William a very different Newfoundland (Part 2)

William was now our dog in reality but nothing changed, he never knew we had been his foster parents up to this point and we never told him.   Life for him continued much as it had before; his relationship with Meg matured from mother and child to boss and minion.   It was obvious he adored her in a platonic sort of way.   On the human side he seemed to bond with husband Mike and Mike for his part thought the world of him.   But William was a dog  who’s affection covered all humanity.

Meg died in circumstances away from him and it was a few days before he realised that the parting was permanent.   I guess I didn’t help as I knew long before he did that she was dead, I had lost my best friend and was for a time inconsolable.   William didn’t know  why I was so upset and tried to cheer me up but as time went on he seemed to realise that Meg was not coming home and wandered round at first looking in her favourite spots then later just wandering totally miserable.   He refused to eat and became ill, it was obvious what we should do, we had to replace Meg, give him a canine interest in life again.   We had a real problem as the need was urgent and there were no bitch puppies for sale at the time so we bought Osca at least it would be an interest for William even if he was the wrong sex.

It took him a longish while to accept Osca, he certainly didn’t fill Meg’s place but it did give William something to think about, if only how to get out of the puppy’s way.  It worked he started eating again and taking an interest in the world.   After several attempts at leading Osca away and trying to lose him (we had to keep a close eye on them at this juncture) he settled down to his responsibilities becoming a father figure for a few months.   As Osca grew into an adult dog they became buddies and virtually did everything together.

Like all our dogs William slept in the bedroom with us, there’s no use in having a dog to protect you if he’s locked away somewhere else.   Then one night William stopped coming up to the bedroom and settled himself at the bottom of the stairs.   He would look up at us but refuse to join us.   On one occasion we persuaded him to join us but he climbed the stairs very slowly and obviously in pain; we never asked him to do it again.   It was time to get the vet to check him out.   He was sedated and x-rayed, it was advance cancer there was very little solid bone in his back leg.   The vet never brought him round another faithful friend gone.