Bonzer, a soul of a dog who had to leave us way too early
Hi everyone,
I haven't posted something about my dogs for a while. And I haven't introduced Bonzer yet. So, I want to do it now. Today is a "special" day. Today it's 6 months since Bonzer died. We still miss him soooo much.
I want to make a collection of photos of his whole life to honor him.
I hope you will see what a special dog he was.
First some facts about him...
| Name: | Bonzer |
| Breed: | Border Collie - Galgo Español - Great Pyrenees - mix |
| Gender: | male |
| Color: | black & wite |
| Size: | 26" |
| Weight: | ~66 lb |
| Birthplace: | Mallorca - Spain |
| Date of birth: | December 15th, 2011 (estimated since found on the street) |
| Adopted: | April 11th, 2012 |
| Date of death: | January 12th, 2022 |
I always wanted a dog.
I grew up with dogs and was without a dog as I moved. But my hubby didn't want a dog. Not that he didn't like them, he knew we hadn't the time.
But after I had a daycare dog (again), he said yes. So I searched for a dog and found this pic of Bonzer.
At this time he was called Paolo, but for us, this name didn't fit and so he was renamed Bonzer.
It later turned out that "bonzer" is Australian slang for "excellent" and that nailed it. He turned out to be excellent and a class of its own.
I fell in love with him and mailed the foundation which rescued him in Spain. He was found on the streets of Mallorca with his brother.
We had to wait a few weeks because he was still in Mallorca and he needed a flight to us in Germany. When he came, he was a little afraid in his flight box.
But he soon felt at home. He followed us all over the apartment and always slept where we were.
He didn't mind if there was no blanket and no dog bed where he slept, as long as he could keep an eye on us.
In the beginning, he still wore his harness at home, so that we could quickly go with him into the garden when he had to do his business.
But since he always came in time when he wanted to go out, we were able to do without it quite quickly.
He was so small back then...
He had quite a few hobbies. His favorite hobbies were playing with balls, pinecones, and squeakies.
and hunt mice.
But only hunt, not eat! (Mice have fur and don't taste good). 😄
The eating was later done by Chaser, with whom he always waited and dug forever at the mouse hole until they finally caught a mouse.
We have spent a few weeks of our lives standing on the side waiting for them to finish. 🤣
But the ultimate for him was chasing fake rabbits. We joined a sighthound club with a racetrack. (Only a fun club!) In Germany, all running competitions are for fun and only for certificates, especially for breeders. There is no punishment or betting (that's luckily forbidden in Germany).
He was a very curious dog. He wanted to know everything...
A lost hut in the forest (when dad looks in there I have to do the same).
The packing station where we get our parcels...He also loved to watch our bearded dragon Ernie in his terrarium.
He never had problems with vets or our animal naturopath...
Soon after we had adopted him, we found out, that he had lots of allergies, so we had to go every week to our animal naturopath and he soon loved her. He trusted her so much, that she could do everything with him.
It took 1.5 years until he was free of most of his allergies.
While we were on vacation (which was booked over a year before we decided to get a dog), Bonzer was at a dog hotel, and there he bumped one of his teeth against something.
Nobody noticed it.
When we saw it later at home, our vet and also our animal naturopath said it was nothing. But 4 weeks later it was something...
We got to the animal clinic and his tooth was pulled out. He never had any problems without this lost fang. He was only one year old when it happened.
Since that time it is clear for us: if we go on vacation then only with the dogs and not without them. We always want to know where they are, how they are, and what they are doing.
This helps everyone stay healthy and out of trouble.
2013, when Bonzer was two years old, we adopted Chaser. And it was love at first sight.
They always played, romped, and squabbled (in a lovely way) together.
He really really loved snow. Unfortunately, we rarely have snow here. And if, it isn't that much, but a few times he could play in the snow...
In 2021 we detected a small bruise. But it wasn't a bruise. It got bigger and bigger and it turned out as a cancerous growth.
He had surgery to remove the cancer. This was the second surgery in his life, and it was the hardest one...
Hubby visited him in the clinic, but he had to stay there for a night.
He slept the whole next day at home...
... and recovered slowly from the surgery.
It looked like he was going to be fine, because the cancer had not spread, according to the clinic, and we hoped for the best.
We thought after the surgery the cancer would be gone. That's what the clinic said. But it came back directly after the wounds of the surgery had healed.
On January 12th, he finally lost his fight. He didn't want to go a single step. He barely couldn't walk, eat or sleep. I called our animal naturopath to come and euthanize him. She came and had to give him a double shot because his heart was so strong, but we knew that he had so much pain and his lungs were full of water, that he would have suffocated within the next few hours.
The next day we took him to a crematorium. They lay him out and we could say goodbye and take the last photo of him. Now he has his last place on a shelf in our office room. There he was always to keep us company when he didn't want to sleep in his (or our) bed.
He was the best dog I could have wished for. He wasn't an easy dog, because he didn't like other people or other dogs, but he wasn't a bad dog. He only was afraid. I don't know what he experienced as a puppy on the streets of Mallorca. Why he was separated from his mom. But I know he loved me and I loved him. I will always miss him.
I have taken so many pics during his 10 years with us. Theses are only a few to give you a little insight of his life. But I'll post more in the future.
Stay healthy and take good care of your loved ones.
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