Beau/Brit

It is with great sadness that I had Beau (a.k.a Brit) put down on Sunday, August 2. It was due to complications from heartworm treatment. He was in the second phase of the treatment. In talking to the vet, a large factor in this was his age. Beau was at least 8-9 yrs. old. He was fine Saturday and by late Sunday morning he was not feeling well. Like most animals, he was being stoic. I took him to the emergency clinic and the results were not good. He had inflammation of the lungs, thromboembolism, DIC and sepsis. We even had him on prednisone and doxycycline. The possibility of him recovering were almost nil. The most humane thing to do was to put him to sleep. I held and told him he was loved. He went peacefully. He crossed over to that Rainbow Bridge.

In the late winter, early spring I joined GHGSDR to help with the rescue dogs. It was during this time that one of our volunteers got us signed up at a new boarding facility. Among the first rescues to come to this facility was Brit (Beau). He wasn’t a big GSD but his heart should have been that of a large GSD. Originally, Beau was at another kennel and he wasn’t well received there as he barked a lot. It was not until we got him to the new facility that we found out Beau was deaf. Not totally (could be a male thing) . Not many people looked at him, but to know Beau was to love him. He had a sweet personality. The boarding volunteers went to work on the dogs there and eventually Beau was taught hand signals (sign language). He knew the commands of come, sit, stop barking and of course to bark for treats. He loved to go for walks.

I asked if I could foster to adopt Beau but not right away as I had a very old, sick female GSD at home. I could not take him home with her in that condition. In time, I had my GSD put down. Beau was to find a new home with me. Beau got along well with my smaller dogs but the cats, that was totally different story. More than once at night, I woke up with heavy breathing on my neck and it was not my boyfriend..it was Beau having a stare down with one of the cats. He was a “mommy’s boy” and spoiled. Above all, he was loved and he knew it. When he was happy, he would run through your legs back and forth. It will be the little things that I will miss. Greetings at the door, the happy barks and the cute way he wagged his tail.