 months ago he srarted getting a little aggressive and gradually got worse to the point he would scare the hell out of my wife. He would walk up to a wall and stair at it and whine and whimper. Called the vet last week and explained. Vet said it sounded like a brain tumor and the best thing was to have him put down. We made arrangement to have it done yesterday October 19. The lady vet came to the house to do it and said there was more wrong with him than a tumor. He passed peacefully yesterday. I put him in his casket I made for him with his bed and blankets, his favorite ball and a dog bisquit. I buried him today down at my Moms house in Yerington. There is now a big hole in our hearts and house. My wife and I have shed a lot of tears in the last day with many more to come. The last couple of days of his life I was the only person he recognized. We got alot of good pictures of him in the last few days of his life. He got lots of rubbies and kisses. We miss him terribly but he is in a better place and not in pain anymore.. Godspeed BOBBIE. We love you and miss you.

MAMA and DADDY

When You Bring a Dog into Your Life


When you bring a dog into your life, you begin a journey. A journey that will bring you more love and devotion than you have ever known, yet will also test your strength and courage. If you allow, the journey will teach you many things, about life, about yourself, and most of all, about love. You will come away changed forever, for one soul cannot touch another without forever leaving its mark.

Along the way, you will learn much about savoring life's simple pleasures -- jumping in leaves, snoozing in the sun, the joys of puddles, and even the satisfaction of a good scratch behind the ears.

If you spend much time outside, you will be taught how to truly experience every element, for no rock, leaf, or log will go unexamined, no rustling bush will be overlooked, and even the very air will be inhaled, pondered, and noted as being full of valuable information.

Your pace may be slower, except when heading home to the food dish, but you will become a better naturalist, having been taught by an expert in the field. Too many times we hike on automatic pilot, our goal being to complete the trail rather than enjoy the journey. We miss the details: the colorful mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the old maple snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig.

Once we walk as a dog does, we discover a whole new world. We stop; we browse the landscape, we kick over leaves, peek in tree holes, look up, down, all around. And we learn what any dog knows: that nature has created a marvelously complex world that is full of surprises, that each cycle of the seasons bring ever changing wonders, that each day has an essence all its own.

Even from indoors, you will find yourself more attuned to the world around you. You will find yourself watching: summer insects collecting on a screen; how bizarre they are; how many kinds there are; or noting the flick and flash of fireflies through the dark. You will stop to observe the swirling dance of windblown leaves, or sniff the air after a rain. It does not matter that there is no objective in this; the point is in the doing, in not letting life's most important details slip by.

You will find yourself doing silly things that your dog-less friends might not understand: spending thirty minutes in the grocery aisle looking for the exact brand of food your companion must have, buying dog birthday treats, or just driving around the block an extra time because your dog enjoys the ride.

You will roll in the snow, wrestle with chewie toys, bounce tennis balls till your eyes cross, and even run around the house trailing your bathrobe tie with a puppy in hot pursuit, all in the name of love.

Your house will become muddier and hairier. You will wear less dark clothing and buy more lint rollers. You may find dog biscuits in your pocket or purse, and feel the need to explain that old socks adorn your living room floor because your dog loves an impromptu game of tug. You will learn the true measure of love--the steadfast, undying kind that says, "It doesn't matter where we are or what we do, or how life treats us as long as we are together."

Respect this always. It is the most precious gift any living soul can give another. You will not find it often among the human race. And you will learn humility. The look in my dog's eyes often made me feel ashamed--such joy and love at my presence! She saw not some flawed human who could be cross and stubborn, moody or rude, but only her wonderful companion. Or maybe she saw those things and dismissed them as mere human foibles, not worth considering, and so chose to love me anyway. If you pay attention and learn well, when the journey is done, you will be not just a better person, but the person your dog always knew you to be--the one they were proud to call beloved friend.

I must caution you that this journey is not without pain. Like all paths of true love, the pain is part of loving. For as surely as the sun sets, one day your dear companion will follow a trail you cannot yet go down. And you will have to find the strength and love to let them go. A dog's time on earth is far too short, especially for those of us that love them. We borrow them, really, just for a while; and during these brief years they are generous enough to give us all their love, every inch of their spirit and heart, until one day there is nothing left. The dog that only yesterday was a puppy is all too soon old and frail and sleeping in the sun. The young pup of boundless energy now wakes up stiff and lame, the muzzle gone to gray.

Deep down we somehow always knew that this journey would end. We knew that if we gave our hearts they would be broken. But give them we must, for it is all they ask in return.

When the time comes, and the road curves ahead to a place we cannot see, we give one final gift and let them run on ahead, young and whole once more. "God speed, good friend," we say, "until our journey comes full circle and our paths will cross again."

~~ Author unknown ~~

Snapper,
How very true. I just want to thank you for your reply. Wife and I have shed many of tears in the last 3 days. We keep wanting to let him in or tell him we will be right back and to hold down the fort. He always knew when I was conig to work and always knew when I'd be home.

I ended up in the hospital 3 years ago and my wife told me it drove him nuts. He used to jump on me all the time but when I came home from the hospital he would not jump on me because he knew something wasn't right and that he shouldn't.

To make a long story short; We have a big hole in our hearts and in our household. He was a great friend but we couldn't see him suffer any longer. God, it hurts so bad. I haven't hurt thisbad since my father died 20 years ago.

Thank you for your kind reply,
Tony and PJ.

Tony,

Very sorry to hear about your loss. Its a terrible thing to lose such a close companion. Hope you can focus on the good memories.

Tony & PJ,

What a wonderful home you made for Bobbie; full of some good memories that will, eventually, make you smile through the tears.

Take care.

Snapper,

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

Tony,

I am sorry for your loss. I have been there and I am sure that I will be again. My last german shorthair passed away two years ago in August and my wife had a book made of the photos of her life. Last night I happened to pick it up and page through it, and the tears still flow freely. We have 2 now and all I can tell you is that a new puppy is the best thing to fill the void Bobbie left. It won't ever replace him, but it will bring back the joy you felt together.