This is Vinnie, our first Rottweiller. It was pure chance that my husband and I even saw him; he was one of the dogs sponsored by a local adoption group (not Humane Society) at a local pet store. My husband rarely goes with me to this store. But on this one occasion, there was Vinnie; my husband Mike and he locked eyes and Mike was instantly in love. We debated about adopting him that evening – I had 2 cats and was worried about the effect on them. We decided the heck with the cats and went back the next day to adopt him. Unfortunately, we were too late. We went back home devastated.

Then a miracle happened! Two months later the adoption people called; are you still interested in Vinnie? Things didn’t work out with the person who beat us to adopting him. The answer was of course yes.
We only had a little over 3 years with our Vinnie. The vet told us that he was at least 3-4 years older than the adoption group thought he was. Three years later, in August 2006, Vinnie collapsed and was diagnosed with a huge stomach tumor, most likely cancerous. He went downhill quickly and he died in our arms after the vet put him to sleep.

My husband went through the same hell as Mark; did we do everything we should have, should we have put him through surgery and chemo? I have had no such doubts; he was easily 11 or 12 years old which is about a Rottie’s age span. I am convinced that surgery and chemo would have only made his life miserable and wouldn’t have given him any quality time on this earth.

Thank you for giving me a place where I can vent all of this. We now have another rescue Rottie by the name of Ace, who despite his behavoir issues, has completely taken over my heart.

Gwen from CA