We adopted a nine tear-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever who had been seized from the abusive, neglectful owner by the law. The owner faced charges of animal cruelty because she never treated the dogs Lyme disease, flea infestations or worms. She also never had a large bone fragment which had lodged in his cheek removed. A surgeon had to do it and he thought it had been there a year or more.
Dodger was a big dog with nearly worthless hind legs. He could walk but not run or climb stairs. Most of the fur on his back was gone and his tail was bare. We got him in June and simply gave him love and his maintenance medication. Every morning I carried his 80 pounds downstairs and every night I carried him back up so he could sleep in our bedroom; he acted to be alone. Our other dog, Anna, learned to like him and, in their own way they played. Dodger sat in a sphinx position and Anna would spar with him. It was charming.
By October, Dodger had improved. His fur began to grow back. He learned to, slowly, climb stairs and his play with Anna got more active. He could walk around the yard and even lope a bit. On October 5th he and I were walking. He was nosing at something and then suddenly stiffened up all over and rolled over dead.
It was likely an embolism that killed him; a result of the Lyme-caused arthritis in his hind legs. We had him only about four months and those were probably the only four months of his life that he had known kindness. We miss him terribly and will never understand how his previous owner could have treated him so horribly. By the way, the previous owner is a nurse who lost her job due to her drug addiction.
God bless you for adopting Dodger. He died knowing he was loved.