Bio

Wow, to write a bio about my Ghost.  We adopted him from the Baltimore County Animal Shelter (in MD) in April of 2013.  He was estimated to be six months old, so we use Halloween as his birth date. 

Approximately 24 hours after bringing him home, he wouldn’t eat, would only drink from the toilet (didn’t want to lower his head) and he walked around like he was in a daze.

The next day we took him to our vet and he was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs and a bacterial infection in his stomach.  (yes, the shelter let us adopt a dog that was basically dying). He had a fever so they gave him IV antibiotics and bathed him to try to cool in him.  We brought him home and were told to watch him.  Next day, not improvement … back to the vet. Same drill for three day before the vet finally told us he needed 24-hour care, which they don’t provide.  

So, off to the Animal Emergency Hospital.  He was admitted and besides the things we knew about, they thought he might have parvo, so they quarentinned him.  More IV antibiotics, fluids, oxygen, etc.  We visited him every day for four days.  Each of the first three nights, the vets told us he might not make it through the night. Then each morning when we called, they were surprised and delighted to tell us he was still with us, although by no means out of the woods.

On morning five, we were finally allowed to bring him home, with meds and many follow-ups scheduled.

Our vet told us that because he was so sick as a pup, it would probably stunt his growth.  Well, if his growth was stunted, then our boy Ghost was supposed to be gigantic.  

In his prime, he was a 125 pound big boy.  Full of life and love.  He didn’t like to be hugged, except by our son, who happens to be his age.  Steve could do anything to Ghost, hug him, sit on him, chase him, play with him, play with his food, any and everything.

Ghost was the protector of the family.  He always let us know if someone was coming down the street, whether or not they were headed to our house.  We used to say that he would bark at leaves blowing across the lawn, because he would look out the window and bark at what appeared to be nothing.

He shed like crazy … all year. I used to get made saying that I would swiffer up a puppy every day (and I basically did).  Now I regret getting mad over something so trivial.

Ghost was also a chewer … not shoes, but paper, plastic, remote controls, etc.  One day, when he was young, he got to a full soda bottled on the counter and chewed it until the lid popped off the the soda exploded all over our white sofa and the freshly washed floor.  I thought I would kill him.  I was so mad.  He just looked at me with that “What?” face.  He didn’t do anything wrong.  He was playing … not big deal.

He aged like most shepherds.  He had hip problems, severe arthritis, and he was going deaf. But he still protected the house.

Last week, Thursday, July 18th, he wouldn’t eat, which was very much unlike him.  My son works for a vet so I called him and he took Ghost to work.  Ghost had a fever from an unknown viral infection and was given antibiotics.  I fought to get his meds in him, even though I was putting the pills inside “meatballs” of canned, soft food.  By Sunday, we knew he just didn’t have it in him to go on.  He wouldn’t eat and then his nose started bleeding, not heavy, but big drops of clotted blood.  My son called his vet on Monday morning to see if we could take our boy in.  

They were so gracious and gave us a room where all five of us gatherered to say our goodbyes and I love yous.  The staff stopped in to check on us.  They gave him treats, peanut butter, and cheese.  He didn’t finished any of it, so we knew …

The vet told us what we were doing was honoring his love for us by taking away his pain and sending him peacefully into the next realm.  

We love our big boy and miss him so much.  But we would never want him to suffer and, thus, our baby is now at the dog park in heaven.  I hope he waiting for us and is happy, healthy, and not missing us the way we are missing him.

I love you my Ghosty-boy!