<p>concerneddad - I think Rotties just like to chew, and with their powerful jaws they are bored by ordinary household objects like bedroom slippers. The ordinary chew toys purchased from pet shops would be devoured in a matter of seconds – I found that the best thing was if I could get a very large beef or lamb bone from the butcher. Rotties are just very powerful dogs. They probably shouldn’t be kept as ordinary pets, but they can also be very loving and devoted.</p>
<p>calmom, chewing for sure. But this fetish for wood, that is a little different. LOL</p>
<p>I don’t recall anything that my Rottie DIDN’T chew…</p>
<p>Our dog developed a craving for dvds - I can’t imagine how they must taste but apparently she thinks they are quite good. She likes to crack the outside shell/case like a lobster and then eat the juicy metal-like insides.</p>
<p>Funny this should come up b/c I am thinking of getting a puppy. Not to replace my last child who will be going to college, really. It’s just a coincidence that I have three kids and if I get the puppy, I will have three dogs…</p>
<p>Digi- I would take that dog in a heartbeat if there were an easy way to get it to PA. My beloved old elkhound died in her sleep a few years ago. I decided to wait until the kids left for college to get another dog; that day is fast approaching. (I did drive to Chicago last year to pick up a stray cat, but that’s about my limit.)</p>
<p>We have three border collies (okay one is a border collie/spaniel mix)…they get three walks a day most days, two on weekends, but those are really long. They are smart, annoying, need to work, and they all have their jobs in the house. Trixie, Jester and Cosmo are all older (9.10.7) They will probably only be around for a few years after our girls are in college ; ( makes my husband very sad. He misses the dogs more than he misses us when he goes away ; )</p>
<p>jym626, your dog is lucky to have you. hope things go well and that he stays comfortable for a long time!</p>
<p>Patient-
Thank you so much. That means a lot to me. This morning, he came upstairs in his doggie diaper and nudged me to pet him on the head (at 5:45 in the morning) 
He can no longer jump up on the bed, but he is venturing out of the comfort of his crate much more, wagging his tail and begging for food 
It usually takes him a few days to feel back to normal after his procedure at the vets, but he is clearly much more comfortable and he is a happy guy. He is like our third son, and I can’t imagine doing anything less for him. He didn’t ask for heart disease, and he didn’t do anything to deserve it.</p>
<p>He turns 10 on Feb. 20, and we are all hoping for the best. He has well surpassed the cardiologist’s expectations, so we take every day as a blessing.</p>
<p>And for those of you with Rotties. You have the patience of a saint!! The only thing Nik ate without permission was a big hunk of cheese from a cheese tray we’d left momentarily on the coffee table, when we invited new neighbors over. My husband said to me, “weren’t there three wedges of cheese on the tray?” Then there were two… and a dog licking his lips.</p>
<p>Sad update-</p>
<p>Our beloved cavalier passed away tonight, just 2 weeks shy of his 10th birthday. Ironically, we had just returned from our local pet therapy dinner/fundraiser when we found him, peacefully lying in his cage. </p>
<p>Patient, your kind words above are even more helpful at a time like this. Thanks again.</p>
<p><<our beloved=“” cavalier=“” passed=“” away=“” tonight,=“”>></our></p>
<p>Sorry to hear this.</p>
<p>jym626: Sorry your beloved pet passed over the bridge. I am sure he will be there waiting to play sometime in the way far future.</p>
<p>jym626—I am so very sorry for you and your family. But I am so glad that his last days were comfortable and that his life ended peacefully. Thinking of you, and sad here…</p>
<p>jym626</p>
<p>I have been following your thread about your beloved dog, and smiled when you wrote about the nudging for a pat of tne head at 5:45 a.m. I wasn’t prepared to read a few threads latter that he passed. My condolences to you and yor family.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your kind words. Although his loss is devastating for all of us. I am comforted by knowing he was at home, laying comfortably in his crate. He was doing ok yesterday morning, snarfed down his breakfast and went outside. It was a beautiful day and I watched him sit on the grass with the breeze gently blowing through his coat. He always liked to sit there and look around at the trees and the birds.</p>
<p>But last evening, he ate only a few bites of dinner, and when he went out he seemed a little unsteady on his feet. He went outside and instead of coming back to the back door to be let in, he sat under a bush. Very out of character for him. When he came back in, he went right to his crate. We put his food in with him (he’d been trained to eat his meals in his crate, so his crate was always a “happy place” for him.) Well, the rest of the story is as as above. </p>
<p>The emergency clinic, where we took him last night, gives you a pawprint molded in clay that you take home and bake in your oven. It is sitting, with his dogtag, on the kitchen counter. Although reading the Sunday paper is one of my pasttimes, I just haven’t gone down yet…</p>
<p>The call to our oldest son last night was by far the hardest thing to do. Fortunately, he was at a basketball game with his friends that happened to be being televised on ESPN-2, so had his friends around him (though their team lost by 2 in the final seconds of the game-- bummer).</p>
<p>This morning I awakened with the immediate thought that I had do go down and let Nik out… Then I remembered. The tougher part is that today, Super Bowl Sunday, is the day my mom became gravely ill last year and ended up in the hospital on life support for 5 weeks before passing away in early March. So all in all, though we’ve been invited to a Super Bowl party tonight, maybe it is a good thing the Falcons were knocked out because I really just don’t care… </p>
<p>A dear friend who I met through the Cavalier rescue group called me at 1 am when she got my message, and kept me up til after two (she lost one of her cavaliers to mitral valve disease this past fall). So I am teary and tired today.As an aside, do take a peek at the long note just posted by a student, Ilikeplato, in, I think it is the “Do you worry about your second child” thread in the Parents Forum about the fellow with Crohn’s disease. It makes you rethink your priorities. Then, kiss your kids, your spouse or significant other (if you have one), your parents, your pets and be thankful for what you have. Be mindful of all the important things in life. They are too fleeting.</p>
<p>Sorry for the rambling. But thanks again for your kind words and thoughts. I know Nik is comfortable and watching birds and trees with the wind blowing through his coat somewhere…</p>
<p>Jym, I’m so sorry to hear your sad news. We went through the same thing with our beloved 13 1/2 year old just over a year ago, and you’re right, it is devastating. Losing a member of the family like that, even if it’s expected is difficult on everyone. My H had the task of notifying two of our Ds who were away at college. For one, who was particularly close to this dog, he decided to actually fly to her city and tell her in person. Just recalling those days brings tears to my eyes. Take good care of yourself today, and in the days to come. One thing I did once the initial painful days passed, and I was feeling up to it, I collected every single photograph we’d taken of him over the years and had copies made for each D (and one for myself). I then compiled them in chronological order in albums for them. It was a nice project to keep me busy and we love looking at them. My Ds say that he was the most photographed dog in town! I think we had approximately 160 photos of him. I’m well on my way to making our two new pups surpass even that number. :)</p>
<p>So sorry ,Jym. I know that hurts-I’ve hesitated posting because we have lost two " good friends" in the last month. Kate our 15 year old Dal just stopped going. Her wheels fell off a month or so ago and we tried everything but couldn’t get her back on her feet. I had D make the “call” and it was horrific but I’m still convinced it was the right thing to do. (Had it been pain and not just near paralysis, I’d have made the call without blinking and without the need for consultation.)</p>
<p>Probably worst was that a week after Kate made her trip to the vet in D’s arms, Bug, our three year old whitetail deer doe (that we had rescued as a two-day old after her mom died) “escaped” from the safety of her protected pasture (followed an electrician out of the gate) during deer season. Hormones got the best of her. I have managed to stay convincing that she’s out making “Bug babies” but …I have inside information that that is not the case.</p>
<p>“Bug” was the sweetest animal you’ve ever seen. She slept on our front porch. We’d literally had to step over her to get inside. She gave kisses. She followed us around. She’d meet D at the gate every day, and run behind her to the cabin with another of our bottle babies-AnnaBelle a 250 pound red deer hind who is now the world’s saddest animal. The made a real sight, “Mutt and Jeff”. They were the same age but Bug weighed maybe 75 pounds. D raised them both with bottles in her bedroom. D slept on the floor beside them. D is a bit of a nut.</p>
<p>Anna is now alternately standing at the front fence waiting for “Buggie” or pulling her hair out (literally). I am feverishly making calls to get the word out that D has space for another rescue and when deer babies start coming in a month or two, I calculate that I will be overrun if D has her choice. She’s making due now with 4 Kid goats- cute,cute but not the same-for Anna or D.</p>
<p>But back to topic-we still have two gorgeous wonderful working dogs , “Laverne and Shirley”, ranch raised Great Pyrenees and two worthless dogs, “Shadow” and “Poodle”. Shadow’s papers say that the 120 pound maladorous beast at my feet is a Golden. I have researched the issue extensively and believe she is in fact a previously unknown mammalian species -the “land manatee”. Poodle is a …poodle. Hey-when you’ve had as many animals as we’ve had-you start running out of names. LOL. We also have three indoor cats (because they won’t leave.) Hekyll and Jekyll, and “TwoCats” ,a very large Bengal. Presently we have 5 barn cats-“Straight-tail”,“Pig-pen” , “Mickey”,“Penny” ,and “Not My Cat” (who was named by me when the vet asked for it’s name).</p>
<p>Jym, I too have suffered the type of loss you are experiencing – twice now. This last time, this past Sept., it was my 13 year old Rottie. She left us on a beautiful sunny afternoon, in our backyrad, with my wife, my daughters and I holding her close as the vet injected her. The peacefulness that over came her was comforting to us. What I have done in the past, and continue to do, ii to use their names as passwords: it keeps their memory alive and in the forefront of my mind on a daily basis. I cannot say whether or not that will work for you, but it does for me.</p>
<p>curmudgeon: when my wife told me we were having twins, I wanted to name them Heykell and Jekyll. She was not amused!</p>
<p>Thanks again, everyone. Curmudgeon- where do you live that you have such a menagerie??? Wow. And it sounds like you know all too well this sadness. I am so sorry. I thank Nik for choosing his own destiny, so that we did not have to make a tough choice. He did let us know, in the last few days, that his digestive system wasn’t up to snuff, and while his appetite remained good, his ability to take it from there wasn’t. So, as I continue to shampoo the carpet in our family room, I think that he was letting us know that he was going out with a blast, as it were. </p>
<p>Of course, yesterday being Saturday, I made my weekly pilgrimage to the Petsmart to buy more “natures’ miracle” carpet cleaner. Of course, all the resuce dogs were there again… cute as they can be. We’ll just take one step at a time.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon-
I am sorry for your loss too. We had to say goodbye to one of our cats in that fashion, who truly had nine lives and recovered from several diabetic comas (she was an insulin -dependent diabetic for over 5 yrs, and lived to over 13). </p>
<p>As for your password idea-- it is a great one. I’ve actually used a form of his name and a combo of numbers for many years now, so he will be forever with us! Great minds think alike, eh? </p>
<p>A friend (who has Nik’s 1/2 brother) made me a photo album, with photos in one of those rolodex-type holders, of Nik for my 50th birthday a year or 2 ago, and it has it’s place prominently on the coffee table. She also enlarged a beautiful one of him with the wind blowing through his fur, which sits on our shelf in the family room. A picture of him in a birthday hat is by my bedside.</p>
<p>I’ve already been approached by cavalier rescue about a possible 4 yr old girl with a gr. 2 heart murmur. I need to think about that, as I’d mentioned on p.1. There are lots of dogs out there to love.</p>
<p>Jym,the password idea came from concerneddad but I noticed it as a good idea, too . </p>
<p>As to the “House of Many Mammals” , we live in a tiny cabin at the end of a very long dirt/rock road. Don’t tell TheDad but I’m kicking his butt on this “Hermit in Training” thing. (There are 3 horses also, Christmas, Dakota, and Skippa Jack T.)</p>