Saber DiMarzio

Saber and Amy on Valentine's Day

Saber was a good dog, in every sense of the word. Because he really liked being a dog. So different from our shepherd-mix rescue, who aspires to be as human as possible. We got Saber to keep her company and to basically show her how to be a dog. We tried pairing her with a German shepherd rescue. That lasted nine days. They fought all the time. Then we found Saber. He was so easy going and calm that she just couldn’t find anything wrong with him. So he stayed. Watching him run was just amazing. The definition of freedom. He was not cuddly, but he liked to cuddle. Our family lived on the floor in a big heap of a pack. We volunteered with the greyhounds at the Park Ave Fest and he was happy to be out and about. Later, we assumed that his track days were catching up with him as he had neck pains and then leg pains. He stopped going up the stairs and going on outings. Then he stopped rolling over on his back to sleep and even scratching his ears. He stopped coming around for a scratch behind the ears. His life was on his floor mat. His amazingly muscular legs shriveled. His back legs were almost unable to support him at all from the pain of his arthritis. There was no coming back from it. So today we said goodbye. For days leading up to it, I could hardly look at him because I knew the secret of when he was going to die and he did not. He gave me no sign that he was ready so that I’d have an “out”. As always, he simply made do with whatever his body dealt him each day. Still easy-going and calm, but in pain. And now he’s not. We kissed his muzzle and petted his soft head and caressed his sleek ears and let him go. And now there is an empty bed and dish at home and a hole in our family. It’s very raw right now. But we are glad to have had such a good dog. It was our honor to know and love him.

The DiMarzio Family

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