Posted December 22, 2001

I knew this day would come. I was making my check-in rescue calls as I often do at the holidays, particularly to adopters I particularly liked or to adopters who adopted "problem children." Amadeus fell into the former category. He was very special to me.

I was a bit nervous when I called Amadeus' family this year to ask how he was doing. He was middle-aged when he was adopted in 1997, and I cringed as I waited to hear. Somehow I think I knew, even before I heard the catch in his mother's voice when she told me they had lost him weeks before. His tired, gentle body finally gave out, and his family loved him enough to help him on his way to Rainbow Bridge. They were still grieving. I can fully understand.

As a lasting legacy to Amadeus, they have adopted another needy Great Pyrenees, so the circle of love and life continues. What a tribute to this big-hearted boy. He was one of my first rescues. I'll never forget him; he'll always have a special place in my heart. I can still feel his head on my shoulder, leaning over the back of my jeep while I drove him away from the certain death he faced at a Maryland shelter into a new life. I looked like I was traveling with a baby Polar Bear. I fell in love with Amadeus and the Great Pyrenees breed that day.

I am going to leave the letter I received from Amadeus's family, shortly after they adopted him. It gives some idea how much he meant to them.

Rest in peace, precious boy. You were one of a kind. The world is a poorer place without you.

After a very rewarding experience rescuing an Old English Sheepdog named Esmerelda (Ezzie for short) a few years ago, our family began scanning the rec.pets.dogs.rescue newgroup to keep informed of rescue happenings in our area. We were touched by the story of a blind Puli puppy looking for a home and thought that Ezzie would make a good mother for it. We posted a reply stating we would be interested if no one else was willing to rescue him.

The response came the next day letting us know the Puli had been taken care of , but since we already had a large dog, would we possibly be interested in a Great Pyrenees named Amadeus that was in desperate need of a home?

We knew very little about the breed and spent the next few days researching through books and the Internet. The breed was said to be very gentle and calm -- despite its large size -- and a good companion for children. We searched more and found out that a Great Pyrenees was the hero in a cartoon series our children both loved named "Sebastian and Belle" which traced the story of a boy's search for his lost mother through the Pyrenees Mountains. Belle, his faithful Great Pyrenees companion, came to his rescue in every episode! We decide to rescue Amadeus!

We went to the vet's office where Amadeus was being boarded, courtesy of rescue. The whole family immediately fell in love with him. He seemed to be a large dog, but not that much bigger than our Old English at home. It wasn't until we arrived home and our Old English easily scampered between his legs and under his body that we realized how big he really was! To this day, we're sure that the furnishings in the vet's office were scaled to create an optical illusion of his size!

Amadeus and Ezzie have become unpartable friends although it did take Ezzie a few weeks to teach Amadeus that she was the boss despite her smaller size. Amadeus is the "gentle giant" he was described as in our breed research. He's made a wonderful companion for the entire family. We certainly count him as our second very successful encounter with canine rescue organizations.

This page was written by
Valerie Macys
nancyk@CockerAdoption.org