Theo

There are not enough words to describe our precious Theo. Even as I sit here my heart is heavy and my eyes are filled with tears. Theo was Justin and I's first "baby". After we got married we went on our honeymoon and the entire time we talked about getting a dog. I loved Boxers and so we decided that we would buy a boxer once we got home and we did. The day after we got home from our honeymoon we bought Theo. We chose his name because it meant "Godly" and it fit him so well.

Earlier this year we noticed that Theo was dragging his back paws a lot to the point that his back nails were so filed down they would bleed. After that we started to notice that he would be standing on his back knuckles and wouldn't realize it, he also had trouble with his hips. We took him to the vet, they did multiple tests and took blood thinking that he could have a brain tumor or maybe valley fever. All of his tests came back fine and we began the process of searching online. We soon found the disease Degenerative Myelopathy, the symptoms were exactly what we were seeing with Theo. Unfortunately with DM it moves is 4 stages, which progress in 6 to 12 months...

Stage 1: Toe dragging or knuckling over.

Stage 2: Crossing of the back legs and mild loss of side to side hip control.

Stage 3: Moderate to severe loss of side to side hip control to the point of no control.

Stage 4: Total hind end paralysis.

When we took Theo to the vet for the last time he was at Stage 3. He was having a hard time getting up, he couldn't hold himself up to go #2 outside, he bumped into everything, and when he was not on the carpet his back legs would do the splits. We could tell he was in pain, he wasn't eating regularly, and he only got out of bed a couple times a day. He was 8 1/2 years old when we said good-bye.

Theo was fun loving. He loved to play ball, splash in our swimming pool, or chase the kids around the backyard. He was smart and a great protector and above everything a great companion. We LOVE him so much and will miss him!