Upon our return from Japan
in 1998 there was no doubt that our young family wanted dogs. We
already had Bloodhounds in the past and this being my wife's dream
since her childhood it did not take us long before a Bloodhound
puppy responding (well . . . every once in a while) to the name
Emma was wandering and drooling around our Belgian house.
However, we knew right
from the start that Emma would need a companion and it was decided
that a Bassethound would be the right match for her.
That is how Romeo joined
our family in December 1999 and he and Emma immediately became friends
for life.
They were always together,
always a team, for better (snoring together) or for worse (stealing
a big cream cake from the kitchen e.g.).
Romeo was never alone,
always was his Emma there to keep him company, to comfort him or
to take care of him.
In August 2007 Emma came
down with a serious stomach torsion, a typical Bloodhound disease.
Unfortunately at that time we were all in Beijing, China where I
work but the doggy hotel manager spotted the problem early and Emma
was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
Romeo was desperate, lonely
and inconsolable. Emma seemed on the way to recovery when a second
episode of stomach torsion definitively struck her down. We felt
very bad because she died all alone with none of us by her side
to comfort her.
Romeo came back home and
did his best to adjust which he eventually managed. He seemed very
fit and was always keen to go out for a stroll . . . and to go on
independent explorations! But in December 2007 he suddenly fell
ill. His ailment was initially diagnosed as ulcers, resulting from
the stress he underwent following Emma's death, but eventually it
turned out to be a very aggressive cancer which he could not battle.
On Saturday,29 December
2007 we took the only right decision and put an end to his suffering.
Surrounded by the entire family he sailed out on his final journey,
no doubt back to his Emma, to a place where all dogs go and where
they can engage in limi! tless explorations, their wet noses close
to the ground and with nobody putting up any barriers for them.
