Owning a St. Bernard and Unforgettable memories - Kaivalaya's Ani-Mall

Continues from the previous part Here- Journey Started with Dogs – The Wonderful World Of Pets. But, something happened. I don’t know why, but around a year after the death of Goldie I brought in ‘Juliet’. Juliet was a St. Bernard female and when she came she was 26 days old. Those who have kept St. Bernard could imagine why was I unable to deny her when I first saw her. A ball of brown and white fur with eyes so dark and lively that they gave an impression of glass marbles. And when she innocently blinks them hardest of souls could melt in a moment.

Hired a professional dog trainer for Juliet a St. Bernard 😍

With her, I swore that I will answer all the mistakes that I have had made in the case of Dexter and I am going to keep her all her life. I hired a professional dog trainer this time and instead of getting Juliet trained by him, I offered him a price higher than the market to teach me how to train. With her, I started realizing what mistakes have I made with Dexter and corrected them.

As the reputation of St. Bernard, Juliet was a quick learner. Within 2 months of the time she mastered all easy commands like sit, down, lay, Roll, peak, fetch, salute, etc. When she was around 6 months old I started training her for searching objects. Boy oh boy she perfected that lesson so quick that I was surprised. Within 1 and a half months she started searching and retrieving the hidden object in difficult places like beneath the mattresses, inside cardboard boxes with a bundle of newspaper on than, and most remarkably she started marking things buried 2 feet deep in our garden.

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KCI show rings

I was so much proud of her but I guess I was happy to see her showing such remarkable progress. By the time she was around 8-month old, I was planning on entering KCI show rings under abidance class into top shows held in India. I had a huge hope for her. And then, Something happened. Suddenly she stopped eating and drinking. I thought there were symptoms of the common cold or something else because she had a little fever also. I took her to the vet and he gave some general medication to her.

Three days after medication she didn’t show any improvement and vomiting also started now and then. I again took her to the vet and he repeated the medication and gave her Dextrose drip also. He said she will recover within 2 days. The next morning what I saw, sent vibes to my heart. Juliet was puking blood. It was 6 am in the morning, I called several times but the vet didn’t answer my calls. By 7 am she had vomited 3 more times with blood in yellow liquid. I called another vet and by 7:30 am I was at his clinic. He examined Juliet and wrote something on the prescription. Then he called his technician and asked me to take her into another chamber.

What is wrong?

Inside that chamber, we picked her up and placed her on a table. I asked the vet “What is wrong?”. He assured me that this a seasonal viral infection and after getting Glucose and other medication she would be fine. That day she showed some improvement. I was relaxed and slept well that night. The next day I again took her to the same vet and he repeated the medication. He asked me to come continuously for 5 days. I was hopeful that she will be alright. But, from the evening she started pooping blood. I called my new vet he said: “It is nothing, don’t worry come tomorrow”.

But in the night she vomited and passed bloody semi-solid stool several times. I stood all night cling. By the next morning, at 7 am I was at the doorstep of the vet. He again repeated the same medication. I was again skeptical, as she was not showing any signs of improvement.

Parvovirus: The Nightmare com true

On the advice of know, I took her to a retired highly experienced vet. Just looking at her eyes and analyzing the symptoms he diagnosed that Juliet was hit by “Parvovirus”. I was horrified, not because of the virus, but because of the time elapsed before correct diagnoses.

The vet told me that she is serious and cannot promise me anything, but he will try to treat her. Tears rolled down my cheeks. How much more does she have to suffer? The vet started treating her. I took her to him twice a day every 12 hours for a medicated glucose drip. The vet told me that this medication will go for 15 days. And he also instructed me not to feed her otherwise vomiting will not stop, at least for 3 days. The glucose that we are giving her is sufficient for her. For around 3 days here recovery was slow and I have to carry her with my hands under her chest and walking beside her. She didn’t have any energy left in her and after every few steps, she stopped and reclined on me for support.

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We both were fighting hard. Though she was very sick and barely moving, that spark in her eyes was still there. She slept the whole day, but whenever she wakes, she kept staring at me. I don’t remember how many hours I had tried while she slept with her head in my lap. By the 7th or 8th day, she showed improvement. She walked around 150 meters, she ate 2 brown bread with Greek yogurt, she drank water and didn’t vomit. Though she is still passing out some blood in her stool now her stool was firm and well-shaped. By the 11th day, she climbed the stairs and spent some time with me on the terrace.

5Km of distance took her Life

I was so much relaxed to see her gaining health again. But, faith had other plans. Despite the clear denial from me to feed her other things than brown bread, yogurt, or rice, my mother, feed her spiced and fried gram flour noodles. This happened behind my back when I was attending a sales seminar 5 km away from home. From the same night, it was Sunday, Juliet started vomiting again. I took her to the vet at 10 pm at night and after medication, she slept. By the morning starting passing diarrhea also.

The next day she just refused to eat or drink and kept on vomiting and passed stinky, black diarrhea. I got scared, to the extent I can’t explain. My vet tried everything that he could. But this time, I think, she gave up. Somehow, I felt that she knew what is going to happen. I stood by her side for the whole 3 days without sleep. I didn’t leave her unattended. When I was in the toilet my father attended to her. I was still hopeful that she will recover. Then the day came. I remember that day, and I will never forget it. 1st September 2011. She was sleeping and beside her, I was reading a book. She suddenly woke up and started granting. I immediately called the vet. In the meantime, before the vet arrived she vomited blood 3 or 4 times and kept on grunting.

Final Good-Bye 😭

I was scared to the extent I never have felt that much fear my whole life. The vet came and gave her an injection to stop internal bleeding. After 2 or 3 minutes to stood up and tried to walk, but trembled and fell. I rushed to support her. Then she lost bladder and bowel control. She was lying on the floor with her head in my lap. After some time, She opened her eyes and stared at my face continuously for 2, 3 minutes. And then, she grunted painfully for the last time and blood gushed from her mouth into my lap. I broke into tears.

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I remember trying hard to wake her up. The vet said she had no pulse. But I was not listening to him, I was just asking Juliet to get up. It took me 20 minutes to realize that she was saying goodbye to me when she looked into my eyes for the last time. I loved her like my own daughter. I suddenly felt so alone. Like nothing was around me. A hollow was created at that time in my heart that is still around.

Whenever any of her memories come around, I just can’t help myself to sink down and remember the old days. She (Juliet – St. Bernard )deserved more time with me or should I say, I was in need of her innocent love. She will always be remembered as a loving, caring, and best member of my pet family…… Please Read The Third Part Here