BY

IRENE KEITH

1. FAMILY PETS

2. THE CINNAMON TRUST

3.DONNA

REBEL

 If I could have found a man with the looks and personality of Rebel I would have marrried him!

My son found him as a 12 week old pup and no one claimed him so I became the owner of the best dog I could ever have imagined. We assumed that he was a German Shepherd crossed with a Labrador Retriever as he was very handsome with thick golden fur and a huge mane which when he grew to adulthood made him look like a lion.  Whe he got angry, he fluffed it up and people were terrified but really he was a big phoney although he would have protected myself and my family to the death.

When he was seven two things happened, he became a father for the first time ( that we know of!) and he had a terrible accident which left him blind in one eye and later on in life with arthritis in his shoulder.  I had four cats at the time which Rebel loved dearly although every other cat in the neighbourhood took their nine lives in their hand if they dared to enter his garden. My cats took it on themselves to make sure his coat was kept clean and tidy while he was recovering and through their hard work, his eye was saved even though he could no longer see with it.  He died at the age of sixteen and this had to be one of the most terrible times in my life, I just couldn;t bear the thought of replacing him and feeling such pain again.

ROMMEL

My daughter bred Rommel when Rebel was about nine years old.  He was a beautiful Doberman and very intelligent. I kept one of the other pups, a little bitch , but Rebel bullied her unmercillessly and eventually I sold her .  Rommel also got his share of bullying until he was about four and then he decided he had had enough and there was a huge battle in my kitchen which ended up with both myself and my daughter being bitten - me by Rommel and her by Rebel.  The A & E department at the local hospital were a bit bemused when we turned up and had to admit we had been bitten by our own dogs!  When Rebel died, I used to go to my daughter's for lunch instead of home and spend time with Rommel, this was a great comfort.  However Rommel was diagnosed with cancer shortly after and had to be put to sleep.  My daughter and I both decided we could not replace either of our dogs.

Copyright Irene Keith 2001

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