Clearwater’s beloved mascot, Guzzy, has died

[media-credit id=3 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]LENOX – The town has lost a special friend.

Guzzy, a gentle giant of a dog and mascot of Clearwater Natural Foods, 11 Housatonic St., died Jan. 4.

Known and loved by hundreds of people, some who never even met him in person, Guzzy will, no doubt, be very missed.

His owner, Ruth Wheeler, who has owned the store with her sister, Maggie Sadoway, for more than 30 years, said it is unclear what the exact cause of the dog’s death was but it could have been cardiac-related.

Right around this time last year, the word went out that Guzzy, a Greater Swiss Mountain dog, needed special and expensive medical treatment. The people of Lenox and beyond responded and a special collection effort began.

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A former resident, Dr. Elizabeth Tierney, spearheaded the effort and more than $3,000 was raised for Guzzy’s ongoing medical care.

The dog’s health during the year since then has been up and down, Ms. Wheeler said. She did everything she possibly could have done as a pet owner to get Guzzy better.

She took him for underwater treadmill exercises and also for acupuncture.  At times he seemed to rally.

Then, he had a bad spell in August, which included a high fever that required his being packed in ice.

When he came home, he was unable to walk for a couple of weeks, Ms. Wheeler said.

“He was out of work for three and a half months,” she said, quickly adding Guzzy went back to work at the store in October.

He went in daily until the day before he died. On Jan. 3, Guzzy was at the store, and he breathed his last breath of life the following morning. Ms. Wheeler was with him until the last moment.

People familiar with Clearwater knew they would open the door and be warmly greeted by the dog with the gentle eyes.

He didn’t even have to let out a single bark for people to know they were being very lovingly welcomed.

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Not only did local people and town visitors know him, Guzzy had a special connection with hundreds of online friends, Ms. Wheeler said.

“He was a very, very special dog,” she said. He was loved by so many people.”

His owner said she knew he was a pretty special dog even as a pup. One day, when he was just 12 weeks old, Ms. Wheeler took him to Petco.

There was a lady in a wheelchair there and Guzzy simply stopped in front of her and sat down so she could pet him. He was just a baby then, but he already exhibited a kind and loving nature.

Another time she took him to Berkshire Medical Center to visit a friend.

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“He cheered up the whole hospital,” Ms. Wheeler recalled. “He walked around like he belonged there. It was magical.”

While she is deeply saddened by the dog’s death, Ms. Wheeler isn’t having any second doubts that she did everything she could to save him. She said when her grandfather died, a minister told friends and family that when a loved one dies, there are no “what ifs.”

Instead, concentrate on the good memories, he told them.

Those words of comfort, years later, are being applied to Guzzy’s death as well.

“No what ifs,” Ms. Wheeler said.

There are more than enough good, happy memories of the town’s very special dog.

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on January 24, 2013. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry