Other articles with keyword "DOGGIEPING" since 12/29/04
Posted on 03/13/2006 1:23:31 PM PST by Kokojmudd
Thursday, February 23, 2006 By Margaret Smykla, Tri-State Sports and News Service
When Athena entered the Castle Shannon home of a terminally ill 5-year-old girl as part of Three Rivers Hospice's volunteer pet therapy program, the Rottweiler went straight to the girl's bedroom in the back of the house and jumped on her bed.
From then on, the two were inseparable during the weekly visits that summer of 2004, with the girl even making him a "doggy cake" with dog biscuits around it.
Without prodding, Athena would often lick the little girl's left side, which was paralyzed.
When the youngster died two months later, her mother asked that Athena attend the memorial service.
And so she did, lying on the floor for 21/2 hours as the girl's 2-year-old brother laid with his head on her.
On Feb. 15, the 110-pound dog, who spread affection, joy, and goodwill for five years as a Three Rivers Hospice volunteer, died of bone cancer in a veterinary hospital.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
ping
Nice dog. Dogs are amazing critters.
Thank you for a beautiful post. What a story!
Good dog.
Thanks for sharing.
This was a great read. I wish there was a pic of the dog--she sounded awesome.
Rotts are some amazing pups, but I'm not biased or anything! ;-)
:*(
:*)
Ping the "ban the vicious breed" locos.
Thank you for sharing this story. Have you ever heard of the faithful dog owned by the great English writer Emily Bronte? His name was Keeper and when she died, he attended her funeral and then lay atop her bed, mourning her.
Wow, thanks for a great post....your cousins must miss him
I really do not understand the vicious breed thing about thses dogs....every Rott I have ever met had been nothing but sweet...I always felt they acted a lot like my labs....
my sister's moose was once attacked by a Rott.
I learned about the sensitivity of dogs years ago. My ex wife had psychmotor siezures, and a big Lab/Shepherd cross we adopted could predict her siezures well before they occurred.Hewould sit next to her, guard her and lick her face. No one other than me could even get close to them.
I had 12 Beagles and 3 Bassets, at one time, that I am sure could tell when I was thinking about chasing rabbits.
What a wonderful animal. I am so sorry for your cousin's loss. My son and his family lost a Rottie mix at 12 to cancer and they can't even bear to look at another Rottie. It's still too painful. They ot a smaller dog, hoping to avoid the cancer route this time around.
They say that Seaman, the famous Newfoundland that accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition BOTH ways lay on the grave of his owner (I've since forgotten whether it was Lewis, or Clark) and pined away until he died.
Seaman had saved the expedition from a buffalo stampede and several other perils and had survived being kidnapped by unfriendly Indians. (The expedition got him back and refused to sell him at any price.)
The last line of the excerpt was unexpected and prompted tears of grief. (I followed the link and enjoyed the rest of the article.)
Please tell your cousin I sorrow with her. I once had a lab who showed an empathetic nature from puppyhood. Now I regret not developing her obedience training and sharing her love with others as your cousin did. Very special dogs indeed.
My own rott sounds a lot like the dog in the story, in fact, our trainer has said she has the perfect temperment for a therapy dog. She's scary smart, and very intuitive. She's as goofy and clownish as any Golden Retriever I've known (in fact, in her puppy days, she bonded quite deeply with our Golden Retriever, so who knows...) but she's brave enough to stand up to a black bear (and win).
Exceptional dogs, and if you wanna see a cute pic, just click on my freep page and scroll down to see my two baby girls (and baby boy!)
I was a hospice nurse for a few years (plan to go back, but taking a break) I brought my chocolate lab "Hershey" to work with me. He did half of my job or more for me. Family members would be amazed at what a good dog he was, so was I since the behaviors he exhibited at "work" were not like him at home. "Working" he never begged for food, jumped on people, got on furniture. At home he did all these things. I would tell them "I don't know who this dog is, my dog is somewhere else. He was very sensitive to patients who were iminently dying and would come to me as if to say "You need to do something!!!" One time a patient had died and hour before I got to work. Hershey spent the day in that patient's room and wouldn't leave until I was going home. Hospice dogs are born, not trained.
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