Some of the old hands on the forum may remeber that we lost one of our beloved GSDs a couple of weeks before I came to Canada. Well, just to complete the circle, a couple of weeks before I return to the UK we have lost our beloved GSD Oscar this afternoon. He was the gentlest and most affectionate dog that anyone could wish for. Coming home to him every evening could brighten the darkest of days.

What a week this has finished off. Mrs Posidrive was admitted to hospital with a burst Appendix last week. At least on a postive note she is doing well. I won't hear a word against the Canadian health system. Her hospital diagnosis and treatment at Rocky View Hospital has been first class, except for the food.

Hope things get better soon.

Am a newcomer to BE, but as an animal lover, I do sympathize on the loss of your dog. Have had to face that and know how you feel. Glad Mrs.P
is doing well . Hospital food depends on where you are. When my daughter was in hospital, before she died 2yrs ago, the food was really quite decent, not great, but certainly edible.

So sorry to hear about Oscar.

Best wishes to Mrs Posidrive for most speedy recovery.

Exactly what he ^^^^^^^^^ said.

OMG Largo that must have been horrendous. My brother lost his son 4 years ago. It was gut wrenching for the whole family. Hope you are keeping....

And posidrive losing a dog is tough too: I've had to put down my best four legged friend too. Very sad.

Good grief T - what a week indeed So sorry to hear about your dog.

Continued best wishes to P for a speedy recovery - and remember my offer.

This year will improve no end, and will finish on a high - honest

Thats horrid Posi - big hugs zx x x

So sorry to hear about Oscar...

I know exactly what you are going through - we have a GSD but before him we had 2 GSD's and lost them both with a year of each other....

So sorry to hear your news GSD's are beautiful, I had one for almost 13years & it broke my heart when she went.

Best wishes to Mrs Posidrive too x x

So sorry to hear that sounds like Oscar was a very lucky dog to be loved so much.

we lost our lovely golden retriever a couple of weeks ago to Cancer, she ( Honey ) just made her 10th birthday,

one of the most heart wrenching things i have had to do was to have her put to sleep, ( we couldn't watch her suffer ) We do have 2 others one being her daughter she is so sad, the other also very sad and nearly 10 years old,while bathing him a few days ago we have just discovered a huge lump on him my thoughts are with you and your wife, hope she makes a full recovery soon

I can totally empathise about the dog situation. Have been through it a few times and it never gets easier. Still, the many years of joy and happiness should always be cherished.

Hope your wife recovers nicely.

Chin up

Edited to add - I've sent to Karma your way ;-)

Sympathies, I know what I was like when we lost our GSD Cimber. He was my first dog and I was surprised how it effected me.

+1 more

Many thanks to all for the kind comments. My heart goes out to all of you who have also lost loved one, both children and dogs. I know you can't compare the 2 losses, but you know what I mean.

Mrs P is now up and about, bouncing around our house. I'm quite amazed at her speed of recovery.

I think Oscar had a good life. We got him from Battersea as a 3 month old puppy just over 12 years ago, he and his 3 brothers had been abandoned because whoever bred him only wanted the bitches in the litter. We chose him because he had the biggest ears you have ever seen on a German Shepherd puppy, one of which had a small hole in it probably caused byone of his brothers. Ever since then he had been our ever present shadow.

2 years ago he collapsed one day and was rushed to the Western vetinary clinic in Calgary. Dr. Dave, the head surgeon, performed a mirricle and saved him by removing his spleen which had a very aggressive cancer. He was given 2-3 months to live but had a very happy extra 2 years up until the last couple of weeks when he became very weak. We can never thank the staff at this clinic enough for the extra quality time that they gave Oscar.

Yesterdays decision to have him put to sleep was absolutely heart breaking, not least of all because we thought that he had been been a lucky dog and the cancer had not spread because of the timescale. He had another relatively minor operation to remove a cyst last year and the surgeons found no signs that it had returned. The decision was made even worse because of our current circumstances regarding going back to the UK. They could possibly have operated to give him another few months, although there was a good chance we would not have survived the operation. But even if he had survived the operation it is unlikely that he would have passed the medical exam to be allowed to travel back with us and even if he did travel there was a good chance he would not have survived the flight. So he would have spent has last few months pining for us in a dog rescue home. This would have been no quality of life for him. The cost of the operation was never an issue, I would have sold my home to pay for it if necessery. But worst of all, when we went to the clinic to be told the bad news about his test results yesterday, when he saw us he lifted his head and looked so happy to see us. You could see that he was expecting to be taken home.

Sorry for the outpouring. I'm sat in my office today and can't get my head around anything work related.