R.I.P Max - Page 2

My heartfelt sympathies. Max will be in good GSD company while he waits for John at the Bridge.
RIP Good Boy.

SS

Rain, thank you for the poem.  Very touching.

Boatswain (1803-1808), Lord Byron's Newfoundland dog, died of rabies while Byron was living at Newstead, and it is here that Boatswain lays buried.

Lord Byron wrote the following epitaph in honor of his faithful friend.




Boatswain's monument reads as follows:

Near this Spot
are deposited the Remains of one
who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
and all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.
This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
if inscribed over human Ashes,
is but a just tribute to the Memory of
BOATSWAIN, a DOG,
who was born in Newfoundland May 1803,
and died at Newstead Nov 18th, 1808.


When some proud son of man returns to earth,
Unknown by glory, but upheld by birth,
The sculptor’s art exhausts the pomp of woe,
And stories urns record that rests below.
When all is done, upon the tomb is seen,
Not what he was, but what he should have been.


But the poor dog, in life the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend,
Whose honest heart is still his master’s own,
Who labors, fights, lives, breathes for him alone,
Unhonored falls, unnoticed all his worth,
Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth –


While man, vain insect! hopes to be forgiven,
And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven.
Oh man! thou feeble tenant of an hour,
Debased by slavery, or corrupt by power –
Who knows thee well must quit thee with disgust,
Degraded mass of animated dust!
Thy love is lust, thy friendship all a cheat,
Thy smiles hypocrisy, thy words deceit!
By nature vile, ennoble but by name,
Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shame.


Ye, who perchance behold this simple urn,
Pass on – it honors none you wish to mourn.
To mark a friend’s remains these stones arise;
I never knew but one – and here he lies.


Lord Byron’s tribute to “Boatswain,” on a monument in the garden of Newstead Abbey.

Rain & Prager,

Beautiful prose.  It brought me to tears.  Their time with us is never long enough.  RIP Max.  So sad a loss.

So very sorry to hear of your loss John. Peace be with you and yours at this time.

I just got sent this link and all I can say is thank you all. Your kind words have helped me thru a very rough few days. Max was so much more a pet, he was my partner. My only regret is he was my first dog in Schutzhund and my inexperiance stopped him from becoming the dog he could truely have been. He had more drive than I could handle and he taught me alot. His illness was very sudden and he deteriorated very quickly from a healthy dog on a Thursday morning to a very sick dog by Friday night. I slept with him on the floor friday and we shared a beer together, the first thing we would drink in a day. after multiple trips to two vets i took him to a specialist where it was determined he had a very bad infection in two discs in his spine. His outlook for recovery was not good and his ability to just walk was very much in doubt, not a way for him to live.  As an earlier post stated he would have really hurt himself. I complained alot about his intense drive, now i wonder how he could ever be replaced both on the field and at home. He was as much a schutzhund dog as he was my lapdog. I'm not sure what the future holds for me in the sport of schutzhund but having the friends I have in the sport will likely draw me back at a future time.

Again I thank you all for the kind words and I know Max, while in between rounds of bitework and  knocking down unsuspecting helpers is very thankful to.

if i could ask a favor of everyone, after training next time with your dogs, stop by and pick them up a Mcdonalds hamburger for their hard work, they are there just to please us and i know they would like it, i wish i had done that a few more times.

John and Max