Napoleon

Napoleon was my first "baby". He was born on May 30th, 1989, and we adopted him on July 14th 1989. He was a doberman/rottweiler cross. He was the most gentle, affectionate, friendly dog I ever owned. He survived my four pregnancies, the sometimes abuse from those curious babies without ever a growl or a threat towards them. In fact, training the kids to be nice to him was a bigger job.

He was my dog, but he also became very loyal to my oldest daughter, even before she was big enough to take him for walks. He let neighbourhood cats come and cuddle to him, enjoyed watching the birds in the feeders, loved swimming, walking and running.

When he was 9, he started having arthritis in his back that sometimes would almost paralyze him. With the right pills, he was back to normal in no time. A year later, he developped a tumor near his heart, but it never seemed to grow or affect his health. At around 11, he became deaf. At 13, he stopped eating his regular food. After a check-up, I was told he had liver cancer, and that his kidneys weren't functioning normally anymore. He started to defecate in the house, and was getting quite weak physically. He would sometimes fall during his walk. He was in pain, what the vet called "silent pain" and with his continuing weight loss and poor eating, a decision had to be made.

"Napo" was relieved from his pain on November 14th 2002, at the age of 13 and a half years. We were all with him in his last moments. We miss him very much.

Hélène