The eulogies and condolences keep pouring in for Ruff

Less than 24 hours since I posted the notice on Facebook that my best friend Ruffin had passed away over 1,000 messages of love, support, sympathy, condolences and eulogies have poured in from around the world.

Ruffin in all his quiet beauty had gathered a huge following everywhere.

It is no wonder that when total strangers met him and called him Handsome, Gorgeous and Beautiful and got to enjoy his kisses that others who merely fell in love with him from my photos would share their feelings.

Here are some of the sympathy cards sent to me since yesterday.

I am overwhelmed at the number of hearts Ruffin has touched.

Eulogy by Kimberly Michelle Anderson

Dee Bella Lail eulogy for Ruff

 Martha Gierschick eulogy for Ruffin

Beth Greenaway eulogy for Ruffin

Michelle O'Reilly eulogy for Ruffin

Sharon Jones Cote eulogy for Ruff

Judy Papinchak eulogy for Ruffin

Eileen Hughes eulogy for Ruffin

 

Where do we go from here

On another note, I posted the notice about Ruffin passing away on my Facebook page this morning and in less than 8 hours over 500 comments and condolences have poured in. This blog hasn't gotten 500 comments in the 20 years I've been writing it. There is no incentive to posting stories and photos if no one shows any interest or appreciation. The comments are what makes it worthwhile. When I tried to explain my lack of postings for that last several weeks I didn't want to mention this because it seemed to selfish and critical. Now that all my Rottweilers are gone except for Bessie I will have to weigh the value of the time and effort to keep this going.

Ruff's last days

I was in the hospital for 5 days and had a pacemaker put in. While I was there the lady who was taking care of Bess and Ruff told me he seemed to be missing me and was getting depressed. He even stopped eating.

I was so happy to get home and see him again and give him hugs and kisses. Ruff seemed overjoyed that I was back. I think there was something else more seriously wrong with him. And I think he was holding himself together waiting for me.

I came home on Tuesday and he seemed to be better and he even ate his dinner. I took him to the Vet yesterday and the Vet did some tests but didn't say anything conclusive and sent him home.

I am not too quick to make connections but two people have already pointed out that Ruff knew I would return and he waited for me to get back home before he died. I don't know how much of his condition his favorite lady Vet, Dr. Black may have guessed but I am glad she did not ask me to leave him there overnight. I think I would have if she did and he would have died alone in a cage. I had the opportunity to stay by his side in his home until he passed away.

Everything also seemed to work in that regard. At 12:30 AM this morning I made an attempt to take him to the 24-hour Emergency Clinic in Wilder. I had two friends come over but they couldn't lift him into the van. If I had gotten him to the Emergency Clinic they would have asked me to leave him and he would have died alone in a strange place.

So I laid him on the living room floor on a blanket and laid down next to him and stayed with him until he fell asleep and passed away at 5:45AM this morning.

 *************

My beloved Ruff, my Best Friend Forever, is gone

My big guy, Ruffin, my Best Friend Forever, passed away in his sleep around 5:45 AM this morning. To me and to those who knew him, he was the most handsome, gorgeous and beautiful Rottweiler in the world. I am waiting now for the pet crematory to come pick him up. I will hold his ashes and take them with me when my time comes to see him again at the bridge.

RIP Ruff

2006-2018

A few difficult months but hopefuly it is behind us

Up until a few weeks ago I had no excuse for not posting anything new. I will try and make up for that now. I will save the best for last.

On July 1st Bessie had her 4th birthday and like all birthdays we had a party. We all shared a sumptuous home-made meatloaf with mashed potato icing.

 

 

 

Bessie and Ruff have been following me around the house every day. The kitchen seems to be their favorite room in the house. I am so honored that they love my cooking so much. As the photos above show, Ruff always does an amazing job cleaning his bowl. In those photos he was sharing my meatloaf birthday cake.

 

When I am spending time in the den on the computer Ruff and Bessie keep me company. When they are together they give each other lots of love and kisses. And they take lots of naps. I am always soothed when I am listening to their soft snoring sounds. Except when they follow me into the living room to watch a movie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I started having some heart problems. My Primary Care Physician told me I should see a Cardiologist and I did and he took an EKG and it showed a spike he didn't like. So he ordered me a heart monitor to wear. The heart monitor that I was wearing last week picked up a heart block and alerted my cardiologist who called me last Friday and told me to go to the Emergency Room. The ER did an EKG and confirmed the heart block and they did an Angiogram followed by the surgery to implant the Pacemaker. My only problem now is the pain in my left arm anf the limited range of motion. I got to fully appreciate that this morning when I got dressed. It was almost impossible to put on a pair of socks and tie my shoe laces.
 
THERE ARE ANGELS AMONG US.

A few months ago I met a wonderful woman who was actively involved in a local Christian church. The meeting was accidental. I needed help with my outside landscaping so I posted a Help Wanted notice on a local FB Group. I included my phone number and the next day I got a phone call I will never forget.

"My name is Elizabeth, I am 16 years old. I have worked on a farm and I am strong."

Elizabeth was the only one who responded to my ad. She doesn't drive so her mother brought her over. She worked harder than all of the boys I hired last year. And in spite of being a lightweight she was strong. And unlike the boys I hired before her, she kept coming back for more.

Then an amazing thing happened. Elizabeth's mother Rachel began volunteering her help, too. When I needed to get mulch for the landscaping her mother offered to borrow a trailer from her church an go buy the mulch and deliver it. And over two weeks she and her husband did this three times.

Last week when the cardiologist called and told me to go to the Emergency Room I told him I couldn't do that because I had no one to watch my two Rottweilers, Bessie and Ruffin. Then I called Rachel and told her my problem. She didn't hesitate for a moment to offer her help. Rachel drove me to the hospital with her daughter and they stayed with me for 5 hours until I was admitted. And for the five days I was in the hospital they came and took care of Ruff and Bessie several times each day.

Ruffin and Bessie hit it off right away with Elizabeth and Rachel. I received daily updates from Rachel and she even made a video of Elizabeth playing with both of the Rotts. I knew I couldn't stay in the hospital much longer when Rachel told me that Ruff was starting to miss me. The cardiologist implanted the pacemaker on Monday, the day before I came home. On the same day Rachel told me that Ruffin had stopped eating.

Yesterday, Rachel picked me up and brought me home. She went into the house first and took Bessie out back so I could see my best friend Ruff. And that was some greeting. Ruff smothered me with kisses for about 5 minutes. Then Rachel brought Bessie in the house and we did the same thing all over. Both Ruff and Bess spent the entire day with me to make sure I wasn't going to leave them any more.

I am so glad I met and made friends with Rachel and Elizabeth. Whatever it is that they teach them at their church, they have shown me a new meaning to Christian charity. And I am convinced that there are Angels that walk among us.

How about some Rottweiler ice cream?

I am glad I no longer have to worry about what to do with Bessie. This problem had created a huge blockage that just about held up everything. So give me a chance to do some catching up.

A friend sent me a recipe for Rottweiler Ice Cream. I know just about every dog owner gives their best friends ice cream but dairy products are not supposed to be good for them. Rottweiler Ice Cream isn't made from milk, it only uses plain yogurt, bananas and peanut butter. And Bess and Ruff love it.

I made the first batch two weeks ago and filled up three ice cube trays and put it in the freezer. This is what the reaction was.

 

 

 

 

Final decision on Bessie. ACL surgery no longer an option.

I took Bess and Ruff into Noah's Ark Animal Clinic on Thursday for their annual check up. They laid down next to each other in the waiting room and Ruff took a nap while Bess stayed next to him and kept an eye on all the people and dogs almost as if she was on guard. She was just so calm and alert and watched everyone come and go and she made me so proud. I loved seeing everyone smile at them when they noticed us.

When our turn was called the tech put them both on the scale, Bess has lost 3 LBS and is now 112 LB. Ruff still holding at 130 LB. They got their updated shots and heartworm test and that was all good. (Heartworm test came back negative the next day.)

Dr. McGlassen called me later that evening to say they found some hook worms in Ruff's stool and he will switch brands from the Heartgard heart pills to Spectrum and get a de-wormer medicine tomorrow. Bessie is in fine shape and while she is no longer limping she is favoring her left hind leg because of the low dose of pain meds I am giving her doesn't completely hide the pain so she will not overexert herself and worsen the damage. I got a chance to talk about over my options with Dr. McGlasson about Bessie's partially torn CCL. Due to my concerns over being unable to provide proper post op rehab I have decided to keep Bess on the low dose of pain management I am using now with Gabapentin and Rimadyl instead of risking a surgical approach. 

My experience 14 years ago after Sassy had both knees repaired and the many years of pain management afterward convinced me that a conservative approach with Bess would be best. During the course of my research I found there were many potential problems with the two most popular CCL repairs. Some of the stories were just terrible to read. Any sudden movement of the leg can easily break the attached metal plate and screws holding it in place. And the leg must not be allowed to move until the bone grows back together and becomes stronger and that takes 8 to 10 weeks. What complicates the matter is that Bessie seems to have an acute sense of hearing and always jumps up and runs to the front door when there is any sound outside.

I already spent $500 on x-rays and two visits to an Orthopedic specialist for Bess and have no qualms with spending $4000 more for the surgery. BUT even if a CCL surgery was 100% successful, baring no infection or hardware implant rejection, the only way she would make it through post op rehab would be to totally sedate her 24 hours a day for 4-8 weeks to keep her absolutely still. I have no way to keep her from moving around or standing up and messing up the surgery so this was my best option.

The good news is that Bessie is doing very well and has almost no physical limitations. Since the CCL was only slightly torn there is a chance it will get better over time.

A small praise to a nice company with a very big heart, Chewy.com

I would like to thank everyone at Chewy.com for the wonderful surprise you sent me. Today I received two beautiful hand painted portraits of my Rottweilers Ruffin and Bessie. It may not show in the photo but these portraits are painted on canvas and stretched over a wood frame. 

Gotta give a shout out to Chewy.com because they really know how to make a great impression with their customers. I have only purchased one item from Chewy, my XXL sized dog crate, and I made sure to tell them how please I was with it. So to my surprise I found a small package outside my door this morning and it had two small 6x6 inch hand-painted portraits of two Rottweilers that look very much like Ruff and Bess. The portraits are painted on canvas and attached to a wood frame just as larger oil paintings are.

 

 

Everything isn't as bleak as it seems. Sometimes we do have some fun.

I would like to share a recent event that took place here. I am calling Promises Broken and Promise Kept. It was a little thing that involved an ice cream cone.

Broken promises.
Well, the ice cream truck came down the street today. This was the first time I was ready for it. Before it turned around at the end of our dead end street I went in and grabbed the camera. I had promised Ruff and Bess I would buy them an ice cream cone. So we waited, and waited and finally the truck comes up to our house and I flagged him down. And the man inside said he didn't carry ice cream, he only carried flavored ice drinks. So after dinner tonight we will go for a ride over to Dairy Queen and buy some.

I need to mention this wasn't the first time this colorful truck has come down our street. Last year Bess was very interested in seeing it and hearing the loud music it was playing and when it past by us I promised her that one day we would be ready for it and I would buy her an ice cream cone. Little did I realize they didn't carry ice cream.

Promise kept.
Well, almost. They didn't have frozen ice cream cones to take home so I bought a bag of dixie cups. And one more correction, its not DQ its UDF, United Dairy Farmers. Anyway, Bess and Ruff enjoyed the ice cream just as much.

More catching up - blame it on the worry

Nobody likes to hear excuses. So I will just begin by offering an apology. This blog has been my sincerest form of love for my Rottweilers. They have made me so filled with pride that I want to tell the world about the joy they have given me every day. But it has been the sorrow associated with their medical problems that has formed a road block in my mind. My mind has been so occupied by the pending crisis with Bessie's torn ACL that I have been unable to write as much as before. I must also admit that I am spending more time on Facebook looking for answers from people who have had this experience and enjoying the comfort of their companionship. Ruffin also has quite a following among Rottie owners as you could imagine.

The more I planned to have the needed surgery on Bess, the more I have learned of the pitfalls. And every pitfall has made me pause and think about how it must be handled. I have been reading a lot of horror stories about how difficult it is to properly care for a large dog following post-op ACL repair and that is my greatest concern.

The problem has many parts. For one, there are several different types of ACL repair but not every canine Orthopedic specialist does all of them. For obvious reasons some surgeons have picked one specialized treatment and stuck with it for many years. This greatly limits the choices of where to have the surgery and by whom. Each type of ACL repair requires expensive specialized tools, hardware and training. The last surgeon I talked to told me she had been doing a certain type of TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy) for 20 years and didn't want to invest in the high costs of doing the newer procedures.

From what I have been reading there are two basic types of surgery, cutting the bone or drilling holes. The one that involves cutting the top of the leg bone below the knee and either rotating the bone to a new angle then holding it in place with metal plates for about 10 weeks until the bone heals, the other involves cutting and inserting a wedge to spread the cut in the same bone and using metal plates and screws to hold it together for 10 weeks until the bone heals. Both procedures greatly weaken the bone until it has healed and make it prone to failure if the cut is disturbed by violent leg movement. And that is where the horror stories have come up. There have many reports that some of the metal hardware and screws become dislodged or the implants are rejected or become infected and in both cases the surgery must be repeated. In most cases this does not happen and the metal plates are left inside for the life of the dog. But when that problem occurs before the bone has healed the leg becomes useless and must be kept in an immovable cast. The lesser involved procedure uses bands of synthetic material to take the place  of the torn ligament. This is called Lateral Suture Stabilization (LSS) but what I've read is it is for small dogs only.

My main concern with Bess is she is a highly active and excitable girl. She is also very big and very strong and hard to control. Finding a way to keep her immobilized every minute of the day except for potty breaks and doing so for almost 3 months is my greatest concern. I have read where people who were much younger than me put a mattress on the floor and literally slept next to their dogs every night. I would not be able to do this. I have difficulty getting up off the floor now. My most detailed plan involved keeping Bess sedated all day long and even that gave me concerns. How much sedation can she take without creating a problem. And little things like disabling the door bell and putting a sign on the door to keep people from knocking because these things cause Bess to explode into action that I have not been able to stop.

I have written about my Rottie girl Sassy who had both ACLs repaired 12 years ago. She was only 80 lbs or so and had the simpler procedure, the Lateral Suture Stabilization (LSS) which did not involve cutting the bone but three years later she developed so much pain she spent the last 4 years of her life on a very expensive daily pain management routine. And I do not know if the LSS should never had been done because she was too big and that caused it to fail.

Right now Bess has not shown any sign of pain or discomfort. She gets a small dose of pain pills twice a day. In order to limit her movement I read that lowering the dosage of the pain medicine would make her aware of some of the pain and force her to go easy on her activity. So she is getting half the dose that the Vet prescribed and seems quite comfortable. This has not interfered with her moving around and I have begun to think maybe she has gotten used to it. I also think the surgery would not be successful because I cannot guarantee that I could keep her off her leg for such a long time and do not want to create more pain for her than she already has. So that is the conundrum that I face every day.

Everything else has been made ready. I bought Bess an oversized crate that I intended to have her stay in for the long period of recuperation. She has slowly gotten used to it. Ruffin even found his way into the new crate and decided to take a nap one day.

While I am writing about the available options there is one more that should be mentioned. Its called Conservative Management and it basically means doing no surgery at all and lowering the daily activity and possibly that over time the torn ligament will heal by itself. I wish this were true because in a way that is what I am doing right now.

This is just going to have to take longer than I expected.