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I was replying to some one else's post about aggression earlier and it brought up memories of my big dog I had before Layla. I got him when I was 17 and he would be the first dog that I raised and trained all by myself. I apologise for the long thread but this dog meant the world to me.
My mom and I were replacing our Weimaraner that died (at the grand age of 15) and decided this time we were definitely going to get a rescue. I have always loved dogs and decided that I would actively look for one with my mom. We found some ads in the newspaper classifieds (internet was a late bloomer here in South Africa) and found a few ads for private rescues. We decided to go visit them.
One a plot outside of town we met our future dog, a skinny, mangy, wormy little puppy that stood his ground amongst all the bigger dogs. His eyes focused in on us and he stood calm and alert as we petted his skin and bone hide. The lady at the rescue said she found him in the open fields near her plot, he was running around with his mom and another puppy. She only managed to catch him. The lady told us that although she couldn't promise us he would make it she believed he was a fighter and survivor.
My mom and I had fallen for him but as he was mainly hairless and looked like a bag of bones we weren't sure what to do. Anyway to cut it short after looking at a few other puppies at some other rescues we decided that his serious and fearless demeanour won us over despite his dire health. We went back and fetched him; in the car on the way to the vet I decided to call him Lex Luther. Our vet thought we had brought the pup in to be put down, my mother and I defensively said no he's our new puppy and we will save him. My father on the other hand took one look at the "mangy scrawny mutt" which we brought home after the vet and said "I send you out to get a guard dog and you come back with that, what is that?".
Well despite it all Lex grew and grew on his new diet of dog food and rice, he didn't get distemper, he never got parvo and all his fur grew back. He would prove to be the love of my life and one of the best dogs my family had the pleasure of knowing. Lex grew up with a Dalmatian, two chis and a little abused mongrel we found under a bush in the street about 3 months after we got Lex.
I was so ditsy for Lexi I would drive to new places so he could just see them, like he was a child or friend. I even took him past the zoo and took a walk outside the fence to see what animals I could show him. Lex was loyal to me in a way no other dog had been and creeped into the deepest parts of my heart. My mom had to feed him by hand when I wasn't around to get him to eat, he wouldn't let other people walk him and he would panic when I swam or bathed thinking I was drowning and try pull me out. I would go anywhere with Lex knowing he had my back in any situatuion.
My boy had to be put down due to a lifelong parasitic infection in the throat, Spirocerca lupi, that eventually became cancerous, we never knew he had it until it was too late. This proud dog who never cried or complained would lie in the kitchen on his mat struggling to eat and eventually even drink. We knew we had to let him go, he was only 9. I cried for him like a brother or a son. Lex Luther was the first dog who's ashes my mom requested the vet to return to us in a little box. I still miss him 2 years later.
I know Layla will never replace him but I am sure she can bring the same companionship and feeling of safety that Lex gave me. I cried writing this.
My mom and I were replacing our Weimaraner that died (at the grand age of 15) and decided this time we were definitely going to get a rescue. I have always loved dogs and decided that I would actively look for one with my mom. We found some ads in the newspaper classifieds (internet was a late bloomer here in South Africa) and found a few ads for private rescues. We decided to go visit them.
One a plot outside of town we met our future dog, a skinny, mangy, wormy little puppy that stood his ground amongst all the bigger dogs. His eyes focused in on us and he stood calm and alert as we petted his skin and bone hide. The lady at the rescue said she found him in the open fields near her plot, he was running around with his mom and another puppy. She only managed to catch him. The lady told us that although she couldn't promise us he would make it she believed he was a fighter and survivor.
My mom and I had fallen for him but as he was mainly hairless and looked like a bag of bones we weren't sure what to do. Anyway to cut it short after looking at a few other puppies at some other rescues we decided that his serious and fearless demeanour won us over despite his dire health. We went back and fetched him; in the car on the way to the vet I decided to call him Lex Luther. Our vet thought we had brought the pup in to be put down, my mother and I defensively said no he's our new puppy and we will save him. My father on the other hand took one look at the "mangy scrawny mutt" which we brought home after the vet and said "I send you out to get a guard dog and you come back with that, what is that?".
Well despite it all Lex grew and grew on his new diet of dog food and rice, he didn't get distemper, he never got parvo and all his fur grew back. He would prove to be the love of my life and one of the best dogs my family had the pleasure of knowing. Lex grew up with a Dalmatian, two chis and a little abused mongrel we found under a bush in the street about 3 months after we got Lex.
I was so ditsy for Lexi I would drive to new places so he could just see them, like he was a child or friend. I even took him past the zoo and took a walk outside the fence to see what animals I could show him. Lex was loyal to me in a way no other dog had been and creeped into the deepest parts of my heart. My mom had to feed him by hand when I wasn't around to get him to eat, he wouldn't let other people walk him and he would panic when I swam or bathed thinking I was drowning and try pull me out. I would go anywhere with Lex knowing he had my back in any situatuion.
My boy had to be put down due to a lifelong parasitic infection in the throat, Spirocerca lupi, that eventually became cancerous, we never knew he had it until it was too late. This proud dog who never cried or complained would lie in the kitchen on his mat struggling to eat and eventually even drink. We knew we had to let him go, he was only 9. I cried for him like a brother or a son. Lex Luther was the first dog who's ashes my mom requested the vet to return to us in a little box. I still miss him 2 years later.
I know Layla will never replace him but I am sure she can bring the same companionship and feeling of safety that Lex gave me. I cried writing this.
