Zach - 2000 to 2011

Quite a few posts back I made mention of my loyal Dobermanns that I've had the privilege of owning down through the years with Zach pictured below being our current Dobermann, well I'm sad to report that Zach passed away yesterday with what looks like heart failure. Over the last few months he's started to display signs of his old age, he was 10 years 7 months. His walks at times were getting slower and slower but his zeal for 'walkies' was undiminished and yesterday we went for our walk in the morning as usual but in the late afternoon he took a turn for the worse and passed away at home at 7pm.   

 

Already just one day on he is sadly missed, I went for our walk today on my own, you can imagine how wrong it felt, the house feels empty, I have lost my pal.

You may say that he's just a dog but you would be so wrong, he was a dog yes but he was also much more than that, he was a member of this family, he was like a child with his own likes and dislikes, he loved a rawhide bone and would happily chew on one all day he also loved his walks especially with 'Dad' - me. When one of us came into the house or first thing in the morning, he would bring you a gift usually the bone, sometimes this 'gift' was unwelcome as he after hunting it down, would often drop it onto your bare feet - that hurt. He loved everyone that came into my house and wanted to be fussed. He was also an excellent guard barking menacingly at anything he thought was a threat, he would even bark at someone trying to leave the house, he didn't want them to go. He didn't like rain... or cats...

Will we get Dobermann No5? You bet we will. Why? The pull of the Dobermann is his character, intelligence and above all his undivided loyalty to myself and family, every Dobermann we have had the privilege of owning have had these qualities and I can't imagine what it would be like to not have one in the house.