A Tribute To Sabre

 On August 15th, we said goodbye to our faithful, handsome Beauceron, Sabre.  He was almost 13 years old and had a very good life here at camp.  Most every day he took walks with Joanna down our quiet gravel roads, played lots of frisbee in the yard, could run down to the lake for a drink or to cool off and pretty much had the run of the place. 

He would be your friend if you threw a stick or the ball for him since he was forever a play boy.  Even as old as he was, if I took a frisbee outside to throw for him, his teeth would chatter with excitement in anticipation of catching it midair and bringing it back.  He would often lay down on his back on the grass, holding the frisbee in his paws and alternately chew on it and toss it up in the air and catch it again.

Joanna especially liked his intimidating size and serious presence when she would take long walks as there are wolves and other wild animals in the area and she always felt safer with Sabre by her side. On one occasion when a bear came into camp, Sabre ran him up a tree and let that black brute know that he wasn't going to tolerate any mischievousness here.   He was a great guardian and protector, always watchful and vigilant over his family.

I still laugh when I remember how Sabre used to sit in the passenger side of John's old pickup truck when taking the garbage and fish remains to the dump.  He was John's companion wherever he went and whatever he did.  Before we purchased the riding lawn mower, John mowed the entire lawn with a push mower.  A lot of the time, Saber would walk ahead of him dropping a tennis ball for John to throw for him.  If John didn't stop mowing and throw it, he would have run over it with the mower.  Sabre knew how to force him to play with him.

I would say he was in pretty good health right up to the end.  On the day we had to put him down, he was having continuous dizzy spells that made him sick and throwing up.  The vet said this was a condition that only happened with old dogs and a sign that his system was shutting down.  There was no cure for it and he would become very dehydrated.  So we had no other choice. 

We miss our sweet boy, who was a faithful, loyal obedient companion.  He was our camp mascot and he left an empty place here and in our hearts.