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bigbearjeff · 05-07-2008, 09:28 AM

I hope you all are well. I wish I could say all is well here, but I have some very bad news. Monday was an ordinary day. I came home changed clothes and went through my routine of letting the dogs out and starting some laundry. We have two great Danes. Our male is Dozer. He is your typical fawn color, and Sophie is our black bitch. Bitch is appropriate when talking about real female dogs.

Either way, I got the dogs food bowls ready and separated them as Sophie can be a pig and eats all of Dozer’s food. I was blabbing with the dogs as I usually do.. asking them how their day was, and were they good? I remember saying something to Dozer about the fact that it was his birthday and he turned 4 today... blah blah. These are those silly times we talk to our animals. Sophie just looked at me drooling as I prepped her food. Dozer was out in the back yard peeing on every spot he could find where Sophie had gone this week… he is such a male dog…

Either way, I made his bowl and put it outside for him and closed the door so Sophie could not get to his food. Dozer looked at me sort of funny. I said, “Come on and eat your food”. But he would have no part of it. I was not too shocked as it has gotten warmer out and he gets funny about eating when it is hot. So, I put his bowl up and thought I would try later. That was around 4:30pm. At 7:30pm I went into the garage and he looked as if he wanted to go out. So I let him out and brought a piece of cooked bacon to add to his food. He was very excited and ate his food. It was a typical night of playing on the computer and watching TV in the background. We went to bed early as we were tired.

Dave woke up in the middle of the night and told me that one of the dogs was throwing up. I groaned and turned over. It is at these times that they become “his” dogs haha. Sadly, Dave went downstairs and cried out, “Oh my God! Dozer is dying.” I thought I was dreaming and yelled back, “What are you talking about?” To which he told me Dozer was bloating. This is the common killer of Great Danes, and I am really sorry to tell you all that Dave rushed him to the Emergency room and they had to put Dozer to sleep.

We are both devastated. Dozer was awarded the #2 Great Dane puppy in the country at 6 months of age. Only second to his sister. Additionally he was a champion, but above all of that he was a very sweet boy, and we loved him dearly. I am heartbroken, and Dave is a mess. Sophie keeps looking for him and sleeps in our room now.

We will move on, but I find myself looking for him. I miss his wagging tail and sweet demeanor. I lost a good friend.

I have included a few pictures. One shows me(Bigger than a Macy's day float) holding Dozer when he was a puppy. I also included some other pictures of him and a few of our girl Sophie.

He stood by me through my surgery. I can not tell you how much I will miss him.

All the best,

Jeff