On December 3, 1995, we drove
about an hour outside of Chicago
to get our first Rottweiler.
We'd gotten married three months
earlier and wanted to
"start our family."
We knew the puppy we were going
to get would be named Romeo.
Turns out, we couldn't have
picked a more suitable
name. Born on September 23,
1995 to Heidi Vom Blowker and
Boss Vom D'Biestse Hoeve, CD, BH,
Romeo was bred for temperament.
We learned quickly that Romeo
loved the sound of a woman's
voice. He would rarely leave my
side during the first few weeks
(unbeknownst to me at the time,
I was pregnant with our first
daughter). Our family would be
expanding faster than we had
planned.
Romeo was always in great health
-- up until a month ago, he was
still able to lay in a "frog"
position -- with his legs spread
out behind him. He always
lays down with this front legs
crossed, like a perfect
gentleman.
When our daughter was
born, he protected her basinet.
A low growl meant no one was
allowed to bother her during
naps. The same held true when
our second daughter was born.
When he was about a year old, we
had to keep him out of the
living room after he tore a
large piece of fabric off the
couch. We put a couple of
baby gates up to keep him in the
kitchen. But every day we
would come home from work and
find a new section ripped off,
or pillows tossed around, the
coffee table moved across the
room. Strange things. So
one day my husband set up a
camera in the kitchen looking
into the living room, and he
"left" for work as
usual. The door closes, and
then you see the back of Romeo's
head. He's looking over the
couch, listening for the sound
of fading footsteps. Then
he jumps over the couch, jumping
on it, like a little kid. Suddenly,
he hears daddy coming back.
He freezes, then jumps back over
the couch to the other side of
the gates just as daddy opens
the door. This happens
about three times. He always
looked so innocent. The
video would be great to send in
to AFV one day!
We moved to Oak Lawn,
Illinois about 5
years ago and Romeo quickly
found some friends. Guinness and
Jake live next door to the
right. Savannah is our neighbor
to the left. There is a
Husky in house behind us, two
Rottweilers across the street, and
three others around the block.
When the boys next door are out,
Romeo asks to go out and play
with them. Like most
Rottweilers,
Romeo has a good vocabulary of
about 20-30 words and some
hand signs.
I can go on for weeks about
Romeo. But because I'm
even on this website, it can't
be good.
Romeo, now almost 11 years old,
was diagnosed just last month
with cancer. It moved into his
lungs pretty quickly and is
virtually inoperable. Because of
his age, a biopsy is risky
enough. The medication he was
given helped him for a while,
giving him some strength and
making him feel like his old
self again. We tried cleansing
and garlic pills and fed him the
best steaks, chicken and other
proteins. He loved it for
a while, but over the last week,
he doesn't seem interested in
any kind of food. He still
likes to snack on his favorite
cookies, but he hasn't eaten
anything else in the last two
days. We know we are close
to the end.
Reading the stories that others
have posted here gave me some
hope that we would see him
rebound. Although Romeo was our
first child and he's been the
most loyal and affectionate dog
I have ever been blessed to have
in my life. Wwe can't bear to
watch him suffer any longer than
he has to. He is and will always
be our son, our brother, our
friend and our protector. We'll
always remember him the way he
was, and we are so grateful to
him for being in our lives for
almost 11 years.
This next week will be very
difficult for our family as we
realize we must make a decision
to keep him from suffering.
Update: Our little prince,
Romeo, was put to sleep on
Friday, May 19, 2006. He
was so brave and fought very
hard to stay with us. He
went peacefully with mommy and
daddy by his side. He will
always light up our hearts with
memories. It was painful for us,
but we know that he is happy and
playing with his brothers and
sisters who passed on before
him. Romeo touched many
lives, and he leaves many
friends, all of whom believe he
will watch over us and protect
us.
Thanks again for your website.
It is comforting to know that
while many of us have suffered
the loss of our pets, we
eventually learn to love again.
The Janiszewski Family |
Rottweiler
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