Dear friends, fellow animal lovers, and lovers of Cobbie,

 

Early in the morning of Thursday, June 14, 2007, Cobbler Stanford Gabriel-Romias (Cobbie) passed away sometime between the hours of 5 am and 8 am.

 

For the past two weeks he was suffering from two fused disks on his vertebrae.  He was in a lot of pain in the beginning.  The vet said his blood scan was normal but from old age-- (and probably Cobbie's incessant jumping up and down from the bed, stairs, and sofa) the disks in his back are starting to fuse as we saw in the Xrays.  He felt the worst on May 30, 2007 with pain and a fever so the doctor gave me two shots (one for pain/fever and the other for inflammation) along with a daily prescription by mouth I am to administer.  He was feeling better since then and we thought we'd see the old guy wake up and stretch his back like always very soon.  On Sunday, June 10, 2007, Justan and I left the recovering Cobbie in the care of my grandparents and Norville to go off on our planned vacation for the week.  My grandpa called me Tuesday and said that Cobbie threw up all his food and does not want to eat anymore.  He was still taking the medicines but he had a relapse of his fever and is only eating very little soft food and liquid.  Wednesday came and he still wasn't doing well and just does not want to get up from his bed anymore.  We cut our vacation short and left for the 6 hour drive home to pick up Cobbie no matter how late it was.  We picked him up at 1:30 am and tried to find good dog food at that hour, something that would hopefully appeal to his taste to no avail.  He only wanted to drink water.  He was wobbling around a little in the apartment and we thought he was starting to wake up from his stupor but he still didn't want to eat.  We resolved to take him to our vet first thing in the morning.  He laid down on the bed with me beside my head and we both fell asleep.  The last thing I remember around 6 am he walked and plopped down on the blanket to cuddle between my legs.  When I woke up later, he looked so peaceful there still.  I tried to wake him up and carry him down but he was already limp in my arms.  He just waited to say goodbye to Justan and me before he passed on.

 

Justan, my whole family, and I are devastated.  We tried to rack our heads on what else we could've done but the vet said it's the hardest thing to figure out because our pets can't tell us what's wrong.  We can only accept the hard truth that they live a shorter life than we do and make them as happy and comfortable as we can.  I pray that I have done that to the little prince.

 

My first memory of him was when my dad asked me to pick from among the black and white pomeranian puppies his breeder friend just had.  I was and always have been partial to large dogs but Cobbie with his look as if he has something to say to you just caught me.  He was the only one that came to greet me out of the litter.  He was so uncomfortable in the new house that the only way he fell asleep and calmed down was when I brought him up to sleep on one half of my pillow beside my head.  He was more than a dog to me.  He really looked like a person who understands when I'm showing him off to my students and want him to be cute as can be, if I'm leaving him behind or he's going with me as I walk out the door, if the food on the table is for him or if he has to beg for it.  He knows exactly what I want him to do but has his own moods sometimes if he wants to choose to obey me.  He looks at you as if he has a world of knowledge he wants to tell you but just couldn't get his tongue around the words.  He doesn't like the floor, he prefers to cuddle with you on the sofa or on the bed right on your perfectly soft comforter or brand new pillow.  He loves to see the leash because he knows he's going for another good walk around the block.  He was known to us as just Cobbie.  When he's done something bad he knows it and I call him "Cobbler Stanford Gabriel-Romias", other times spoiled brat.  Lately, he was known as "Knut" after that cute cuddly polar bear cub in Germany.

He has lost his hearing and has been taking commands by looking at my face and hands that he hasn't heard his name for a long time.

 

Thank you for sharing his life with us and loving him.  Even if you're not here or have not met him in person, I'm sure you would've shown him much kindness and love.  Thank you for humoring me in this email and reading about him.  I ask for nothing more than your prayers, that you take extra care of your beloved pets, and that you appreciate and care for all of God's creations likewise.  Please remember Cobbie in his prime in these pictures.  I do hope that saying that all dogs go to heaven is true.

 

Sincerely and solemnly,

Hannah