Oscura
Boxer Pal
Last May 2010, my husband and I decided to get a puppy for our new home that was being built. We decided to raise him with our families before getting married and finally moving in to our house. He was raised with both our families; during the week with my family and the weekends with his. He become what we joked about, a community dog. He was loved and cared for by everyone in our family.
When we bought him we did not think or pay attention in looking for a reputable breeder. We found an add in the local classified online. When we called to find out if the pups were still available we were told that the litter only contained 5 puppies, 4 females and 1 male. In those 5, 3 were dwarfs and the other two appeared to be normal. They said that the father had an abnormality in his genes that made "dawrfs" and we would have to sign an agreement with them that we would have him fixed when he was old enough. We called the local vet to ask about these "dwarfs" and if it would have affected the other 2 that appeared to be normal. We were told that it was nothing to be concerned about and if the normal puppies have a clean record from their vet, he should be healthy. We decided to go and visit the puppy and see if it would be a match. Upon our arrival, the male pup ran up to my husband and immediatly licked his leg and sat down beside him. We knew at that moment that we would be taking him home with us that evening.
The following day, we took him to our vet to ensure that everything was ok with him - we had 48 hours to take him to the vet. The vet examined him and said he was very healthy and that his sisters dwarfism had not affected him. When we went to vet for his Rabbies shot, we saw another vet as the other one was on vacation. She noticed a heart murmure, she explained that some puppies get it and by the time they are 16 weeks old they are gone and if it is not gone he would carry it forever. At the time she graded it as a Stage 2 out of 6. After droping him off to get neutered a month later, the vet called and said that his heart murmure seemed to have gotten worst and did not go away. She explained that now she estimated it to be a Stage 4 and that he would have it for the rest of his life. She asked if we still wanted her to go through with having him neutered. We decided to go through with it even if we knew what the consequences could be. A few hours later we received a call from the vet to let us know that Oscar did very well and was ready to be picked up that evening. We were so happy and grateful that he made it through the surgery despite his heart.
When he was 8 months old, we got married and moved into our house. Oscar was so happy to finally be in one home with us. We were able to teach him our property line and keep him unleashed on our property. He was such a good boy, he knew not to go in the road even if another dog was on their walk. We visited our families with him every week as everyone missed him so much. A few months later, my parents and brothers rescued a 2 year old boxer from the local shelter. We were all so happy that Oscar would finally have a friend when we visited. We soon found out that the Boxer they rescued was never really socialized and played a little ruff not knowing his limits. We were no longer able to bring Oscar to my parents house anymore. Instead my family would come to our house to visit him.
Last June 25th, my parents and brothers were away for the day and asked for my husband and I to go to their house and let their dog out and stay for a few hours so he wouldnt be alone in the house all day. We decided to bring Oscar with us and let them play together under very close supervision. When we got to my parents and Oscar realised where he was, he was so happy he ran to the front door sat down and started whining because i was too slow to unlock the door. As we got in he ran around looking for everyone and when he noticed no one was home, he saw the other dog sitting in his crate. He sat beside the crate waitting impatiently for me to let him out. Before letting him out, my husband and I got Oscar to lay down and relax, just to avoid having 2 extremly hyper dogs running around the house. Once he relaxed i let him out and the two of them ran around the kitchen table a couple of times when we decided to let them out in the backyard. They both came to the back door and sat down waitting for the door to open.
As Oscar sat down, he feel over and had a heart attack. It only took a few seconds. My husband was holding his head and i was petting his body hoping it would pass. The love of our lives was taken away from us, right in front our eyes. My husband tried mouth to mouth, pump his chest but he was already gone. It happened within seconds. He was only 16 months old, he was a baby and our baby. We knew he would eventually leave us because of his heart but we never thought this early in his life.
We were totally devasted, we could not stay in house without having memories of him. We never lived there without him, the house was all about him. We had a hard time staying in the house and sleeping at night. The following morning was when everything hit us and we realised that it wasnt a dream, it was reality. He wasnt there sitting at the side of the bed waitting patiently for us to wake up and let him up on our bed, the house was empty and so were our hearts. We have never felt this way, we felt empty without him. Our families are as devasted as we are, he was also apart of their lives, he was apart of our family.
Oscar will never be forgotten and live within our hearts and memories for the rest of our lives.
When we bought him we did not think or pay attention in looking for a reputable breeder. We found an add in the local classified online. When we called to find out if the pups were still available we were told that the litter only contained 5 puppies, 4 females and 1 male. In those 5, 3 were dwarfs and the other two appeared to be normal. They said that the father had an abnormality in his genes that made "dawrfs" and we would have to sign an agreement with them that we would have him fixed when he was old enough. We called the local vet to ask about these "dwarfs" and if it would have affected the other 2 that appeared to be normal. We were told that it was nothing to be concerned about and if the normal puppies have a clean record from their vet, he should be healthy. We decided to go and visit the puppy and see if it would be a match. Upon our arrival, the male pup ran up to my husband and immediatly licked his leg and sat down beside him. We knew at that moment that we would be taking him home with us that evening.
The following day, we took him to our vet to ensure that everything was ok with him - we had 48 hours to take him to the vet. The vet examined him and said he was very healthy and that his sisters dwarfism had not affected him. When we went to vet for his Rabbies shot, we saw another vet as the other one was on vacation. She noticed a heart murmure, she explained that some puppies get it and by the time they are 16 weeks old they are gone and if it is not gone he would carry it forever. At the time she graded it as a Stage 2 out of 6. After droping him off to get neutered a month later, the vet called and said that his heart murmure seemed to have gotten worst and did not go away. She explained that now she estimated it to be a Stage 4 and that he would have it for the rest of his life. She asked if we still wanted her to go through with having him neutered. We decided to go through with it even if we knew what the consequences could be. A few hours later we received a call from the vet to let us know that Oscar did very well and was ready to be picked up that evening. We were so happy and grateful that he made it through the surgery despite his heart.
When he was 8 months old, we got married and moved into our house. Oscar was so happy to finally be in one home with us. We were able to teach him our property line and keep him unleashed on our property. He was such a good boy, he knew not to go in the road even if another dog was on their walk. We visited our families with him every week as everyone missed him so much. A few months later, my parents and brothers rescued a 2 year old boxer from the local shelter. We were all so happy that Oscar would finally have a friend when we visited. We soon found out that the Boxer they rescued was never really socialized and played a little ruff not knowing his limits. We were no longer able to bring Oscar to my parents house anymore. Instead my family would come to our house to visit him.
Last June 25th, my parents and brothers were away for the day and asked for my husband and I to go to their house and let their dog out and stay for a few hours so he wouldnt be alone in the house all day. We decided to bring Oscar with us and let them play together under very close supervision. When we got to my parents and Oscar realised where he was, he was so happy he ran to the front door sat down and started whining because i was too slow to unlock the door. As we got in he ran around looking for everyone and when he noticed no one was home, he saw the other dog sitting in his crate. He sat beside the crate waitting impatiently for me to let him out. Before letting him out, my husband and I got Oscar to lay down and relax, just to avoid having 2 extremly hyper dogs running around the house. Once he relaxed i let him out and the two of them ran around the kitchen table a couple of times when we decided to let them out in the backyard. They both came to the back door and sat down waitting for the door to open.
As Oscar sat down, he feel over and had a heart attack. It only took a few seconds. My husband was holding his head and i was petting his body hoping it would pass. The love of our lives was taken away from us, right in front our eyes. My husband tried mouth to mouth, pump his chest but he was already gone. It happened within seconds. He was only 16 months old, he was a baby and our baby. We knew he would eventually leave us because of his heart but we never thought this early in his life.
We were totally devasted, we could not stay in house without having memories of him. We never lived there without him, the house was all about him. We had a hard time staying in the house and sleeping at night. The following morning was when everything hit us and we realised that it wasnt a dream, it was reality. He wasnt there sitting at the side of the bed waitting patiently for us to wake up and let him up on our bed, the house was empty and so were our hearts. We have never felt this way, we felt empty without him. Our families are as devasted as we are, he was also apart of their lives, he was apart of our family.
Oscar will never be forgotten and live within our hearts and memories for the rest of our lives.
