It was around 2001 that Shaman, a beautiful White German Shepherd, was brought home by my parents in Columbus, Ohio. I'll be honest in saying that when I first met Shaman, I didn't like him. He was initially a little fearful of me, barking every time I looked at him. I walked out of the house to go back to my apartment (I was attending The Ohio State University at the time) and told my parents I'm not coming back until the dog was gone. Yeah, right. Quite the bluff on my part, because Shaman never left, and I came back not too long after.Ten years later, I'm living near Boston and my parents live in Virginia. Every time I come home to visit for a few days, Shaman has been the first dog to greet me at the door. Tail wagging uncontrollably, pathetic but sweet high-pitch whimpers of excitement, and a craving to be as close as he can to me. When I'd first walk in the door, Shaman's thoughts were likely, as my mom put it, "He's home! The pack is complete again!" He's a brilliant dog. He recognizes different words and phrases easily: ball, walk, [Mikey, Daddy, Mommy - whoever]'s coming, and kittty cat." And if you talked to him, sometimes he'd tilt his head to the left and right as his mouth hung open (kind of like the photo above), trying to figure out what you were saying. He loved learning.
Unfortunately, like many shepherds, Shaman had a lot of hip and leg issues. He'd tear the ligaments in his rear legs, and while some owners might put their dog to sleep at that point because the surgery is so expensive, my parents made the investment - twice - to provide the surgery for Shaman on the two different occasions he took out one of his legs. Shaman got a very good life. He got to hang out with three different dogs in the household over his life - Echo, our Siberian Husky (still alive and well up in Maine with another family now); Diamond, our Doberman Pinscher (no longer with us); and Callie, our Great Dane (still with my parents). By that, you can tell my parents seem to love big dogs!
I went home about three weeks ago for a vacation, and my parents and I spent time at their new vacation home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Shaman and Callie came with us, of course. It was obvious Shaman was in some pain as his hips and legs were sore, naturally from him getting older. But the moment my mom would ask him if he wanted to go swimming in the pool in the backyard, with his BALL, Shaman would get right up and quickly hobble over. And he'd go swimming! I took this photo of him then with his Spongebob Squarepants ball.Well, I got the news from my mom that Shaman sadly passed away this past Friday, July 15th, 2011. On Thursday, he apparently didn't have any food or water and was in some pain. That evening, he limped up the stairs with my parents since it was bed time. But at some point that night his body just went into paralysis. He couldn't move at all, and he was whining and panting a lot. My dad had to carry him downstairs, and as soon as the vet's office opened, my parents brought Shaman there. The vet wasn't really sure what it was - it could have been a number of possibilities, but none of them sounded like something that would allow Shaman to have a good quality of living. So my parents had him put to sleep so that he'd no longer be in pain. He would have been eleven years old this November.
I'm sure it's harder for my parents and Callie than it is for me since I'm not even home to be reminded of Shaman. But it's still sad to know that this sweet dog is gone. As for the relationship I had with him, it was good as it can get with a dog. He and I didn't see eye-to-eye initially, but Shaman and I ended up becoming best buddies whenever I visited home. I'm glad I got to see him just recently. One evening at the Outer Banks, I gave Shaman a good massage and he fell asleep he was so happy! I'm thankful I got to have that moment with him.
Rest in peace, Mr. Shaman!
