Ben came to live with us from Gerdy in 2009. It was love at first site and he came home with us that day, a year before he embarked on an adventure, moving to Austria with us where he ran a mountain with me every day and grabbed rocks out of the streams…

He then moved with us to Munich, where he opened a Canadian Café and Poutinerie named after him (Joe & Ben – he was in the logo!). He became a Munich celebrity, known by many throughout the city and in all the beer gardens where all the staff would bring him unending supplies of Schweinshax’n (pork knuckles) to chew on.

Once, when my mother came to babysit him while we were away for a few days, she was stopped 3 times by strangers in the city asking who she was and what she was doing with Ben!! He was the gentlest of giants (128 lbs and lean), hanging out at the café with his big, soft, yellow teddy bear eyes and helping numerous kids overcome their fear of dogs.

He was always so calm we wondered if he had fallen in to a cauldron af valium as a baby, much like Obelix fell into the potion… Living in Europe with him was great as he was able to always be with us, during the days at the café, going shopping, going to restaurants…

We moved back to Montreal a few years ago and Ben spent most summers down east with us and his cousins grabbing rocks out of the Bay of Fundy… (the bigger the rocks, the better…)

A few weeks before Christmas we found out he had adenocarcinoma and he never suffered, just was tired a lot and after breakfast on Christmas morning he got himself comfortable in his bed, closed his eyes and went to Rainbow Bridge where we will see him one day and cross…

We miss him so…..

Jochen, Jill and Lauren