Thor
Printed April 20, 2007
Six years ago this coming July, Thor was born. He was the runt of the litter and
his baby picture shows him nestled comfortably in the palm of a man's hand, with room to spare. Because of his stature when
compared to his litter mates, his first name was Little Guy. Shiloh Shepherds, like his brothers and sisters commonly reach
165 pounds at maturity. Little Guy never weighed more than 140 pounds.
At three months of age he was sold to a lady who treated him like a king. She named
him Thor after the Norwegian god of thunder. He had nothing but the best care, food and training. Unfortunately, when he was
a little over a year old, her life circumstances changed in such a way that she could no longer care for him. She returned
him to the breeder where she had purchased him.
A 100-pound dog isn't the easiest to place, even if he is still a puppy. That's when
we entered his life. When we first laid eyes on him, we knew that he was to become part of our family. He was tall, slender
and covered with a feathery black, brown and tan coat that rippled in the wind when he ran free in the backyard catching football
passes.
From the time we adopted him, we were told he had a sensitive stomach. If he gulped
his food too fast, it would come back up shortly thereafter. This condition would worsen anytime he got sick and he would
drop pounds quickly. We helped him with a special feeding stand and a special diet formulated for dogs with sensitive digestive
systems.
In no time he became an indispensable member of the family. Thor either took to someone
immediately or never. He was opinionated like that. He took it upon himself to protect us from anyone he considered to be
unacceptable. In one instance, he chased an acquaintance clean out of the house. Later, we found that the individual in question
had departed our home along with some 20-dollar bills that had been on the mantle. His judge of character was infallible.
As anyone who knows us can tell you, Lynnie, the Lovely Little Lady of the Manor
is somewhat frail and not in the best of health. From the first, that big ole dog decided that she needed him more that the
rest of us and took extra care to be especially gentle with her. And, woe to anyone who threatened her!
One day two weeks ago, Thor was having trouble keeping anything down, including water.
A trip to the Animal Hospital and some X rays revealed that he had been born with a condition known as Esophageal Distention.
In short, he couldn't get food into his stomach and the blockage was pressing upon his heart. We were told that, although
he wasn't in pain, he wasn't going to last long. We took him home.
Thursday morning, April 12h, Thor wobbled his way into the kitchen. He
lay down on the floor, put his big head on Lynnie's feet and passed away. And we sadly bid farewell to a valued friend, playmate
and protector who left us in what should have been the prime of his life.
