Skeeters Page

Ah, Skeeter, "Da Bum". Dale's most loyal fan, and a fixture at the office. Skeeter was purchased from Ric Pittman, Sundown, in Lakeside, California in February 1993. He was supposed to be our first champion and stud dog, but as it tends to be in the dog world the majority of the time, things just didn't work out that way. He got too big, was missing too many teeth, had awful movement and had a very bad tendency to kiss the judge-any judge, male or female, no discrimination there! Most judges didn't mind, but some were quite repulsed (and they shouldn't be dog judges, but that's just my opinion). So instead he lives the life of Riley, going to work with his "dad" almost every day. And at work, he does his best to keep the troops entertained. He does this by casually sneaking off to check out the offices and see who brought what for lunch. He's paraded back to Dale's office with a banana sticking out of both sides of his mouth; he's stolen people's lunches right off of their desks WHILE THEY WERE IN THE OFFICE, behind their backs; he's picked up lunch sacks from the floors of the offices and brought them back to "his" office; and he's a frequent mauler of the muffin lady who comes around with a load of baked goodies to sell. And he does this all in good humour. He doesn't mind it when he gets caught, just laughs right along with everyone, and no one can stay mad at him for very long. He does have a rather annoying habit of attacking people's feet when they get too close to Dale; even people he's known for years get the treatment. And yah, he's not the brightest star in the universe, intelligence-wise. But he's never met an enemy he didn't love at first sight either (unless, again, they get too close to Dale). In general though, he's quite well-behaved, especially for Dale, and enjoys playing with other dogs. He uses his front feet in true Aussie fashion, to bat at dogs. He especially likes to do that to poor little Gizmo, our portable dog. Skeeter will flatten Gizmo with one huge paw, and you'd swear he was laughing when he does that! He's finally slowing down a bit now, unfortunately some of that is due to the epilepsy he was diagnosed with in 1996, which also forced his retirement from Children's Hospital. But he still pouts if Dale leaves him home, no matter where he was going, even if Dale was just going to move the car into the street or something. And Skeeter is the privileged one who gets to ride in the 98 Corvette with the top off, "trollin' for chicks". Skeeter is a most handsome guy, even if most people immediately mistake him for a Bernese Mountain dog! Definitely a chick and kid magnet!

On Monday, January 23, Skeeter didn't appear to be feeling very well, so I took him in to the vet's. X-rays showed a grossly enlarged liver, so an ultrasound appointment was made with Dr. Slusser for the next day. After extensive testing and a long ultrasound, he couldn't come up with a definitive answer, so he recommended a liver biopsy which we did the next day. On Friday, the news came back - lymphoma, an aggressive cancer. Dr. Slusser felt we had a 50%-60% chance of gaining several good months with chemo, so Dale and Skeeter headed down the hill immediately for his first treatment. Dr. Slusser felt that if Skeeter was going to respond, it would be immediately and dramatic. Unfortunately, it was neither. He continued to go downhill, gathering speed, over the next two days. On Sunday, several of his friends came by to say goodbye. Dale had made the decision not to continue to try and to let him go on Monday. Morgan and the rest of our Angels were gathering at The Bridge on Sunday, waiting for him. And Skeeter, who always wanted to do things HIS way, waited until Sunday evening when Dale picked him up to carry him to the car to cross The Bridge. He wanted to go back to where he started; in Dale's arms, being carried as Dale did when he was a little puppy, tucked inside Dale's coat, against his chest.

Skeeter brought so much humour and joy to our lives over the 13 years he was with us. He will always be in our hearts.