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| Akilles, picture taken about 1995, I think. |
Akilles was my first dog and he was also a very special dog. He is incredibly much missed by Martin and me. I hope I will get the chance to have special dogs again, though I doubt that anyone will ever match Akilles.
His whole name (kennel name) was Odyséen's Akilles, he was bred by Odyséen's kennel a couple of miles outside Helsinborg, Sweden.
I got Akilles when he was 2 years old. He quickly became "my" dog and the best friend you can imagine. We never entered any competitions - I am not very good at keeping my nerves under control when it comes to competitions and Akilles wasn't exactly the most "willing to work" GSD I've met, rather the opposite. But he was smart and learned very fast and he was a wonderful dog in all possible ways.
When I met Martin I wasn't the only one to fall for him - Akilles quickly decided that "this is my master". Quite funny really, since Akilles always had stayed near me before but now he wanted to be where Martin was. Also normally Akilles was totally cool riding in the car, but now he started to get a bit stressed when we where going to Linköping every other weekend (it s 375 kilometres between Helsingborg and Linköping). On the way home again he slept all the way, knowing we weren't on our way to his beloved master.
During spring 2000 we realised that Akilles was getting old. He had his 12th birthday in March and he had some problems with his health. His elbow had given him problems during a lot of years but was kept Ok by using Biosynov. He also got back his perianal fistulas, which had been treated by operation in 1992 and had stayed away ever since. He got Prednison and antibiotics on a low daily dosage to keep the fistulas from growing and causing him pain, so he wasn't very disturbed by the fistulas, but it was another thing added to his health problem. His muscles in leg and back started to deteriorate but he could still jump in to the car without help and he didn't seem bothered.
Strangely enough he stayed alert and in good health during our housewarming party. We had been worried about this party, since there was going to be a lot of people. He was as well the day after as he was during the party, even if he had moved around a lot and had a lot to eat. The weekend after the party I had my birthday and my mom came to visit. Akilles was still fine, but on the morning of June 13, when my mom was going home by train and Martin was going to Stockholm for business, I woke up early, around 1 am and found Akilles sitting in the bedroom, panting. I thought he just needed to go out, since the Prednison made him quite thirsty, but when I took him for a walk he just walked on and didn't need to do anything. A couple of hours later I was once again out for a walk but with the same result. He just didn't seem to be well. In the morning before breakfast Martin took both dogs for a walk and came in, totally devastated and said "This is the end, this is not Akilles anymore...".
Akilles didn't want to eat, I think this was the first time in many years that he had refused food and it was totally clear that he was not feeling well at all. Martin changed his trip to Stockholm, we drove my mom to the train station and then on the way back we passed the vet and asked for an appointment as soon as possible. We got an appointment 1 1/2 hour later and went home, put the dog cage back into the car and tried to stray strong, even though we were almost falling apart.
Then Akilles took his last trip in his beloved car. At the animal hospital everything went by very calm and the vet thought that it was the testicle tumour in his abdomen that had turned and was causing him pain, which was about the same thing we believed. There wasn't much to do about it; Akilles had had a long and rich life, now it was over. But it is so hard to be the one left behind. Both Martin and I were totally devastated.
It still hurts to think about it, I miss that dog so much that I sometimes don't know what to do, but at the same time I remember all the good years I had with him. He was my very best friend, always there when I needed him. I never felt alone as long as he was by my side.
I will probably have a lot of wonderful dogs in my time, but there will never be another Akilles. Thank you for all the years you gave me.
Pictures can be found here in the Gallery.
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