Baby “Angel” Doberman as a puppy
Exactly one year ago today we said good-bye to a dear friend – our 12 year-old Doberman Baby. Before she became part of our family, we suspect Baby was in training to be a dog-fighter. The night Jennie (Veery) found her coincided with a series of crackdowns on gang-related dog-fighting rings in our city of Rockford. Baby was hungry and desperate for a home; we felt extremely blessed to have her.
Over the next dozen years Baby lived the life of a spoiled, pampered dog – she was always hard to get mad at because she was so sweet. Everywhere she went Baby touched the lives of those she met. Never having her tail or ears altered, she wasn’t the typical Doberman look, but that long tail was almost always thumping wildly.
Baby, Spot and Birdfreak at the Grand Canyon
Baby was an eager camper and hiker but didn’t mind her comforts. She had a zest for life and never complained. Her greatest feature was her ability to comfort us in any time of trouble. Her greatest fear was to see us unhappy.
Unfortunately, Baby was stricken with cancer. Throughout her life she had several fatty tumors removed, all benign, but in December of 2006 she was diagnosed with bone cancer. We were devastated yet thankful that we were able to hold on to her for three more months. I sat with her when she passed away, something that I promised her a few years prior when we lost our Black Labrador to a mysterious illness.
Baby’s presence is still felt daily, not only in our other dogs, but in the positive feeling she provided us for all those years. Some might think a dog is just a pet, but to us she was much more. She gave us the push to pursue bird conservation as a way to fix the environment and perhaps help eliminate the problems that cause cancer.
Baby will be missed but her legacy lives on each day as we pursue our goal to promote birding and conservation.
In Baby’s honor we have donated to Special Needs Dobermans, a great cause that helps abused, ill, and unwanted Dobermans. Check them out and help them if you can!!
Awww, sorry to hear about your loss one year ago, but happy to see that you cherish and remember.
Hang on to the memories that make you smile and continue, as you said, your road to conservation in Baby’s honor.
Blessings for you all! And keep up the EXCELLENT work!
My sympathies. *hugs* Thanks for sharing your memories. I lost a cat-friend to cancer, as well. I still mourn that loss (& that of my husky not long before,) so many years later. Animal companions are adept at crawling very deeply into one’s heart. As much as I’d love having a pet again, I still don’t think I’m ready.
Melissa – thank you and the memories are worth so much that they out-weigh the pain of loss.
Lana – thank you; we felt it would be impossible to get another dog but within a week we had adopted Arizona, a puppy found roaming around a local airport. We only wish we had room to rescue more but understand the difficulty after the loss…
Hi Birdfreak – it sounds like you lost Baby just shortly before we lost our husky, Kodiak (Kody, for short). We also lost Kody to cancer, to be excact, hemangiosarcoma. I think it’s a form of cancer of the blood. Like you miss Baby, we miss him so much. Kody was also a rescued dog – we acquired him when he was 5 yrs old, and he was 10 when we lost him. At least we can all say that our pets certainly make our lives richer, and they give us a lot of memories to cherish.
Mary – Thanks for sharing; cancer is such an evil, disgusting thing; dogs (and other pets) improve our lives so much and to rescue them is so very worth it.