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I found an emaciated two-year-old male Rottweiler in my yard in August of 2002. To be honest, before this wayward dog showed up in my yard, I had no use for the breed because of the stories I have read and heard about rottweilers hurting people. It is difficult to describe how much that dog changed my life...he literally looked like SATAN'S hound when I found him, and I was afraid of him. Fortunately, I know enough not to show an animal fear. That first night I had him, I knelt down in front of him and he walked forward and put his head in my chest in a way that said to me, "Oh, thank you for caring". My opinion of rottweilers had changed immediately and forever. I kept him for several days and fed him by hand while I put an ad in the Belleville News-Democrat for someone to claim him. Since no one claimed him I did what I believed to be best for him; I took him to the Belleville Humane Society. Unfortunately, he would only eat when I hand fed him so I went about every other day to the humane society to ensure that he would eat. He was to be adopted and I felt such relief that someone would take care of him. Unfortunately, the adopters never came through and after nearly a month when I was told the dog's time was nearly "up", I stepped in to adopt him. What's worse, he had tested positive for heartworm and adopting him would be very expensive, I was told. I was given the choice by the humane society to back out and change my mind. That big scrawny dog had been through so much there was no way I could turn my back on him. I named him shadow because he was just a shadow of what this beautiful dog could be. I proceeded to take care of him for over six months and he gained weight, learned his name, and learned simple commands like come and sit. Shadow also learned to stay inside an electronic fence. In March of 2003, he began to lose weight and I noticed he had lumps on both sides of his neck. I took Shadow to the vet where he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. I was told he had only about a month to live. Three weeks later, the dog could not close his mouth anymore due to the size of the tumors on his neck. He would not eat and I had to return him to the vet where he was put to sleep. This dog had a rough start. This dog barely had a chance. I know I made this dog's life worthwhile because I gave him love until his last day. |
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