Memorial for Dottie |
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| Dottie "The Rottie" Etheredge | |||||
| Born: July 1999 | |||||
| Went to play with friends old and new in the Dog Park in Heaven: February 1, 2008 | |||||
| Dottie was the first pet that my wife and I adopted. I never grew up with any pets in the house, so I very excited when we were called by the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria about Dottie. I would like to share how Dottie joined my family as my first "child". Queen, as she was originally named, had been brought to the shelter by someone claiming to be her owner. Turns out that this person was not the real owner, but a relative. As is normal with new animals to the shelter, the great staff had Queen(soon to be Dottie) checked out by a vet, who found that she suffered from a disease that is fairly common in the Rottweiler breed, entropion. When the real owner came to claim her, he was informed by the staff at the shelter of her medical condition. The owner intended to breed her, and was informed that in order to take possesion of his dog, she would have to be spayed because the entropian is heriditary, it would most likely be passed to her puppies. The owner was also told that he would have charges of animal neglect and endangerment brought against him if he chose not to have her spayed and did breed her. That owner made the wisest choice and left her at the shelter. The shelter paid to have the entropian repaired, and called me. We had informed the shelter that we wanted to adopt a Rottweiler, and when Queen came into their care, we got called. She hadn't even been made available for public viewing yet. That phone call came on a Sunday afternoon just as my wife and I had returned from a weekend trip to the beach. We lived in Reston at the time, and made it to Old Town Alexandria in under 30 minutes. We wanted to get to the shelter before it closed. Our first time seeing Dottie was as she was brought out from the back kennels at the shelter. She had been shaved around her eyes, and had purple stitches around the eyelids where the vet had repaired her entropian. We knew right then and there, without any doubt and against all odds, that this was going to be our dog. After an in home interview from the shelter, we were allowed to adopt Dottie. This was a very exciting time for us as the shelter didn't usually allow first time dog owners adopt breeds like a Rottweiler, as they can be very stubborn. The day I brought her home Dottie decided to jump out the back window of my SUV. The window was only halfway open, and I was still in motion (going about 30 MPH). To make matters worse, Dottie jumped out in front of an Alexandria City Police Cruiser! Dottie didn't run, she just stood in a field adjacent to the road, and looked and wagged her stump. The officer in the cruiser asked me if I had hit the dog. Almost in hesterics, I replied that I had just adopted the dog. I rushed Dottie to the closest animal hospital, where the staff tried to perform X-rays of Dottie. They couldn't get her to lay still long enough to get any kind of imaging done, so the vet staff brought her back to me, and let me know that Dottie was going to be just fine. We welcomed Dottie (we didn't like the name Queen, and she didn't respond to it anyway) into our home as a 10 month old puppy. Over the next 8 years, Dottie was a constant companion and rarely left Darren's side. She always had a spirit that would keep her young at heart. She loved to play and romp with other dogs, and had a dear love for children. She was very gentle with our daughter, who came along in June, 2007. She had some medical issues, that, over time really took a toll on her insides. While Dottie still had the spirit of a 10 month old puppy, her body had lost the ability to keep up. Dottie took the opportunity to eliminate any stereotypes that Rottweilers have as she was gentle and loving. Even non dog lovers found it easy to fall in love with Dottie. She was truly a people dog. She wanted everyone to love her, pet her and be her friend. She protected the innocent (kids AND other dogs). She loved to watch other animals; whether in person or on TV, and had the uncanny ability to know when the peanut butter jar was being opened. Dottie will be missed dearly by us, and by her "sister" Shadow. For more pictures of Dottie, please go to her pet gallery. |
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| Jill and Darren Etheredge | |||||
| Ashburn, VA | |||||
