Where you take over! Just send a pic or two and some related info to peter.b.abrahams@gmail.com. Here, thanks to Mary L, a fine example.

Goliath

August 1995 – Jan 2, 2005

This will be a bit sad near the end so you may not want to read the whole thing. Just saying.

Poor Goliath. Goliath was my “middle child” and as such he was a bit short-changed. Caesar was already several years older than he was and my favorite and he probably sensed it. Goliath was not the sharpest tool in the drawer. I remember him taking what seemed longer than normal to learn his name, learn to sit, come when he was called and walk on a leash. Of course he probably suffered in comparison to Caesar who was wicked smart and a very fast learner. In hindsight I can say that assessment was pretty spot on. Ramses, Diana and Freyja all learn faster than Goliath ever did. Sometimes I would watch him just sitting in the yard and he had this kinda dull look on his face. He was mostly pointer and I would see him occasionally freeze and point at a bird in the yard. But in the doggy world he was hardly a rocket scientist. And in whatever mix he was there was certainly no border collie. But I will say what he lacked in brains he made up for in posture. He had the best sit of any dog I owned.

How he came to join our pack:

When school started one of the teachers had a puppy in her classroom the first day of school so I went to see. Cute puppy. It had followed the kids to school that morning. The story she had was that a neighborhood dog had puppies, 13 of them, and when they were old enough the family had taken them to the swap meet to get adopted. A lady said she would come back to get the puppy but at the end of the day after all of the other puppies were adopted she didn’t show up so they brought the puppy home and then the next morning basically opened the gate and let him loose. (A broom may have been involved as he hated them.) That’s how he came to follow the kids to school.

I thought Caesar might benefit from some company while I was working so I said I would adopt him. She said it would be a while as he was only six weeks and she wanted him a little older and to be checked over by a vet and get his shots.

I got him a few weeks later, my birthday present to myself.

Caesar was not that thrilled about it. But eventually they warmed up to each other and then became quite close.

Then after the years passed and Caesar started to get old Goliath started to get a bit aggressive, wanting to be Alpha in the pack. I had been letting both of them sleep on the bed but Goliath now wanted to take over Caesar’s spot next to me and wanting to be fed first and even starting to drive Caesar away from his food dish so Goliath could have two meals. They started fighting.

So I started feeding them separately, Goliath outside and Caesar in the house and at night I would close my door so Caesar could sleep in the bed and Goliath would sleep on the dog bed in the living room. I just didn’t want Caesar to be picked on in his old age.

After Caesar died, Goliath could not be coaxed back into the bedroom to sleep on the bed. Perhaps there was a lingering smell of Caesar in the room or it was just habit. He seemed a little lost without Caesar. Caesar had just gone away with me in the car and not come back. (Caesar died at the Emergency Vet Hospital.) Goliath had never known a life without Caesar. Sometimes he would stand and stare or just wander around the house.

Goliath was a creature of habit and did not like change. Even less than the average dog. After Caesar died I had my back yard landscaped and he did not adjust well to new fences, patios and plants. I thought all of this change may have been why he didn’t like the new puppy (Ramses) but that turned out not to be the case.

I decided to get another dog as a companion for him and that is how Ramses came to live with us. Caesar died November of 2003. Ramses entered our pack around May of 2004.

Things did not go well. Goliath ignored the puppy at first. This had happened with Caesar when I brought Goliath home. I thought Goliath would eventually get over it like Caesar did but that turned out not to be the case. He didn’t get better, he got worse. First he was a little pushy, showing some dominance. Then lunging, growling and scaring the puppy. Then he started to snap at him.. Finally when he bit him I took Goliath to the vet.

The vet said I could consider taking him to a behaviorist but it was likely more of an age-related cognitive problem. Like Doggy Dementia. Goliath had some other symptoms. He would stop and stare into space, circling and the firetrucks started to really annoy him and set off some painful howling. In the end, by July, Goliath ended up retired to my parents’ house where it was quiet. Of course, I couldn’t bring Ramses with me when I went to visit. He was fine for a while and my Dad really grew to love him. But he got worse, as the vet warned me he would. He told me Goliath would progress from attacking animals to people and then to family members. I warned my parents that the minute he started to growl and snap at people they were to let me know, but they didn’t. Not until he had bitten two family friends, unprovoked, not breaking skin but still a sign his disease was progressing. It was no longer safe for him to be with my elderly parents.

That is when the decision was made for him to be released from his pain. I had never had a dog that didn’t live to be at least 12 years old and at 9 Goliath was still physically healthy. My Mom came with me to the Humane Society. Poor Goliath. There were some sirens in the parking lot and he started that howl of pain. They were very good at the center, explaining everything and making sure he was comfortable. My Mom and I sat with him and told him what a good dog he was. After the first sedative he started to spasm as if being conscious was the only thing keeping him in control. After the second shot he was finally at peace. Later, after doing some research I think he may have had a brain tumor, rather than dementia, but that knowledge didn’t really change anything. I probably waited too long, but he did have six months of peaceful retirement with my parents. Goliath was also the first dog they had had since my childhood dogs. Goliath started them back on the path to dog ownership and since him they have had Candy and now they have Dolly.

With each dog we learn. And each dog I have had has benefitted from the mistakes I’ve made and the knowledge I’ve gained from each previous dog.

Goliath got a little short changed when it came to my attention but he was a good teacher and Ramses, Diana and Freyja have benefitted from what I’ve learned. His short time living with my parents awakened in them the desire to have dogs again and Candy and Dolly benefitted from it. In that, Goliath did his job as a dog.