16/10/2014 – 21/03/2026
a.k.a. Winnie, Burger, Hondo, Big Bear, Teddy Bear
When our previous dog Winzor passed away, Bochi lost his buddy. So we decided to get another dog. We found an available dog in Wallaceburg where we picked him up on December 11, 2014 when he was 8 weeks old. Winburg’s name was made up from part of Winzor and Wallaceburg, which had a nice ring to it and was quite unique. We hit a snow storm on the ride home and when we made our first stop along the highway and took Winburg out, it was the first time he had ever seen snow and he loved it. From his first day until his last day with us he loved rolling in the snow which was his favourite thing to do, except for eating. He could lie down on a snow bank for hours and just roll in the snow even when it was -20 C outside. He never seemed to get cold; he had a very thick coat.
He always got along well with his brother Bochi. They were always playing together in the house or outside, swimming in the backyard pond, going for walks in town, on the trails or in the woods. He was very strong and could pull on the leash pretty hard; I had to keep a firm grip on the leash. But whenever he met other dogs he would always approach them slowly and if they barked or try to bite him, he would simply backup and walk away without showing any aggression even though he was usually much bigger than them.
He also got along well with our cat Kreamer. He would sometime play with him but mostly just hang around with him.
Winburg loved eating; he would inhale his food, lick his bowl then hover over Kreamer hoping he would leave him something which he rarely did. But Winburg would still lick his bowl just in case and then wait for Bochi to finish so he could go lick his bowl too. Winburg taught Bochi and Kreamer how to drool when waiting for food. They never did this until Winburg showed them.
Winburg was always particular with his drinking water in the house. It had to be refrigerated bottle water in a clean bowl. If someone had drank from the bowl, even him, he would walk away and wait for fresh water. But he had no problem drinking from the pond.
When he was young we suspect he got an hairline fracture in his left hind ankle. But he never showed any sign. It wasn’t till years later we noticed his ankle was getting bigger which was caused by arthritis. By the time Bochi passed away about 4 years ago, Winburg mobility was starting to be affected by his ankle even though he was on arthritis and pain medication. We decrease his walks and eventually stopped going for walks about 2 years ago. He did not seem to mind, he still got to play in the house with his favourite human and go swimming in the pond and of course roll in the snow in winter.
Whenever we went to our favourite burger places, Winburg would come along and walk around a little bit smelling and meeting peoples. He really enjoyed that.
His mobility was getting worse as time went on. He could no longer go up or down stairs on his own and needed help. A few weeks ago his tendon snapped and he started walking on his ankle instead of his foot which caused an open soar. Even though we bandaged it, it kept getting worse. He got an infection and could no longer stand up on his own. A trip to the emergency revealed there was not much else we could do for him. It broke our hearts to let him go but it was the only humane thing we could do to help him.
We are going to miss him greatly and the house is going to feel empty without any animals. We will most likely get another dog but we will never forget our big teddy bear.