On the threshold of their world wanderings, friends and relatives advised the
Carswell family to leave Angus, their Airedale, behind in Canada. That was no
more likely than abandoning one of their human children. And Angus turned out
to be as durable a traveller as a Tilley hat.
Sara and Andrew were living in Calgary when they took home eight-week-old
Angus. Their later relocation to Ottawa, where their two children were born,
foreshadowed the intrepid traveller Angus was to become. Misplaced during the
move into a new house, Angus was rescued by a passerby and returned to his
family quite unfazed by his adventure. Over the following years, Angus would
handle the complications of navigating continents just as placidly.
Work with humanitarian organizations moved Angus and his family - for more
than one stay, sometimes - to Switzerland, South Africa and the United States.
When the suitcases came out, Angus knew exactly what was going down. He
worried only until he saw his bed packed in the car or his flying crate assembled.
"He was a good sport about it all," says Sara. "He didn t love air travel but he
was brave and he knew we'd be waiting for him at the other end." Having Angus
with them made everywhere they went home for the Carswells. "He protected us and made us laugh when we were lonely and missing friends," says Sara. As kind
as Angus was to children, having raised two, he was a wonder to South African
children who were taught to be afraid of dogs. "He was so open and ready to love
they couldn't resist him," says Sara. "He touched many hearts in different parts
of the world."
Angus was diagnosed with a small, slow-growing spot of cancer in Geneva,
Switzerland, but managed his next move to Washington, DC, as cheerfully as
always. The cancer spread, however, and that was his last move.