Dog profile for OTIS MYMAN.Forever in my heart, a male Labrador Retriever/Irish Setter

Labrador Retriever/Irish Setter

Photo Comments

Home:Long Beach, NY

Sex: Male Weight: 51-100 lbs

Dogster stats for OTIS MYMAN.Forever in my heart


Stars:

Leave a bone for OTIS MYMAN.Forever in my heart

Nicknames:
Otie, Odabee, swagass, Mary, perfection, roger scarback, oat, sweetness, baby boy

Doggie Dynamics:

Energy

sleepy		energetic

Intelligence

silly		genius

Friendliness

aggressive		affectionate

Playfulness

not playful		very playful

Disposition

anxious		calm

Quick Bio:

-mutt

Birthday:
May 1st 1990

Likes:
me

Pet-Peeves:
plastic bags, ballons, tennis balls in plants

Favorite Toy:
a heart that said I love you when squeezed

Favorite Food:
cheese

Favorite Walk:
anywhere

Best Tricks:
danced with me every time he heard "RERE" Franklin sing RESPECT

Arrival Story:
When my brothers dog was very ill, I began to search for another dog for my brother to ease the pain before he lost Shonte. I searched and searched and found Otis. I kept him for the weekend while my brother was out of town. When Monday came and I handed Otis to Steven, it felt as though I ripped a piece of myself out. All 3 of us knew where Otis had to live!!

Bio:
August 3, 2002 I held him in my arms, nose to nose most of the time…..I sang him the song that I always sang to him when he was upset from a storm. I thanked him for all the love and joy and love and laughter and love and friendship he has shown me over the past 12 years . I kissed his entire body, his sweet face, and his nose and his mouth and I stroked the softest ears I’ve ever felt in my life. I felt as he took his very last breath onto my tear soaked lips and I felt his big beautiful heart take it’s final beat, and my best friend was gone. Otis My Man went to sleep at 3:45, August 2, 2002. His final days were painless, but sad. He was very weak. I could see in his eyes that this was not the way he wanted to live. In letting him go yesterday, I prevented paralysis, pain and the sadness in his eyes that I could not take. I wanted him to be with Dr. Gelfand, and Susann and Jessica and Aithra and Lisa and all the people that have taken such amazing care of my baby….but in the end……it was me and my boy. I don’t know how to get through this. We had a relationship that transcended pet/owner. He was my friend. He was my buddy. He was everyplace that I was for 12 years. I, have no regrets about his life. Never was he taken for granted, not from the first moment I adopted him. We bonded, we were able to communicate without words. I always knew what was in his heart…that was easy, it was love. I have never seen a dog that enjoyed his life so fully, every moment. He always had on a smile, he was always up for anything. But, it was the light, the twinkle in his eyes that set him apart. Otis managed to keep himself like a puppy until the very end, and when he couldn’t be that way anymore..he dimmed his light and asked me to let him go. I can’t stop sobbing, the pain is so deep and hurts so much that it feels as if it will never dull. I look for him at every turn, because he was always by my side. In his last few days, when he could hardly muster the strength in his legs to get up…he managed to find me and lay by me the one or two times that I actually left his side. Wherever it was that my boy was comfortable, was where I was…the bed, the couch , the floor and I never stopped holding him. I stopped into Dr. Gelfand’s on my way home yesterday. The out pouring of love from all the girls was so beautiful, the fact that some of them cried with me, didn’t make me feel worse…it reinforced what I knew..Otis was very very special. Carbon and I waited in a room for Dr. Gelfand. What could I possibly say to this man?? He had taken care of my boy for 12 years. He has guided me. He has made the worst news better because it came from him. He was on the phone with me and walked me through yesterday as only he could. He was honest, like only a friend could be. He told me he was relieved that he did not have to be the one that did this. He held me and cried. He explained exactly what Otis would have been facing in a matter of days. He reassured me in every way that I did what was best for my angel boy. And we told stories, and he empathized and he sympathized and for the time that I was there with him…he made me feel as strong as I have felt since it became a prospect to lose my Otie. Diane was with us all day until I went to see Dr. Gelfand. This was almost as hard for her as it is for me. Not only does she love my boy(and he so loved her!), but she tried to stay strong for me….When I told her it was okay, that I love knowing that she loves him too, she was able to let go of all the bottled up emotions of the day. She nursed Otie right along with me, as she continues to help with Carbon-I can not begin to express my gratitude. Diane is a friend to me and my babies. She is home with me now, and we grieve together. If I cry loud enough, if I say his name over and over I feel like he will prance in through the door. If I go to sleep and wake up, he’ll be next to me, smiling and wagging his tail “c’mon mummy, it’s a new day, let’s play!” Otis is responsible for a lot of my outlook on life. He began each day with such zeal. Whether it was the blanket game or the King of Siam or wrestling or catch or one of his hundred babies-whatever he chose to do, he did it with all of him…that’s the way he loved me too, with all of him. His face could make me smile in the worst times-and that theory has been tested. And now, it’s the very worst time and I don’t have him. I just need to hold him. To look at him and have him wag his tail and come over and kiss me and lay with me till I feel better…that always works. I see him prancing in my head, I see him running to get a “baby” to bring to me as a sign of affection. I see the way he would toss a toy in the air, watch it drop, then sneak up on it and do it again. I see his crawling into the smallest space when there is a storm, coming out of that space only to claw me and knock all standing things down-apparently that made it all better. I see him running on the beach and diving into the waves. I have thousands of beautiful memories, I just wasn’t ready to stop making new ones. Some people say that I sacrificed too much for my dogs. As far as I am concerned. There was never a sacrifice. Otis was not a thing or just a dog, he was my boy, and he deserved in return what he gave-and that was everything. He made my life richer, more fun, happier and showed me an unconditional love that most people never achieve. He looked at me with a heart full of joy and love and made me smile every minute that we were together with the exception of when he was ill. When Carbon first got sick in January, Otis was glued to us. He helped me help her. He would lick away my tears and lay with me and Carb. When I had a house full of kittens, my boy Mary would walk around the house and gather them up carrying them like their mother, always so gentle. With all the illnesses and injuries he has had over the years, it never stopped him from being Otis. He never growled or was a threat, no matter what had to be done to him in the name of medicine. I was always with him, he would just look at me while they did what they had to do. Otis liked every person and animal he came across, .…all were potential playmates. If you were one of the fortunate ones that he loved, that he would actually bestow an Otie kiss upon, then you were blessed. Otis loved his Mummy. And I love him. I hope that he understood what I did. If Otis were a person, I think that he would have been a bit flower child like. He was so free spirited. So aware of other people and his surroundings and even the smallest of creatures. This note probably jumps around a lot, I wanted to write something eloquent, I thought I’d wait a while. At the suggestion of mine and Otis’ friend, Lee Gelfand…I deceided just to write. I thought in doing this that I would be able to express my relationship with Otis, my love and admiration for his courage and my loss…..But there are no words. I miss him so much that the pain feels like a hole was cut out of my chest. I guess it was. Otis took a part of me with him, and I know that part of him will forever be with me. None of this lessens the hurt. I want my boy. Right now he would be laying by my side while I typed this, and when I was finished, I would walk into another room and I would hear the click click click click right behind me, and for fun, I’d probably stop short or raise my leg to see the wonder in his eyes as he was suddenly in front of me. We played that game a lot. We played it on Thursday. I want him here so badly. I miss him so much. I want my Otie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can only wish you know how hard yesterday was Otie, I did it for you my friend, I LOVE YOU!

Forums Motto:
I love my Mummy!!

I've Been On Dogster Since:

August 26th 2005