Robert The Dog

The theory that events occur in threes is proving its point…vividly. Today, there was sadly a third passing over: first, my husband’s friend, Rob; then my mechanic, Roger; and now my dog, Robert. All within about a week, all boys, and all ‘R’s. Indeed…an interesting ‘coincidence’, if I believed in those!

Today, our sombre family goodbye was to Robert, our beautiful Alsatian dog, known as ‘Robert The Dog’ (after our Scottish roots of Robert The Bruce), or my mom’s favourite, ‘Big Boy Bob.’ Joining us late in his life, he found a happy dog haven in our welcoming home. After what is guessed to be about 8 years of abuse at the hands of previous owners, Robert was rescued and rehabilitated, before arriving in our world.

Going by his loving eyes, you would never know he was once a beaten, bruised and broken boy. His spirit and trust never gave it away. Yet, his physical ailments did. He was deaf – sometimes it seemed ‘selective’…as some may say is typical of a male  ; )  We think his abusers made him deaf. He had been continually tied up, resulting in his teeth grinding down to stubs by chewing on the chain. His back legs where partially paralysed, appearing to be hip dysplasia, yet likely the footprint of scaring from beatings.

Our greatest discovery was his diet – he loved paper products. For the past few years, we have lived with toilet paper rolls, paper towel, newspapers, etc. all 4 feet off the floor and far back on counters or inside cupboards. The best laugh was when he snuck into the bathroom and removed a new 24 pack of toilet paper rolls, dragging it out the door, down the hallway and into the living room at the other end of the house, without anyone hearing a thing. Selective deafness on our part, maybe??? Hugely funny to discover a room full of torn, chewed and damp bits of plastic and paper, accounting for about half the original package. Wow, did he have a tummy ache for a few days! It turns out that after years of eating paper to survive, his instincts were intact – he wanted to live…with us.

Over the past few months, Robert’s health and mobility gradually declined. The past few days marked a very low turn. Decisions needed to be made for his quality of life.

How can a spirit be so loving, trusting and content after so much neglect and punishment? How come after only a short time knowing love, did he need to let it go? How do you know when it is time to decide for your loving, yet ailing pet to pass over? How do you say goodbye, when you are the decision-maker?

For all the amazing joys that pet’s bring into our lives, and all the joy we share with them as ‘family members,’ their shorter life span results in inevitable days like today. I would not have missed a minute with Robert, but I will miss many minutes without him being present. He changed each one of us by witnessing his legacy of transformation through abuse to love.

See you in spirit, Robert The Dog.