Almost nine years to the day I took this picture out in garden just after we got back from County Westmeath…
.. where Royal Princess was born, as you can see on her Registration Certificate…
.. but we decided to call her Venus instead.
My parents always loved Dobermanns, and always had at least one for as long as I can remember – trained them, showed them and breed them too – so this was mums latest one which I helped her bring home that day.
One month later…
.. one year later…
.. there was never any doubt, she was a princess.
I would have called around most evening to see my mum after my father passed away – and Venus would have always greeted me at the back door, plus it seems she would have also stood at the window each night waiting for me to arrive. So yes, even though she wasn’t actually my dog, she always made me feel very welcome – like I was part of ‘her family’.
Nevertheless, she was very much my mother’s dog and would have rarely left her side – up until mum went into hospital around this time last year.
Naturally, at first, I assumed mum would be back – but in the meantime I knew Venus needed looking after. So I put her red collar on once again and took her down to the beach…
.. and then that’s what I had to do every morning after that – because she clearly loved it – as you can see from these images that I took of her over the next few months…
.. which I would have shown to mum each time I visited her.
Anyway, after mum said “good-bye” I basically stopped taking pictures for a while – of Venus, that is, because… well, that was like the end of a chapter.
Naturally I continued to walk her every day, but it wasn’t until February of this year that I started to take pictures of her again, at home enjoying the good life – as this was now her house…
.. and so I basically let her sit and lie where ever she liked – which naturally included on the sofa…
.. which obviously she loved…
.. and in the meantime Holly & I started painting everything white…
.. while she watched with great interest.
“Happy…
.. happy…
.. happy” – as we tried to match her black & tan look throughout 🙂
Life was good…
.. but then about a month ago, around the time I took this picture of her on my father’s chair…
.. she started acting a little strange – lying more on the floor and then among the bushes outside…
.. in the garden where I took that first picture of her – which isn’t a good sign, I have been told.
Anyway, on Monday of this week I took this picture of her lying in the back of the Land Rover outside Claire Ferris Veterinary Practice…
.. again, much like the first picture I took of her – with my arm around her – expect unfortunately this was to be the last time 😦
According to Claire, “Dobermanns don’t like growing old” – the problem it seems was her heart – which now leaves me with a broken one.
Farewell my young friend…
.. I’m lucky to have known how hard it was to say goodbye – to you, my Royal Princess.
Ashley Morrison's Blog 