RAINBOWBRIDGE

Anthony, he's just my dog
He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds
My other ears that hear above the winds
He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea
He has told me a thousand times over that
I am his reason for being
By the way he sleeps next to my bed,
rests against my leg
By the way he wags his tail at my smallest move
By the way he shows his sadness when I go out without taking him
When I am wrong he is delighted to forgive
When I am angry, he makes me smile
When I am happy, he is joy unbounded
When I am a fool he ignores it
When I succeed, he brags
Without him, I am only another woman, with him, all powerful
He is loyalty itself, he taught me the meaning of devotion
With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace
He has brought me understanding where before was ignorance
His head on my knee can heal my human hurts
His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and
unknown things
He has promised to wait for me…whenever-.. wherever… in case I
need him
And I expect he will- as I always have
He is just my dog

Anthony had a very special place in our hearts and will be with us
in spirit for ever.
Anthony a dog in a million, run free and be in peace.

Anthony cracked one of his back teeth. My vet sent us to a tooth clinic and they said it had to come
out because he had an infection in the root. I went back with him the next day and he had a general
anaesthetic to remove it. He took quite a while to wake up again but I thought it was because he was,
after all, 9 and half years old. He seemed to get a bit of an appetite back and a week later had a
last examination at the tooth clinic they were very pleased with the way the gum had healed. But he
never really started eating properly again. When I went to the vet with him, he looked in his mouth
and said that he could see no reason why he wouldn't eat. His breathing had become laboured in the
last few days and when the vet started to listen to his lungs, I knew it was not good because he
listened for about ten minutes in different places without saying a word.
He told me that he suspected a tumour and our world started collapsing around us.
He said we should do a lung x-ray to perhaps find out where it was. Anthony was such a good boy,
he lay there very still.
Going home with him was for me like I knew there was no turning the clock back
We got the results back a few days later. The vet said that his lungs were full of cancer. There was no
hope at all.

On the 3rd December our boy went for a last walk. For the last week or two he had needed a coat
because he felt the cold so much, he was just skin and bones, every day we had to make the coat
smaller around his body so that it wouldn't slip but on that day- at the smallest it would go, it hung on
him like a sack. He couldn't manage a long walk but he saw a rabbit which made him look up.
When the vet came to our home, he welcomed him with a wagging tail just like he welcomed
everyone. He fell asleep in my arms, even the vet was upset, he had known our boy since he was a
puppy and he said this is too young to lose him. He now lies in our garden, next to Felix who we lost
before Anthony joined us.
He has made a big hole in our lives.
Anthony the good boy who never destroyed anything
Anthony the boy who loved to train obedience
Anthony who played uncle to so many puppies
Anthony, Amber's best friend
Anthony, who slept next to my bed until the very end
Anthony - the show off show dog who excelled when he was in the main ring
He achieved so much in his short life, BGH A, 1,2 3, Austrian Youth Champion, Austrian champion,
Austrian Show Winner, Austrian Veteran Champion and he crowned them all with becoming the
World Veteran Winner just a few months ago, but most of all he was a best friend, always friendly and
worming his way into people's hearts.
The list is endless but we will remember him for ever, gone too soon but never forgotten.

Amber knew on Sunday night, the others all lay near him but not touching with their heads facing
him. Amber lay with her head on his back for hours-she knew.
The only consolation is that the vet said he had no pain, he probably just felt uncomfortable because
of his breathing, at least he could go before he really started suffering.
Our vet thinks the cancer was there lying dormant and was activated by the anaesthetic and the
infected tooth. His immune system was very low and that is why this happened so quickly and
suddenly. Over the last week he had been getting bumps under his skin so the cancer was spreading
everywhere.
The vet brought the x-ray with him, I cannot believe how he had still been able to breathe, to say his
lungs were full of shadows and tumours is an understatement.
This is so shocking how quickly this happened, for a totally healthy dog to this in just 6 weeks.