First off I want to apologize for not responding to all of your posts sooner. It has taken me a few days to be able to read them all without extreme emotion. Thank you all, so very much, for the outpouring of love and compassion. I see he was loved by all. As a tribute to Bear and to show appreciation for all your love, I thought I would share our story (because it is truly an amazing one). Our first family pet was purchased from a man who could not take his dog with him to the next construction job. He was a 2 yr old purebred German Shephard named Bear. He lived with us for 11 years and was the BEST family pet. I had to have him put down in the early 90’s due to nerve disorder and hip dysplasia (he was 13). Being a single mom with 4 children under the age of 13yrs, a replacement was out of the question! Fast forward…. In 2000, my mom gave me $200 to buy the kids Cmas gifts (now almost all teenagers, uggg)! They had been bugging me for 7 yrs to get another dog. Perfect surprise…..that’s what I’d get. I wanted a small, house dog (although I would have loved another german shephard). The closest small breed (a Yorkie) was in Soap Lake, an hour away. I called my girlfriend who owned a Yorkie, and asked her option. “Not a good pet with children”, was her response….but, she just happened to have local paper. In Rock Island (10 minutes away) was a breeder with Lhasa Apso. What the heck is a Lhasa? And I want a blonde dog! I called the breeder who said they were $500, but since she only had 1 left, she’d give me a Cmas special for $250, and she’d keep it til Cmas eve. PERFECT!!! She greeted me at the door and led me to a playpen with 2 multi-colored fluffs of fur and one blonde….’Come here Bear’, she said tapping on the side of the playpen. “What did you call him”, I said? She picked him up and handed him to me and said, “This is Bear”. He melted right into my chest and looked up into my eyes. “Are you in there Bear”, I said? And the rest was history. Bear II, has been the best dog I have ever owned (an extension of Bear I). He was a perpetual puppy without the puppy antics, up until the last 4 years of his life. I truly believe God orchestrated the union. Sorry for the lengthy story, but wanted you all to know how very, very, very special Bear truly was to my family. Thank you again, for your outpouring of love, compassion & tribute to my beloved pet & travel buddy.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 22:11:18 +0000