Tribute to Merlin

RIP Merlin 16-09-1997 - 02-02-2008

My wee buddy of 10 years passed away this weekend. Merlin was the coolest dog, a big gentle giant and my old man! He loved nothing more than spending time with his family. He would happily come for a ride in the car, go for a walk and even a run although he would try and trip you up when he had had enough of running along! He would come for a drive when I would go swimming in the morning and would wait patiently in the car for me to come back so we could go home and have breakfast. He was great for having a nap on the couch with when you were tired from training or just tired, he would even let you use him as a pillow. He was very much a food loving dog and if you ever got the cheese out of the fridge he would hear you even if he was sound asleep at the far end of the house! He also knew that the last piece of toast was his and would patiently wait while you ate your breakfast knowing that I would save him a wee corner. My wee boy was also quite the couch potato loving nothing more than curling up on the couch for a cuddle while you watched telly, if he was human I reckon beer and motorsport would have been pretty high on his list of favourite things! He was such a sweetie, he would give you a kiss when you did stuff for him even if it was just filling his water bowl or giving him his breakfast.
We took Merlin to the vet a few weeks ago as he seemed to have a bit of a sore back and they put him on a course of steroids and he improved fairly quickly so after a few visits to the vet over a couple of weeks he seemed to be doing ok so he came off the steroids to see how he was. Two days later he was quite sore, he yelped when he was patted on his back, my boy never yelps he is a pretty tolerant boy, so he must have been pretty sore. Geoff took him down to the vet as I was still at work, I headed down there when I got home so I could find out what was going on. It appeared Merlin had regressed fairly quickly so back onto the steroids and he seemed to be doing ok over the weekend, he wasn't moving around quite as much but he still seemed ok. That was Friday, Monday when I got home he was quite sore, he was sitting up on the couch and didn't want to get down cos he knew it would hurt. So I decided to take him into the vet in the morning, I couldn't get an appointment at a time when I could make it so I dropped him off for the day. They took a few x-rays of his spine and the vet diagnosed him as having spondylosis which is a fusing of the spine. They recommended I leave him there overnight so that he could rest, something which is a little difficult for a dog to do in a house that has stairs everywhere! I went in to visit him the next day and he was having some trouble walking around. The vet ran some tests the next day as he thought he may have an infection which he did so onto antibiotics as well. His condition just didn't get any better and the next day he couldn't walk on his own, it was like his wee back just couldn't do what it was sposed to do anymore. you could see in his eyes that he was keen as anything to see you and he desperately wanted to stand up but just couldn't. So it was with much sadness that Merlin crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday afternoon. He can now run around and hang out with his big sister Tara and the kitties that he has befriended over the years.

For those of you who don't know about Rainbow Bridge follow this link: http://petloss.com/