"Aye, There's the rub!"

We had to put down our 12 year-old Golden Retriever, Rambeau ,  last  night.  As  I  write this morning,  I  still feel pretty raw emotionally. It's very odd to let only one dog outside, and not two. It's now also odd seeing two food dishes, when now, one will suffice.

In June of 1996, my sister Wendy's Golden Retriever, Maddie, had a bumper litter of puppies. I realize that all puppies are cute, but that said, I don't think there is anything cuter than 8-12 week old Golden Retriever puppies. Ian and Rachel were 9 and 5 at the time, and were all pumped up about the possibility of getting a puppy. Being a typical dad, I was saying "No, No, No". I was saying no all the way to my sister's place out in Orono, but my kids did not whine, or argue with me. They knew in their hearts that I would not be able to resist the charms of Golden Retriever puppies...well, they were right. I saw the puppies and my heart just melted. The kids picked out from the unsold puppies the one that they wanted, and my wife put a little bit of red fingernail polish on the inside of the puppy's ear to mark him. When we drove home with the puppy that my son had named Rambo, he threw up in the car on the way back to our house in New Hope. He never DID  enjoy riding in the car...

Yesterday seemed no different than most days.Rambeau had a good appetite, and he was in fine spirits when I took him and Buddha for a walk on Sunday afternoon after I got home from Rodrigo's rugby game...

We decided to spell Rambo, "Rambeau", for a little French flavor. He was just a joy as a puppy. He was by far and away the quickest learner as far as house training him.  He was just a joy as puppy-our exchange student at that time, Luis, was the first of 11 of our 12 exchange students to have Rambeau be a part of his exchange student experience living with us. Rabeau loved everybody, but my son Ian was his buddy. He slept most of the time with his boy. Rambeau was a playmate and confidente to Ian during what could be some tough patches from when he was in 4th-6th grade and Ian had really bad migraines and did not have many friends in the neighborhood.(The one down side of not going to local public school and going to Lutheran School) Rambeau was the main constant in Ian's life, shepherding him from childhood, through the potential minefield of his teen aged years to being a mature 20 year old adult. When Ian left home to go to college out at Rutgers University in New Jersey, the thing I will never forget is waiting for Ian in the car while he went back into the house to say goodbye to his dog. When he got into the car, his cheeks were tear-streaked.

The first indication that something was not quite right was Rambeau's behaviour while I was cooking dinner last night. He was breathing really, really heavily, seemed a bit agitated, and actually tried to jump on the counter while I was working on the Spaghetti Bolognese...

Rambeau loved everybody: adults, kids...he seemed to remember people who have been here before. Whenever it was a familiar face walking into our house, Rambeau would frequently grab a pillow in his mouth and taunt whoever the familiar person with his pillow, DARING them to try to take the pillow from him. He would also make his happy growling noise, or whimper in delight at seeing a familiar face. He was great with the cats, and his 12 years overlapped the lives of Kesha(an American Eskimo), Olivia(a retired Greyhound racer), and Buddha(our Olde Englishe Bulldogge). Kesha helped show Rambeau the ropes about being a dog, Oliva was a good friend, and getting Buddha a couple of years ago took a pudgy 85 pound Rambeau kicking and screaming into geriatric Golden Retriever fitness. Rambeau's overall health the last two years had been excellent.

The first seizure happened just before 10 PM. In the next hour, he had 2 more seizures. Each seizure lasting longer, and more violent than the previous one. He walked with great difficulty. His left side seemed to be going out. In between seizures, he still recognized me, my wife and the kids. It was obvious though that he seemed perplexed, as if he could not quite understand why his body was letting him down now. We brought him to the emergency vet in Golden Valley. My wife, my son and daughter all cried and hugged each other as we said good bye to our wonderful Golden Retriever. 

My Aunt Kay has remarked that animals are much less disappointing in our relationship with them compared to our relations with other human beings, because dogs do not care about our bank balance, our looks, our waistlines-none of that. Their love is pure and unconditional. There is no savings or investment that gives back more of a return than our relationship with our dogs.The warm thoughts of a now-departed dog is one of the few things that can make a human smile and cry at the same time.

Rambeau was the centerpiece of what is maybe my favorite memory of my son and daughter. When Ian came back home from New Jersey for Christmas, my daughter Rachel made a framed photo collage of pictures of Rambeau as her Christmas gift for her brother. When Ian opened the gift at my dad's house, he was so moved by his sister's gesture, that he just lost it. My son and daughter argued a lot as younger kids, but watching my son and daughter hug and support each other last night as they were mourning the loss of a wonderful dog, made me think that among the many great qualities Rambeau had, in the end, his love helped bring and keep us all together.

Good night old buddy. We'll never forget you.