WINTER - ANOTHER DOG'S TALE

It was spring, 1993. My wife and I had a beautiful black and white Shetland Sheepdog which we had purchased from Rosmoor kennels in Connecticut 6 years prior, when our first dog, Wendy, died at age 16 +.

Winter's full name was "Winter Remembrance of Rosmoor". He reminded my wife of the colors of winter and Wendy's coloring. Eunice, being a poet, named him. His grandmother had won "Best of Opposite Sex" and the Westminster Dog Show and his father was a multiple prizewinner. Winter was a magnificent animal and he knew it. He was ineligible to show because he was a little too large for his breed but to us he was a prizewinner.

One day that Spring, I noticed he wasn't eating and was generally listless. There was obviously something wrong as he was always active and running around in the backyard. We took him to the vet and the vet checked him and took some X-rays. The X-rays revealed a large mass on his pancreas which the doctor said was probably an inoperable cancer. Rather than cutting him open, he suggested we take him home and force-feed him with a turkey baster to see what happens and bring him back in a week. If he didn't improve we should have him euthanized.

So twice a day, we would mix a liquid formula and squoosh it down his throat.. The day he was scheduled to be put down he was up and looking for food in his dish so I filled it. He ate it all up and started to bark to go out. We were amazed. He looked fine and he was running around. So we took him to the vet and had more X-rays taken. The mass on his pancreas was gone. It was a miracle. The vet gave us medication to give him to treat "pancreatitus" and we all went to Cape Cod in July as we usually did. We didn't take the vet. Winter was running around again and we all had a great time. In all my life, before and since, I never had the experience of bringing a living creature back from the brink of death. It was the most amazing feeling I had ever had.

Winter had that summer and I felt I gave it to him. Unfortunately the illness returned and one day, about a year later,he died peacefully in his sleep. I was glad I was able to give him one more summer of fun in the sand and surf he loved so much. He deserved it. He was a damned good boy.