This series of stories will be titled 'I'm surprised I turned out as well as I did, given my childhood ...' 50

Bear and me

Once we’d got used to Nina, our first ever Rottie, we decided one more wouldn’t make too much difference and so we looked for another pup.

Mia and Bear

Nero came to us from a local farm. He was born in a cow shed and the size he grew to, we think he may have been part-cow. The puppy was a robust little fellow and he fit right in.

Nina took to him like an adoptive mother. She taught him manners and looked after him right from the word go.

One of our friends also had two Rotties, one a little younger than Nina and the other we estimate at a similar age but as she was a rescue dog, we didn’t know for sure.

Nina was fine with the other dogs but if they got a little too boisterous around her ‘pup’ she would tell them off. She was certainly the Alpha dog in the pack.

We named Nero ‘Nero Intrepid Emperor’ for his Kennel Club registration. He was a brave little thing and knew no fear. I think Nina’s support helped him with that, she was an excellent and instinctive mother and knew exactly when he needed to do things for himself and when to help him out.

We had a bit of a scare with Nina when she was six months old. We found a lump on her tummy and took her to the vet. The lump was removed and was found to be benign.

Because we’d learned a little about Rotties from having Nina, we thought it would be amusing to track Nero’s growth – they grow so fast!

We weighed him every month. Trev weighed himself on the bathroom scales and then picked up Nero and stepped back on the scales.

Bears can climb!

Nero gained around a Stone (14lb) in a month.

At the age of 13 months, Nero weighed 13 Stone and the scales could no longer manage to weigh them both, so that experiment stopped.

Rotties have a ‘bad rep’ and we’ve noticed people cross the street as we’re walking them. Yes, they are massive dogs, but it really is all about their upbringing.

We took Nero a walk one evening. A neighbour’s dog was barking and going nuts as we approached his territory. He could only see Trev and me, not Nero, walking alongside us.

It was loose and came running down the path right at us. I’m not sure what it would have done when it got to us.

Nero emerged from being hidden by the hedge and the dog took one look at him and tried to back-pedal. It managed to turn around (with a lot of scrambled effort) and it ran back up the path to safety.

Nero standing at the side of Trev

The only growling and snarling came from that dog. Nero never uttered a sound.

He didn’t need to be aggressive or try to show how big and powerful he was because he knew he was and that’s all he needed – confidence.

It’s a shame people can’t be more quietly confident.

We took our dogs on holiday with us if we went in this country of course. We spent a week at a time in Hunstanton, in a caravan. Having Nero in a poky caravan was a trial of course, but worth it.

Trev took Nero for a walk along the sea-front one evening.

A Doberman was walking with its owner about a mile further up, heading towards Trev and Nero.

When they were around 20 metres apart, the man let the Doberman off its lead (why would you do such a thing?)

The Doberman came straight for Nero (still on his lead).

As it leaped at Nero, Nero lifted up onto his back legs and his chest met the Doberman in mid-air. The Doberman bounced off Nero’s chest and was knocked over a wall.

The man ran up to his yelping dog, suddenly concerned for its welfare.

Trev just said, “And if your dog has hurt mine, I’ll sue you.”

No, Nero isn't barking, he's singing!

Nero was the biggest, most laid-back dog we’ve ever owned and though he went over the usual 8 years that Rotties live (by almost two years!) we were utterly gutted to lose him.

Nina died three weeks before she was ten years old. She suffered complete renal shut-down. We knew something was wrong and we took her to the vet for blood tests. The tests came back the day after she died and confirmed what the vet thought – that she didn’t have long.

So, when Nero was approaching the ten-year mark, we’d already got a new pup, an ‘almost rescue’ we named Ninus (Antoninus).

Trev’s dad was finding it more difficult to walk and so we fetched both Trev’s parents up to our house so they could see Nero.

We had to prop Trev’s dad in a corner because Nero became so excited that he would surely knock his ‘Granddad’ over with his bounding around.

Trev went out to fetch Nero in to see his ‘Granddad’ and he came back in without him.

I could see by the look on Trev’s face that something had gone drastically wrong.

Nero had become so excited that he’d suffered a massive heart-attack and he’d died.

What should have been a fun evening ended in complete tragedy – exactly three weeks before Nero would have been ten years old.

When we realised the coincidence, it hit us like a brick. Two dogs we adored, both gone at the exact same age.

Even now, four more dogs beyond Nina and Nero, we’re still wary around their tenth birthdays.

Our present dog, Bear is looking grey around the muzzle and next month is his tenth birthday.

Bear looking a little older than he did...

(Excuse me… just going to check on him because writing this… - OK he’s fine!)

Ten minutes ago on our garden

He’s past the ‘three week before’ deadline, but you can never be too careful…

All our dogs have been loveable characters and I am grateful for the opportunity of being part of their family. The only down side to a dog is they don’t live long enough.