Dear MPD -- I have not posted in a while but I have been following this Board since 2009. I do not know what to say but simply I am so deeply sorry. While I know there are no words that will be able to comfort you now in this time of loss, I just wanted to share this poem of Lord Byron with you as I think it is a powerful poem.
Your "dogter" was your Boatswain.
INSCRIPTION ON THE MONUMENT
OF A NEWFOUNDLAND DOG.
A Memorial to Boatswain
by Lord Byron
Near this spot
Are deposited the Remains of one
Who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
And all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.
This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
If inscribed over human ashes,
Is but a just tribute to the Memory of
BOATSWAIN, a DOG
Who was born at Newfoundland, May, 1803, And died at Newstead, Nov 18th, 1808.