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In Memory of Petey
by Martina McGaugh
 Petey came to BRLA in early December of 2003 after spending some time at General Animal Hospital where his owner surrendered him. He had a big open chest wound; he was skinny and had a few open wounds on his legs. He was also not very friendly towards people. It broke my heart to see this tall white Boxer boy with a blue eye and a brown eye stuck in a crate.
On December 30th of 2003 my husband and I picked up Petey to treat him in a home environment for a week or two. His first night was spent in the laundry room away from the other three dogs.
He bit the sales person during a shopping trip to PetsMart (rookie mistake - you don't take a new dog to public places) on his first evening in my care. I took him straight back to Boxer Rescue to talk to the trainer about his aggression. While we discussed the issue Petey stood next to me growling at EVERYBODY. Raphaele nicknamed him "Nasty Petey". I was also very worried about my other dogs - but there was no need - Petey is VERY GOOD dog - and cat friendly. During our time together I had a few fosters come and go, and Petey was always the perfect host, as you can see below!
A couple of months later Dennis, BRLA's famous dog walker, came by to pick up my foster girl Chewbacca. Petey did not like it - at all - and bit Dennis on the hand. It was time to do something about this serious issue. Joe, the Rehab trainer, came by and worked with him and … voila! Petey turned around to the point that he was HAPPY to see people coming to our home. He licked their faces and was the happiest dog when people talked to him.
Everything was perfect until … we noticed a slight limp on his right front leg. It came and went … and came back again. Time to take him to the vet.
X-rays and a bone scan revealed that our beloved Petey suffered from Osteosarcoma [bone cancer]. Our vet suggested we put him down to eliminate pain and suffering as an amputation on an older dog is very hard on them especially when the front leg is taken. But I thought, 'Petey came such a long way just to die now?'
I could not do it and consulted with Dr Schulman. I ended up leaving Petey there for the amputation. Now I had some doubts. How will he be able walk, will the other dogs pick on him, and how will I get him in the SUV after the operation? When I picked him up Petey came RUNNING up to me, JUMPED up, and licked my face. When we got to the garage I tried to figure out how I would lift him up into the car. Petey simply JUMPED in the SUV. I could not believe this. Yes, he had some pain for a couple of days after the surgery - but three days later he was back to his old self and I was a happy camper again.
Petey continued his carefree happy life for another 11 months, when he started to limp on his left hind leg. We tried everything for 4 weeks. X-rays revealed today that the cancer came back … very aggressively … his hip was eaten away. We decided to give Petey the last gift. He died at 2PM today, 8/18/2005, peacefully at the vet's office. We will miss him so much!
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