Remy, my first dog.
Remy came home at just 6.5 weeks old - too young, but I was impatient. He was an Isabella (fawn) dobermann; the dilute form of the red. He carried many problems - because of his colour, he had alopecia (a genetic disease common in fawns and blues) and poor skin (also common); because he was heavily inbred, his conformation (physical construction) was dreadful. He had a rare form of hypothyroidism; biceps tendonitis; osteoarthritis which responds only to a select few natural treatments; a slipped disc and hip dysplasia. Despite all that he remained a cheerful, friendly, cuddly dog, as dobes are. He had his difficult times - at 2yrs old a run-in with an adolescent male boxer sparked a dislike of all entire male dogs and all boxers. In later life he only disliked a few, as with most dogs (none of us gets on with everyone we meet, after all!) and some of his best friends were entire males.
Remy had a promising agility career when he was 18 months old - he was fast, precise, responsive. Unfortunately, we were lacking in any decent clubs where I used to live, and by the time I'd moved up here a year later, his thyroid problems had begun and he injured his shoulder, triggering the tendonitis that would haunt him from then onwards as no vet managed to diagnose it until a disc popped and the physio recognised it for what it was.
In 2012 Remy suffered that slipped disc on a walk - thankfully not too serious, he was still mobile but his mobility was reduced. Then in 2014, just 3 months after losing Opi, I found a lump in his throat and less than three days after that, my beautiful boy, the dog that started all of this died from aggressive lymphoma and broke my world.
Remy came home at just 6.5 weeks old - too young, but I was impatient. He was an Isabella (fawn) dobermann; the dilute form of the red. He carried many problems - because of his colour, he had alopecia (a genetic disease common in fawns and blues) and poor skin (also common); because he was heavily inbred, his conformation (physical construction) was dreadful. He had a rare form of hypothyroidism; biceps tendonitis; osteoarthritis which responds only to a select few natural treatments; a slipped disc and hip dysplasia. Despite all that he remained a cheerful, friendly, cuddly dog, as dobes are. He had his difficult times - at 2yrs old a run-in with an adolescent male boxer sparked a dislike of all entire male dogs and all boxers. In later life he only disliked a few, as with most dogs (none of us gets on with everyone we meet, after all!) and some of his best friends were entire males.
Remy had a promising agility career when he was 18 months old - he was fast, precise, responsive. Unfortunately, we were lacking in any decent clubs where I used to live, and by the time I'd moved up here a year later, his thyroid problems had begun and he injured his shoulder, triggering the tendonitis that would haunt him from then onwards as no vet managed to diagnose it until a disc popped and the physio recognised it for what it was.
In 2012 Remy suffered that slipped disc on a walk - thankfully not too serious, he was still mobile but his mobility was reduced. Then in 2014, just 3 months after losing Opi, I found a lump in his throat and less than three days after that, my beautiful boy, the dog that started all of this died from aggressive lymphoma and broke my world.