Dear Hollybear,
I remember the day We adopted you it was new years eve 2010. You were a happy energetic Rottie with a heart and soul of love. For what ever reason someone did not want you, This was their loss and our reward.
You slowly worked on finding your boundaries within your new family, You had your chair, your bed and soon found you were in your forever home. You grew more affectionate to the family , I will never forget the day you smiled when we came home, You squinted your eyes wrinkled your nose up and we could just barely see your teeth. You wiggled around with your stub wagging 100 mph and whining like you had not seen us in months, this bought such joy to our hearts.

Your first road trip to go see grandma and grandpa  in Tennessee was a experience for us all. Yeah with in the firs hour you were so worked up that you got car sick, but then it was smooth sailing from there. We stopped at many welcome centers so you could sin the grass " Holly was here" . As we walked through the crowd and folks would pet you  and comment how good you were.
We were half way through Virginia on I-81 and you scared the day lights out of us. You woke up from a nap , quietly sat up, and went right to defense mode Barking , growling and standing your ground... I latterly crapped myself, But you were defending your family from the big bad Honda gold wing following us. He made a quick exit you had defended your family.
We arrived in Tennessee we got out of the car, your ears fell back and there was a look of concern on your face. I could see you were scared, you thought you were being thrown away again. we all sat down and comforted you telling you its ok and continued on into the house. You meet your new grandparents for the first time. They loved and cherished you as much as we did, you settled in and then it happened again...Defense mode, you were at the back sliding doors barking like crazy at the cows in the farmer field .

We had these trips every year and we know you loved the trips by how excited you got when you would see us packing the bags.

Fast forward to April 2014 , there was a change something seemed a little off. I was recovering from shoulder surgery And you seemed to be not your normal self, but you stayed by my side while mommy was at work. There were little signs , not eating all you breakfast or dinner, A little less energy and slow weight loss. We took you to the vet and did multiple blood tests and then referred you to another vet. We went for a visit to the new vet who said you had a mass by your liver and said it could be cancer , we were devastated and scared for what we had just learned. some decisions had to be made  and we did, we would stand by your side and see you through this. and we did things were good you were living a comfortable life and treatment was minimal. you were making such good leaps and bounds. Excelent blood work results etc. your personality was back, you eating and everything was back to normal.

All was well there were a few bumps in the road, a tumor started in your one paws nail bed. They had to amputate the toe, they said it was a type of cancer but would not spread. This was a sigh of relief and you were doing great , I built a doggie ramp so you did not have to do stairs to go potty. I got a  small set of steps so you could get in your car easier. you were making a great recovery minus the one digit.

This past Friday things seemed a little strange, you nibbled at your dinner and ate most of it, but something seemed a bit strange. you acted fine but the eating was a little off. I figured you were playing me for a sucker trying to get some of what I was eating as you have done this before. You knew how to get me to give in at times for a little bit of extra dinner from my plate.
Saturday morning you and woke up together, I took you out for your morning potty run and we watched the squirrels and the deer you would stand at full attention watching them , you would whine at the squirrels jumping around in the trees while enjoying the morning fresh air. we came in you nibbled at breakfast, but did not eat all of it.
Throughout the day, you would lay by the window and the front door watching us , this was part of your normal thing, you liked to sleep in the sunlight and nap, you would watch out the window everything seemed normal except for the eating. There were no other signs, nothing of any trouble.
Saturday night we came home, you were in your chair , you looked up fully alert and knew a potty run was the next words to come right after "Hi Hollybear" all was fine. we went out came back in watched a little TV. it was now time to go to bed, and you did your usual thing. You were waiting for kate to come home from work lying in the entry to the hallway to the bedrooms. I think this was your way of making sure the family was safe and secure, you always waited in the hallway entry until everyone was in bed, then you would come to bed about 30 minutes later.
We were all home and in bed except for our daughter who was due home shortly from work.
Mommy got out of bed and walked by you and called to you and you looked up at her, then Kate came home, you turned and looked at her she pet you and went to put her things down.....All I know is I then here Kate frantically calling "Holly, Holly" and it getting more stressed with each cry. I ran out and you were gone... IN a matter of less than a minute you were gone,  No crys form you, no whimper no nothing .... GOD THIS HURTS SO BAD.....my heart dropped clean out of my chest, All emotion was turned to sorrow, all you could hear throughout the hose was the four of us crying hugging you and petting you, all huddled around as a family.

I know I cannot turn back time and life must move on, We have to cope with this sorrow which will never go away. we will just get used to it and at some time will except it.

Hollybear, WE LOVE YOU , and will miss you dearly in our hearts every day. We will remember the great times we had, these will be memories that we will cherish forever.

I Know you are now in a place of peace and playing with other family members who have crossed the bridge. we will some day all be back together again in due time.

Hollybear,
I Thank you for your unconditional love and companionship. I thank you for protecting the family while I was away,and gurading  what you loved the most that was us.
I truly think you waited and put up a strong front to wait to say Good Bye to all of us before passing on. I also believe you wanted to go at home and not in some vets office, you passed on where you were loved and cherished  as they say "The home is where the heart is" .

I Thank You for making the Choice, and not making us make the choice, in the past it was never easy. I am thankful it was peaceful and quick.

God this hurts, Good bye my four legged fuzzy kid. See you in due time at the bridge when we are untied again...

LOVE ,
Mommy, Daddy, Kate and James

Sorry for your loss.

Kinda dusty in here.  Sorry for your loss OP.

Those stubbie tails fly don't they.  
The worst thing about dogs is they don't live long enough.

My sympathies

RIP

Sorry for your loss.  She was obviously a well loved family member and had a great life.

My condlcenes on loosing a beloved family member.

So very sorry for your loss.

I'm sorry OP.

sorry for your loss

I know I'm late to this thread, but as a rottie owner myself, I had to offer belated condolences

And yes, those little stumps move so fast when they're happy

I'm so sorry for your loss...our dogs are our children.

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Rotties are great dogs. Miss my Katie Dog