A crossing. Today it is with a very sad heart, and tearful eyes I would like to introduce you to someone very special. His name was Bandit, and today he is gone. I had written this story about him for the Keeshond Rescue calendar and thought I’d share it with you now – that he is gone. He was a wonderful, unassuming dog. Our friends called him the “rug” because he was a permanent fixture on our kitchen floor. Friday night around 1am he went into a Grand Mal seizure and basically never came out. All night he twitched and flinched. We took him to the vet where they discovered he had a temperature of 106.5 degrees – normal is around 102. The vet said the mercury couldn’t have gone any higher. They gave him Valium and an IV to rehydrate him. They gave him an alcohol bath and packed him in ice to reduce his fever. AT 9:45pm he was responding to the vet – we were very hopeful. However, this morning they discovered he had crossed over Rainbow Bridge. I hope that when he finally closed his eyes last night to get some much-needed rest, that he slipped quietly and peacefully away. Life without Bandit is like life without oxygen. He was so kind and gentle – he never asked for anything, but gave so much in return. He was a loving dog; there will never be a replacement for him. We wont even try. Here is his story. =============================================================== Bandits Story: When I was a puppy I was very sad. I thought my owners would love and hug me. They did not. To quote my former owner “she really laid into me”. And, if she weren’t uncaring enough, it paled in comparison to her father who was flat our cruel! I was tied to a tree, often without water and beaten regularly. Then my mean owner suddenly felt guilty and gave me to someone she worked with, who recently got a Keeshond too! When I arrived I was very scared, sometimes when my new mommy or daddy would go to get a glass off the coffee table, I would roll on my back out of fear and pee. I thought they were going to hit me, after all isn’t that what all owners do? But, they would just come over and love me. My sister Keesha was, and still is, a little crazy. When I first got there she lived in their house, in the air conditioning, she would jump on the furniture, sleep on the bed and eat leftovers off their plates. I tried to warn her she’d get in trouble, but she never did. And neither did I. Once I slipped out a hole in the back fence. Everyone was afraid I’d go back to my old owners, like Lassie did in so many movies, to go “home.” But all my family had to do was go to the front doorstep and there I sat – I was home! After a few months of walks, treats and love something terrible happened. When I fell asleep I was at my typical spot at the foot of the bed, but, the next thing I knew I was at the vet’s at 3am. I had had a Grand Mal seizure, my first of many. The doctor’s thought these seizures were either epilepsy or the product of being beaten about the head when I was a puppy by my former owners, creating lesions on my brain. Water was coming out of my mommy and daddy’s eyes when the vet said, “this dog won’t last 6 months.” That was 10 years ago!!! Medication has helped to control my seizures, but love has giving me the inspiration to live! Bandit (12) lived at home with his sisters Keesha (12), recent Keeshond rescue Kacey (4), and a kitten saved from a golf course named Links. Bandit never asked for anything, but gave so much. He will be missed sorely by all of us, and I hope they have liver treats over the bridge – those were his favorite. Goodbye sweet man, we love you. Paula and Joe Jagemann