Clarence Julius C. Z. (“Claw”)
October 14, 1996 – February 11, 2008
We are missing our former canine buddy, “Claw,” who went over the proverbial “Rainbow Bridge” about a year ago. He came to us from Basset Rescue of Old Dominion, back in 2002. BROOD and rescue groups like it are a wonderful way to find an older dog with charm and character.
He was a goofy, nutty guy who craved attention and he could be very needy and whiny. He had lived a rough life and he always thought he was going to be abandoned because he lived in too many homes.
Clarence always got a lot of attention because of his constant squeaky, wheezy whining and pathetic baby-like expression.
I remember vividly when there was a thunderstorm and I was lying across the sofa. He climbed on top of my chest and perched there for at least ten minutes, whining and panting anxiously and drooling foam all over my shirt. I think I related to Claw well because I recognized him as a fellow tortured soul.
Clarence was a loyal guy. If he knew you were hurt or in pain, he would often come over to you and whine in sympathy. He did this especially if he sensed you were the victim of some terrible wrong.
Claw lived with us in slumburbia for about three years where he served as a faithful watchdog and friend. This was back when we still felt fairly positive about our neighborhood and our house still felt like a home to us. The photograph shows Clarence in late autumn of 2003, soon after he turned seven. He loved walking with us in our neighborhood along with his basset brother. We were happier and more comfortable walking around the neighborhood; more of the older and longer-term residents were around to say “hi” to and it was a more stable and less stressful place.
Then my folks fell hopelessly in love with him so I let them wrench him away from us. (He was getting a little too hostile toward our other basset hound, who happens to be blind.) Claw moved into suburban Affluenzaville down in the southern part of the county. There he was spoiled shamelessly and lavished with love and as many canine accessories as any other empty-nester lapdog of luxury.
Losing him was very hard on us. However, I feel incredibly fortunate because:
- I was visiting my folks the night his emergency started.
- I recognized that he was experiencing bloat and we were able to rush him to the nearest 24-hour emergency vet, Friendship Hospital for Animals.(That place is like the Sibley Hospital for the Washington canine jet set, by the way. They offer gold-plated veterinary service with very capable and dedicated staff.)
- We got to say good-bye to the guy and he left us gently, painlessly, and peacefully.
If you live with a large dog, beware of bloat / gastric torsion. This is a dangerous and often deadly condition where your dog’s GI tract twists or otherwise becomes obstructed while the stomach rapidly fills with gas. Basset hounds and certain other breeds are more susceptible to bloat than many other dogs. He was also in declining health and my folks had to spoon feed him all of his favorite foods (especially burgers), but he was still too weak and underweight.
Long live our Claw.
We know he is frolicking in some vast, green elysian dog park somewhere.
3 comments:
oh sweet clarence! i miss him.
Clarence was a sweet guy and it would have been great if he could have stuck around with us a bit longer. I have a lot of happy memories of him. I miss him.
About the stomach torsion? One of my sisters bred both Alsatians (german shepherds) and Bullmastiffs, and both of them turned out to be very susceptible to torsions. Even though she has had access to some very good lines of Alsatians that had few or no problems with hip displasia, the stomach torsion problem is pretty much generic to all large dogs, as you note.
If I were getting a dog, I'd probably choose some fairly smallish or midsize mutt. Or maybe an Airedale. ;)
Post a Comment