Our Sissy
This morning Judy and I had to say goodbye to Sissy, our beautiful and devoted rottweiler. She was our adventure companion and a loving member of our family.
We got Sissy when she was eight months old. She was an abused rescue who became our son John's puppy. When he reached the age of independence and decided to leave the nest, he knew how much we grew to love her and how much she loved and needed our active family. He left her to live the balance of her life with us. She was the best gift he could have ever given to us.
Contrary to the common stereotype, rotties are naturally gentile dogs who love people and enjoy hanging out with their peeps (family). They love to talk and Sissy was no exception. By talk, I don't mean bark. Rotties are not barkers, they're vocalizers. Sissy would tell us long stories using gutteral grunts and short growls, punctuated by head nods, stubby tail wags, and lively facial expressions. Like often reported by other rottie owners, she would lay on her back with all four feet in the air, look at us upside down, and carry on quite the conversation. She often played with toys on her back, articulating the toy over her head with her front paws. It was amazing that she could hold a toy overhead playing with it so long without dropping it.
Sissy playing with a toy on her back
To be certain, rotties are a large, intelligent and powerful breed. If raised properly, they are well socialized, good family members, devoted, and gentile. Unfortunately some idiots own rotties for the wrong reason, teaching them to be aggressive and unbalanced. They give the breed a bad reputation. By breed standards, they are not naturally aggressive but rather stoic in nature. They are not a one person dog. They are a "I love my whole family" dog. They're one of the few breeds of dogs that you can stare into their eyes and they won't interpret the stare as a threat. For those who don't like dog smell in their home, rotties have almost no body odor. They are a breed that needs lots of exercise and activity.
Rotties are very intelligent and are typically referred to as the "gentile guard." They intuitively know the difference between a friend and a foe. They read their owner's emotions. If their owner welcomes another person, the rottie will likewise be welcoming. If on the other hand, the owner shows fear, the rottie will stand between the danger and its owner, making it very clear it will protect. Sissy was a typical rottie in this respect. I can honestly say she had never once shown aggression towards anyone we've invited into the home or met on the leash. She loved children, tolerating ear pulling and all their noise.
Sissy loved camping. At the end of a playful day, she enjoyed relaxing in her camp chair.
Sissy loved hiking, backpacking, camping, and off-roading. She had her own backpack and boots, carried her own food, water, and bedding in her pack. Rotties can carry up to 25% of their body weight with a properly fitted pack. You might think it is silly to have your dog wear boots. On the contrary, it is usually a good idea on rough trails in the desert Southwest where cactus, sharp rocks, and hot surfaces can injure a dog's paws on the trail. She loved to go backpacking with us so much that we learned to never show her backpack or boots to her unless we were prepared to put them on her and take her on the trail. Otherwise, she would mope around the house in abject disappointment for hours.
She loved backpacking
She was obedience trained and knew quite a number of verbal and visual commands. She was most obedient when given command. She was taught a number of tricks, some of them complicated and sequenced. She even learned a skit that we called "Shoot out at OK corral." She was the outlaw and played the part well. At the very end of the skit, I would point my index finger at her like a handgun and say "bang!" She would fall over onto her back, throw all four legs into the air, hang her tongue out, and play dead by laying motionless. Children loved to watch her act and she loved the attention she got from their applause and hugs.
Then there was the rottiegram. We would take post-em notes, write messages on them, stick them to her head and tell her "take it to [person's name]." She would deliver the note promptly. Of course, she loved the praise she would get when the note was delivered.
Sissy was the life of the party.
There was a practical set of jobs she knew and carried out faithfully. Rotties need jobs else their intelligence will get them into trouble when bored. Judy had several spinal surgeries over the past four years with long recoveries in bed. Without any training or prompting, Sissy stayed by Judy's side. When Judy was in pain or needed something, Sissy would run to get me. She had several vocalizations and gestures that meant very specific things like "dad, mommy needs you to come right now" or "mom is in pain, help her." If she thought it was urgent, she would press her chin on me and pull towards the direction she wanted me to follow as if to say "you need to come with me now!" Judy and I both knew that with Sissy, we would always be aware of each other's safety and needs.
She could have made a great rescue or service dog. If I asked her "where's mommy" she would search the house for her (if she didn't already know where she was) then lead me to her. She would do the same for Judy if she asked "where's daddy?"
Well, I could write a book about our magnificent and beautiful Sissy. There was so much character and thought going on behind her intelligent eyes. If she had one fault, it was she was a klutz. She has been known to walk into walls, bang her head on cupboards and tables, trip over her own feet, once falling down the stairs and braking a toe. At first I thought there was something wrong with her. In researching her klutzieness, I learned that rotties are notorious for being clumsy, often with a comical flair.
Sissy poses for a photo moment while hiking
A week ago, just three weeks before her 9th birthday, she very suddenly stopped eating and became lethargic. We noticed also that her stomach was distended when the previous day it wasn't. We took her right away to the vet, thinking she had a digestive upset or possibly ate something toxic.
Following some x-rays, it was discovered that she had a considerable amount of fluid in her tummy area. Being concerned, our vet referred us to the local animal hospital where she underwent additional diagnostics later in the day. The news was not good. She had an advanced stage of hemangiosarcoma - cancer of the spleen - a particularly aggressive and fast growing cancer.
Shocked and devastated by the report, I asked the vet how long she had to live; weeks, months maybe? The vet said only days. How is it that she had such advanced stage cancer and we saw no signs that she was ill?
She was a family dog and loved snuggling with everyone. Here she's cuddling with Natalie.
Hemangiosarcoma is a fast and silent killer in many cases. Most dogs feel no pain from it. The spleen, a very vascular organ, ruptures and they die suddenly and unexpectedly. Sometimes, they recover only to succumb from a later rupture.
Hoping to shrink the 4 inch tumor and perhaps give her a few more comfortable months, we decided to try one chemotherapy treatment to see if her cancer might respond favorably as up to 50% of hemangiosarcoma cases caught early enough will shrink, affording the dog up to a year of active life. She started her chemo treatment two days ago. She did real well but unfortunately, she just didn't have enough time to rally.
Last night, she started to decline very quickly. I'm sure her spleen ruptured again. I sat up with her through most of the night until about 8:00 am. At that time she got up and went to the back door. Thinking she needed to go out into the back yard to relieve herself, I opened the door. It was cool out and overcast. She went out and laid down in the grass and faced away from me. I spoke to her and while she turned to look at me in response, she insisted on staring away. Judy also spoke to her and got the same quick glance then staring away. She didn't want to be with us. I knew what that meant.
Coming from a line of champions she had well defined markings and breed standard proportions.
Dogs are pack animals. When they are dying, they will leave the pack to die in seclusion. They do it to protect the pack from predators they might attract in their weakened condition. Sissy knew the time had come to depart. She was very weak and tired. While she didn't understand why she felt the need to separate, ingrained by instinct, she wanted to protect us from harm. The back yard was as far as she could go to separate herself from us. She glanced towards us occasionally to make sure we were safe then looked away for long periods so as to not give away our location. Her last duty was to protect us and she was so selflessly dedicated to it.
At 10:45 this morning she passed away quietly and painlessly in both our arms. In her final moments, we caressed her head and told her how pretty she is - a phrase she loves and lovingly squints her eyes when she hears it. Our little girl went to play with the angels.
We had a big heart shaped helium filled balloon I bought Judy for St. Valentines Day that had the phrase "I Love You" in bold letters on it. It was still in the kitchen hovering over a stuffed toy I attached it to. This afternoon, Judy and I wrote another rottiegram that said "We love you Sissy" on one side and "you're a good girl" on the flip side - another phrase she loves to hear. We tied it to the balloon and took it outside to released it. We watched it ascend and eventually disappear into the clouds. It was our last rottiegram sent to our pretty girl. We already miss her so much.
Always by mommy's side. (This photo was taken 6 months ago)
[UPDATE: March 13, 2010 - Sissy's 9th Birthday Today]
We received a number of sympathy cards from friends of Sissy. We offer a heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to console us and who were a special part of Sissy's life. Here are a few of the cards we received:
Blue Cross Animal Hospital - The folks at Blue Cross provided ongoing health care for Sissy through out much of her life. They are an incredible group of kind, knowledgeable, and caring veterinarians and assistants. If you're looking for a vet in the West Las Vegas area, they are the best!
Veterinary Referral Center - Dr. Vaughan and his assistant Juanita were Sissy's oncologists. I was amazed at the size and equippage of this state-of-the-art facility. Dr. Vaughan, Dr. Fernando, and Juanita are exceptional and caring individuals who fought as hard as anyone could on Sissy's behalf. Many thanks to them and their staff for their kind and compassionate care while Sissy was their patient.
