Faithful Friends

In January 2005 we had the honour of adopting the most beautiful little
dog who we named Bernie who was approximately 2 years old. He was
extremely underweight, required knee surgery and needed to be spayed.
However I fell in love with him from the moment I saw him, as did our
other dog Georgie who I bought along to help find a special friend to keep
her company. Bernie was the most gentle, loving little soul who liked
nothing more than to go on walks at Newport Lakes and to sleep next to you
whenever you sat down. His one vice in life was cheese, and he would come
running from the other end of the house no matter how quietly I tried to
remove the cheese packet from the fridge!

Bernie

Little Bernie had a collapsed trachea which we watched very closely all
his life, however it masked the fact that he also had heart disease. We
always kept him with us and carried him when he tired of running – we did
the best for him, but unfortunately we could not mend his little heart,
and on Sunday 24th July 2011 at 9.40pm I made the hardest decision of my
life and had him put to sleep. He could not fight anymore, and I stayed
with him until he made the journey over the rainbow bridge. We are all so
incredibly sad and for such a little dog he has left a huge emptiness in
our house, and as the alpha dog, our other dogs Georgie and Millie, as
well as Simba the cat, seem very quiet and lost with out him.

Bernie

I am so thankful to Bernie for giving us all the most wonderful 6.5 years
of his life. I have attached my favourite photos of Bernie, as well as a
picture we took on Sunday 31st July 2011 when we went on our first walk at
Newport Lakes without Bernie – the most incredible rainbow I have ever
seen – complete from end to end, which I would like to believe Bernie made
for me.

Bernie Rainbow

Many thanks for sending us the beautiful sympathy card and for your kind
words – it was very much appreciated.

Ben, Penni, Simba, Georgie and Millie

Bonnie and Muffin were a couple of Black Toy Poodles whom have both passed
away this year, Bonnie in February and Muffin in July just a week ago. They
were both 15 years of age and they were commissioned from Sylvenus Kennels
in Perth WA in 1996.

My wife Pam and I fell in love with this little pair as soon as we saw them
although there was a time a while later when Pam had second thoughts about
just what we had brought home that day. From the onset Muffin our little boy
bonded with Pam and Bonnie our female bonded with me, I don’t know why but
that is how it was until February this year when bonnie became so very ill
and I held her in my arms all night and then we had to send her to Rainbow
Bridge to ease her suffering, there was nothing else we could do and we both
cried for a week about the way she went.

Muffin missed her of course but with two people to love him now he settled
down to being at last the ‘top dog’ in the house. He was such a character
and we knew he was getting too old for long walks and stuff like that so we
just let him roam around the garden when he needed a pee etc.

Now we have always had a doggy door and it was only in Muffin’s final week
that he let us down, as he never once fouled the house even when he was very
ill. But in that last week he was so sick that he vomited a few times before
he could take himself outside but we loved him so much that it just didn’t
matter a bit.

Bonnie being a female did have a problem with urination in her 14th year but
we put her onto propanol and that stopped her from any further accidents
quite quickly.

On that last day we took him to the vet for yet another inspection of his
poor little body as he would not eat after 15 years of devouring everything
that was given to him, and we made that awful decision to end his suffering.
The nurse held him and the vet did what was required and he looked into our
faces and I tell myself that he was saying “thanks Mum and Dad”, but he was
such an intelligent little guy he could have been thinking “what is
happening now, and why”.

In 50 years of marriage we have had numerous dogs and a cat from Labs to
setters both English and Irish and another Poodle too, but this last pair
really did take hold of our lives and our bank account too as they must have
cost us thousands of dollars but so what, we loved them to bits.

Buttons was our much loved Maltese Shih Tzu he died on the 21/2/11 and was 15 years old.

He came from a breeder in Nurmkah and was only a puppy when we first got him. Buttons wasn’t just a pet to us he was apart of the family he has been with us through the highs and the lows of growing up and life in general.

We still find ourselves looking outside at his rocking chair hoping his rocking himself to sleep.

Rest in peace buddy boy.

My babies name was Toby, he was a black and Tan pure bred Kelpie. He passed at 10.47am yesterday morning, Tuesday 3rd of May, 2011. Age 4 and a half.

I adopted him from a farmer in canberra when he was six weeks old, and weighed only 1.2kgs. He was a constant companion and friend from that day until the moment he died in my arms.

Our general location is Crookwell NSW.

He was a much loved brother to Diesel and Joe, and much loved by myself and my baby son. He was always such a happy dog, even when he was in the deepest of pain, he still had a tail wag for his friends and loved a snuggle. Toby was set free so that he did not have to suffer any more.

He was a very healthy and active dog until the day he wasn’t.

Tragically he was born with a degenerative disease that we didn’t know about until he was suffering from the effects of a squashed spinal cord and there was nothing that could be done for him. We tried very medication they had, in an attempt to alleviate his pain, one caused him severe vomiting, making his condition worse, while another left him comatose.

I am struggling to cope with my decision, but I know that setting him free and ending his pain was the only thing to do, even though it meant the physical loss of my best friend.

My darling Toby,
You came into my life when I needed you most, and gave me 4 of the best years of my life.
You were my constant companion, my best friend, and someone I could always rely on.
I know That I held onto you for longer than I should have, by trying to find ways to stop the pain for you.
At the time I thought It was what you wanted, but I realise It was more because I was not ready to lose you.
Now that I have lost you, I am still not ready to let you go.
Words cannot express how thankful I am to have had you in my life, even though it was for such a short time.
I’m sorry that you were in pain and there was nothing we could do.
I wish things could have turned out differently, and you would still be here sitting patiently beside me, waiting for a pat on the head, but that would not have been fair to you.
I know that you are happy now, running again, free from pain, no more limp, no more medication.
I just wish you were here with me.
I miss you deeply Toby and will always Love you.
“go get em Toby” It wont hurt this time.

Shutzhund trained German Shepherd: Osiris passed away on April 12, 2011.

She was 11. My dad bought her trained to guard and attack if needed for the family 9 years earlier. I was the last to meet her and train with her, but I arrived back from a conference when I was 13 years old. I ran down to the basement where the scary attack dog was supposed to be, quietly walked into the room, as not to distract her from more of her obedience training. As I crouched down our eyes met and I didn’t see a furious attack dog, instead I saw sweet, loving, playful eyes, I guess you could say, “it was love at first sight.” In that moment we bonded and I knew she would be mine.

In those 9 years she became my protector, safety, my biggest music critic. She loved unconditionally, a love that I have never known. She was my companion and my best friend of all time. I will miss you my sweet girl!

May 13th, 1995 – February 8th, 2011

I, Emma Brown, of Sunbury, Victoria, created this memorial in loving memory of my cherished German Short-Haired Pointer.

My name is Emma. When I visited a big pet warehouse in Campbellfield, Victoria, in mid 1995, I wasn’t even planning to buy a dog, yet I came home with you, a beautiful brown-eyed angel.

Hazel, we spent fifteen fun-filled years together and now it’s time for you to go to doggy heaven. To me, you weren’t just a dog, you were my sister and my best friend. When I was sad or lonely, you were always there to comfort me. You were someone I could talk to, and, even though you couldn’t answer, you always listened.

Hazel, you will never be forgotten. Rest in peace, little angel.

I’m Emma from Tasmania and I lost Cevannah my pure bred German Shepherd on the 13th of November 2010 at the age of 6.Where do I start. I was 16-17 when I found a newspaper clipping of a guy who had German Shepherd pups for sale, Cevannah was the only one left by the time I enquired about the pups and she was the runt.

At the same time i had just got into a relationship with a guy, the guy started to physically abuse me really really bad. To cut a long sad story short, deep down even though I’m grieving still, I know that Cevannah was sent to me to help get me out of a bad situation and help me through my bad patch that I was having to deal with. She was always there to talk to when ever I felt down, she cuddled me all the time and even though she grew really big she still thought she could sit on my knee, at one point she even weighed more than me.

I used to spoon feed home-made stews to her. She was very very well behaved and obedient, protective, loyal, never judgemental, kind and shown me unconditional love. She was my best friend, for once in my life i actually felt and seen what the best friend trait was all about.

I am an adult and know what death is but yet every night I ask myself how do i get her back? I no I never can, but its better to love and be loved, its better to love and lose than never have loved at all. The day she died I travelled 8 hours to get her cremated, it has helped me deal with her death a little better. When Cevannah was 2 I got her name tattooed on me, She was the best thing that ever happened to me and I

Our beautiful golden labrador Jassy who died aged 121/2 years on the 12/11/10, she was a very much loved member of the Watson family in Frankston Victoria since we aquired her when she was 6 weeks old.

Chief was a pedigree Rotty,we had him put to sleep on the 8th Nov 2010, he was 13, I was told by a friend about Rotty pups and went to have a look, I bought him for a $110.00. I brought him home when he was 2 months old and has been with me ever since. His last resting place is in 23 Solomon Tce, Morawa,W.A.
Thankyou
Fiona Sewell

R.I.P. Chief 24 – 4- 1997 to 8-11-2010

Now here we have Chief
The youngest of eight
Born with no tail
He was dead at any rate

Then along came me
Just to have a look
It was then you took my heart
With that real stupid look

So I brought you home
To see how you would go
The cat beat the crap out of you
But you never had a go

So it was then that you changed my life
With your Pleases and Thankyou’s
We had lots of great times mate
And you Fathered thirty eight

So here we are at the end
12 years and 7 months later
A life in big demand
A heart left shattered
That will never mend

Until we meet again….

Our beloved pet was called Bobby, a Maltese Cross breed, who passed
away on the 15th September and he was 15 at the time of his passing.

We adopted Bobby from the Peninsula RSPCA Animal Shelter. Bobby lived with
us for 14 years and during this time he travelled all over Australia
with us in our Caravan. Bobby loved the car and caravan and was a
wonderful traveller.

He was the perfect dog, placid and loving. He
lived all his life with us at Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula.
Even people who were not dog lovers, loved Bobby.

Rest Well Bobby – we loved you so much.

Judith and Keith Bramich