I never used to think of myself as a ‘dog person’. I had always had an affinity for cats. I admired their independence. I saw myself that way.
When my partner Rick began saying he wanted a dog I tried to talk him out of it. I knew from experience with our family dog when I was growing up that a dog requires no demands lots of attention. Finally due to a ‘deal’ I made with Rick I had to give in and begin looking for a dog. I have never for evan a moment regretted it.
We knew we wanted a Boxer because of their gentle nature good temperament size and short hair. So we started looking in the newspaper classifieds. One Saturday morning I came across an ad for Boxer puppies. The price was reasonable so I called the number. I was told how old the pups were and they said they had 4 or 5 left from a litter of ten. She began describing the size and characteristics of the puppies. When she described one in particular I immediately had a complete feeling that this was our dog. I knew it.
All the way to the breeders about 20 miles away I was so anxious that ‘our’ puppy wouldn’t be there anymore. I was just so sure that everyone else would want him too. We got there in the middle of a blistering hot morning. At about 11 am it was already over 100 degrees. I went directly to the puppy that had been described to me on the phone. He was so gentle. So beautiful. So sweet. I put him down and picked up the others just to be certain. I was certain. Few times in my life have I been so certain of anything so significant.
We put him in the car and headed home. In the short ime we had been at the breeders the car interior temperature had risen to a very uncomfortable degree. I was uncomfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. I know the puppy had to very uncomfortable in a fur coat. But he didn’t complain once. He didn’t even complain about being taken from his siblings. Once the car cooled down some he just laid down on the back seat and went to sleep. I knew right then that we had made the perfect choice.
Choosing aname was quite a chore. I wanted to name him something that reflected his breeding heritage so it would need to be something German. We tried out several but they just didn’t feel right. I kept coming back to the name Helmut. I didn’t know why. It just felt right. So that’s what we named him. Helmut. Having a strong interest in etymology I wanted to find out what the name ‘Helmut’ meant. I looked it up and was filled with joy to find out that the name means ‘Protective Spirit’.
Helmut was so easy to train. So obedient. So gentle and so good. Very shortly I found my self loving him so much that I couldn’t imagine our lives without him. I have never loved a pet so much. More than anyone or anything else Helmut taught me about unconditional love.
As with many pure breeds he had some health issues but never anything more serious than allergies. But then he started getting sick periodicaly. We took him to the vet and was told it was probably something he ate. Maybe a plant in the yard that disagreed with him. But two weeks ago he started having some very unusual symptoms. We thought that it was just more of the same so we took care of him the best we could. But one morning he had so much trouble walking and he wasn’t eating or drinking water that we took him to the vet. That was Thursday. They did the usual blood tests and even took x-rays.
They decided to keep him overnight and put him on intravenous fluids and monitor him. On Saturday we went to see how he was doing and we were relieved to see he had perked up and was walking around a bit. The doctor thought he was ok to go home as long as he didn’t get too excited. We brought him home about 5pm but by 9 he was doing very poorly. We took him back to the vet the following day and ended up transferring him to a specialist. On Monday the specialist doctor looked at Helmut. After not being satisfied with the previous diagnosis she recommended a spinal tap. Helmut never recovered from the anesthesia. That was yesterday. It seems like such a long time.
I will always love him so dearly. I am so pained by this loss. I have been unable to go to work or even function well. My life has been immensely enriched by having him share it and his passing will always be a significant event in my life.
Vernon & Rick