Good things rarely last for ever, our two boxers were both exceptionally good and now both are gone. The girl died aged six with cancer and today my most loyal friend and companion passed away due to an enlarged heart (Dilated Cardiomyopathy) aged just seven.
The trauma of losing a much loved dog is difficult to comprehend for people who have never owned or loved a dog. They truly are part of the family and the grief caused by the loss is immense.
The three of us were a happy pack but following the traumatic loss of Jazzy this time two years ago with cancer the three became two and because Jazzy and her ill health no longer had to be taken into account we two remaining pack members travelled far and wide and we discovered many things on our travels.
The first sign of illness was as traumatic as it was sudden. A few months ago I noticed he was losing weight, nothing drastic but still noticeable. I didn’t pay a great deal of attention to this development nor was I unduly worried because he still seemed as strong and bouncy as ever, then came the collapse.
At fist I thought he fainted and it was a one off, I could not believe it to be anything serious because he like me was rarely if ever ill. Fair enough, he developed a cough too, but again, I was making excuses thinking it was just a bit of food or something trapped This blinkered approach disappeared following collapse number two. He was rushed into the vet and as soon as they saw him and recognised the breed they knew he was finished, a heart x-ray confirmed their diagnosis of advanced Dilated Cardiomyopathy.
The initial prognosis was devastating; seven days if we were lucky. The condition in dogs, just as in humans is incurable. If a human gets an enlarged heart, a heart transplant is the only hope of long term survival. In dogs a cocktail of ace-inhibitor and diuretic drugs is the only treatment which yields results and despite not being able to cure the condition this cocktail can improve quality of life.
In our case, and despite my previously bizarre and deeply flawed philosophy that pharmaceutical potions can be discarded and replaced with positive thoughts as well as good food and lots of exercise, the drugs did work, in actual fact they worked miraculously well.
Within a week he was eating normally, gaining weight and regaining his lost energy. Two weeks after diagnosis and were back up to six miles a day walks, albeit at a more sedate pace than we were previously accustomed to.
As the weeks went by I started to convince myself that he would be the one in a million who could beat the odds and live with the condition. This was not the case and a couple of days ago he started to deteriorate badly. The drug cocktail had become ineffective and blood from his failing heart which was no longer pumping efficiently started to accumulate in his lungs and other parts of his body. The snow on Saturday brought a brief respite. He always loved playing in the snow and he mustered a last burst of energy for one final play in the snow but by Sunday the terrible trauma had begun.
Now he is at rest and he will always be fondly remembered. Goodnight baby boy.
23 comments:
As a fellow dog owner you have my sincere sympathies TC.
Thank you Greg. It is a bitter loss but he is now at rest.
I can sympathise entirely, I lost my dog Russell two years yesterday, a week before my twentieth birthday.
Shortly after I dreamed of him happy in the forests of the next world, bringing me great consolation.
You have my deepest sympathies and I hope it is not too hard on you.
Sorry for your sad loss TC, can you see yourself having another?
My mental image of your good self will always come complete with a dog and a camera...
A nice song to remember him by.
The middle two pictures are excellent and capture an energetic dog's love of the outdoors and being able to run free off the leash.
"The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be"
- Konrad Lorenz
I know because I lost my pet greyhound two years ago and still haven't got over it, so I know how you feel. Sympathies from a fellow dog lover.
My sympathies TC. as you know I am a cat person so I appreciate the companionship of a loyal pet.
He was a good looking dog and I am sorry to hear of your loss but there is no excuse for having an unleashed dog in a public space.
It's an essential part of a dog's quality of life to be allowed to run free off the leash when appropriate and safe. Now fuck off.
Wooof woof woooof woof... woof wwwwwoof,
Sorry for your lose TC and keep in mind he is now runing free in doggy heaven ? RIP
I would hope that TC would delete that crass trollish comment and block the author. The photos of this dog are taken out in open country, and if you take issue with dogs unleashed there then you are a soppy priggish busybody who probably works as one of TMBC's wannabe police officers (aka 'patrollers').
I don`t wish to sound unsympathetic to your loss but this is an early age for a dog to die. Unfortunately, boxer dogs do suffer health complications and this is in part, due to to the process of inbreeding. Cancer in boxer dogs does seem to be quite common. Mongrels seem to have fewer health complications and generally live longer.
I think that a lot of dog breeds are over engineered. We need different kinds of dogs, just as we need many different kinds of humans, but there are so many breeds and each many breeds find themselves inbred due to low numbers of the specific breed.
Some people try and use it to justify racial breeding in humans but that would not be true, the races are far broader and have larger gene pools to draw from.
@anon 18:29
There are many pedigree breeds that have a long life expectancy. The good thing about getting a pedigree is that the temperament of the dog is much more predictable than in a mongrel since different breeds exhibit different personality traits that are in-bred. There are pluses and minuses to getting either a pedigree or a mongrel.
My sympathies to you. All you can do at these times is think about the great lives you have given the dogs. Their lifespan was pre-determined; how they spent that life was not. That bit was down to you and I know you made the absolute best of it you could.
If you could ask them, I'm sure they'd say they had a blast.
Get on to the RSPCA and start to give that love to another dog that didn't get the best start to life.
Thank you for all the kind words and I will ignore the obvious troll.
Getting another dog at this time would not be possible. My grief is too great and I would feel I was doing him a disservice by moving another hound into his territory so soon after his passing.
I felt this way after my first childhood dog, a massive Alsatian had to be put be put to sleep when his back legs collapsed. I couldn’t even consider another dog but eventually I got a Doberman who had a very similar energy level and temperament to my recently deceased Boxer. Despite Dobermans being prone to DCM, the three main breeds which inherit this condition are Boxers, Dobermans and Great Danes, my Doberman lived to the ripe old age of thirteen. His rear legs also collapsed and against my better judgement I succumbed to the constant pressure I was under from people telling me I am making him suffer by keeping alive with collapsed legs so I allowed him to be put to sleep. I then said, no way, no more dogs for me. I get too attached to them and become stricken with grief when their time is up.
Untrue to my word as ever, the boxers appear. Jazzy was actually given to us as a brand new puppy by a then and unnamed Manchester City player. He got her to keep his boxer company but the adult boxer rejected the new puppy so we ended up with her. We then got the fine chap pictured above to keep her company. They were biologically unrelated but she adopted him as her son. He grew far bigger and stronger than her and would have easily beat her in a fight but that never happened and she was always the dominant of the two. When he got a little too amorous near her she had a technique where she could slide away from his advances and then nipping him as warning not to do it again. Happy days!
If, and undoubtedly knowing me, when it is time for a new dog, I think I will get a rescue dog. Many people tell me they are so grateful after being sometimes rescued from horrific conditions and it would be nice to give a dog that has had a terrible start a new and happy life.
I used to buy dog food in bulk from the cash and carry and I still have an unopened 15kg sack of Pedigree complete and 50+ small cans of Winalot in gravy which he used to like adding to it. It is no good to us now so I was thinking of donating it Tameside Animal Shelter or the local RSPCA. I will see which one if any needs it and get it dropped off soon.
Don't leave it too long, and get the new one on the moors where your fab photo no4 was taken.
He won't thank you for leaving a dog in the kennels when it could be on the moors with you.
I am so sorry TC I really do feel for you,as losing my two shitzues was the most traumatic experience
I'm not a fan of the RSPCA due to their spineless and hypocritical stance on the extreme suffering caused to animals by Halal and Kosher slaughter. I would suggest giving it to the Tameside Animal Shelter.
"I'm not a fan of the RSPCA due to their spineless and hypocritical stance on the extreme suffering caused to animals by Halal and Kosher slaughter"
The RSPCA have called for the banning of all unstunned slaughter methods - 2004 if I remember rightly when the then Labour government was flaunting its animal welfare credentials over the hunting ban. Not surprisingly they didn't display the same level of concern, stating that catering for multi-culturalism ('religious freedom') was higher up their list of priorities and concerns. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the hunting ban (I'm in favour), you cannot help but cringe at the stinking hypocrisy of the left (animal welfare when its convenient).
Kosher boy Taylor is still prattling on about hunting, whilst remaining tight lipped over ritual slaughter (don't want to derail Tameside's curry chef of the year award).
The RSPCA have whispered for the banning of unstunned slaughter, not called. They keep their head down on the industrial scale atrocity of hundreds of thousands of fully conscious animals having their throats slit every year, and come out with a few mealy mouthed words on their website etc.
If they had any spine or principles they would mount a major, sustained campaign against this abomination of cruelty and double standards, but it's easier to go for easier and far less important targets.
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