Last year, at about this time, we all drove to Iowa and back (which is an 18 hour drive maybe? each way) to get this darling little pup. We named him Romeo or Royalair's This I Know for "fancy". We hoped he would eventually be my next TDI dog (licensed therapy dog) and a wonderful family pet. And he was. But he had several health problems, none were severe, but they kept appearing, until this past month when they got serious. He apparently has a mysterious immune system disorder that causes  all kinds of bad things & is 100% resistant to even aggressive treatments, which we have tried. Yesterday, my wonderful vet performed another exam of Romeo along with blood tests. Then we had a meeting.

The reality is that Romeo is basically dying - the immune system disorder has been causing him to lose weight, coat becoming dull and he has to be in some discomfort although it is not at all obvious as he remains his happy, silly self. Another major concern is that the illness seems to be reaching his brain and is causing some odd behaviors which are made more serious because of his size - he is 100 lb +.

So, are facing a very rough week of having to say good bye to our sweet, gorgeous and only one year old dog.

Note: Our vet does not think that the breeder we got Romeo from is at fault at all. We have been impressed with Royalair German Shepherds in the 15 plus years we've known them.