A Letter From Fritz’s Original Family

I got this wonderful email today:

Maribeth & Jack,

I am heartbroken for the both of you! Only someone who has loved a pet as one of their own family members can truly appreciate the hurt and loss one feels. The similarities between Berlinn and Fritz’s passing are startling, even to the point of coming in the house and laying beside Mike as the last place he was able to get up. Fritz was so much like his dad, he had such a loving gentle spirit. He always always was my favorite of the litter. Due to my naivety of dogs reproducing the litter was unexpected, but looking back at it now I see what a blessing each puppy was, and how many lives were touched by them.

Out of all the puppies Fritz from the beginning was different, he wanted the human contact (I should say expected, lol) and always would sit on my lap and observe the other puppies like he was seeing them from our eyes. Even when they would go outside to play he stayed by my side and waited for me to interact with the puppies before he would, he was the only one that I kept inside with me only because he seemed more connected to us than he did Dottie (his mom) He even had a special spot by the fireplace he would lay at because of the cool marble, he was so mellow we never worried about him wandering or getting into trouble (but I am sure you have stories 🙂 ) I was elated when we met Jack and saw what a wonderful home he was going to, he was defiantly the lucky one of the bunch. I still remember the picture you sent of Fritz fully grown sitting on your lap as if he was a small lap dog, he didn’t care how big he was, he wanted to make sure he got his cuddle time.

I can’t thank you and Jack enough for all the updates and posts and pictures from the last 10 years, you have made us feel connected to Fritz like he was still a part of our family, thank you.

Please let me know if there is anything I could do for you, I am so very sorry for your loss.

With love,

Mike and Angie

Recovery

Hubby and I are quietly grieving. We both keep expecting Fritz to come to the door or wake us in the morning. The shock of his loss is still with us.

I finally asked Hubby if he wanted to get another White German Shepherd? He said that eventually he would. But he wants to do some research so we get a nice healthy boy with good hips.

In the meantime, we are enjoying the dackels and they are going everywhere with the two of us. Why Arnie even went out today with Hubby and helped him clearing away the ice on the driveway. They were out there for nearly an hour and Arnie was a very good boy.

The three dackels are starting to recover from Fritz’s loss. The first couple of days they were so depressed. Today they were much brighter.

If it was only that easy for Hubby and me.

Blueberry Muffins

A wonderful recipe:

Blueberry Muffins

2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil
2 cups flour
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. fresh grated lemon peel
1-1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 cup blueberries

Beat the eggs, oil, sugar and yogurt. Add the lemon peel and mix well.
Mix all the dry ingredients in separate bowl. Slowly add to yogurt mixture. With a wooden spoon gently fold in berries..
Bake at 375 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 25-30 minutes, or until done.

NOTE: If the blueberries are really big snip them in half. Makes about 1 dozen muffins.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. The expression ‘mad as a March hare’ originated with a fictional character who is distracted and frantic. When were you last ‘mad as a March hare’ and what was it that made you that way?

It was probably during the Olympics. I got very angry at the poor coverage. You know, they could have shown so many things live, but chose not to. It really made me mad!

2. Mardi Gras this year falls on Tuesday, March 4th. Have you ever been to Mardi Gras, and if so what did you think? If not, do you have any interest in going? Purple, green, and gold are the colors of Mardi Gras. Which one is most prevalent in your wardrobe? How about in your home?

Never been to Mardi Gras. Probably not, as being in large crowds makes me very nervous. None of the colors mentioned figure in my home or wardrobe.

3. Are you old fashioned?

Very.

4. Do you carefully plan your vacations, or do you prefer the days to be more spontaneous?

Carefully plan them now. I think with the pack of dogs we have, you really have to.

5. March is National Sauce Month…what’s your favorite sauce, and what do you most often top with this sauce?

I love Alfredo Sauce. And put some Fettuccine noodles under it, and I am in Heaven!

6. What’s something that easily brings a tear to your eye?

Katie, Fritz and other losses in my life.

7. If you could own any sports team, which one would it be and why?

The Red Sox. What can I say? I am a hopeless fan.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Still feel sad and lost. I keep looking for my darling Fritz, as do the dackels.

Good Bye Darling Fritz

We took Fritz to the Vet as he went down on the floor this morning and was unable to get up. The Vet examined him, and found he had a tumor in his stomach that no one knew about. He never complained, and he never showed that he was in pain. I mentioned he had not been eating too well, and now I know that it was the tumor pressing on his belly.
This morning, the tumor ruptured and his belly was full of blood and he was bleeding inside and was dying.
We rushed him to the Vet, not knowing what was happening, only knowing he could not stand, or move. She examined him and showed us how his belly was like a water balloon it was so full of blood.
So, we got down on the floor with him and stayed as he got his injection and took his last breaths.

Our Fritz.

Fritz from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

In memory of our beloved Fritz
July 27, 2003-March 3, 2014

FOUR FEET

I have done mostly what men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can’t forget, if I wanted to,
Four-Feet trotting behind.

Day after day, the whole day through–
Wherever my road inclined–
Four-Feet said, ‘I am coming with you!’
And trotted along behind.

Now I must go by some other round–
Which I shall never find–
Some where that does not carry the sound
Of Four-Feet trotting behind.

— Rudyard Kipling —

You will be missed my darling boy!

Electrical Disturbances!

Those of you who have been with me for a while will recall that I do not have the Midas touch with thinks like, computers, coffee makers, watches, TV’s or printers. In fact my theory is, that I have some sort of electrical disturbance within me which causes things to just blow up, malfunction or quit.

Tonight Hubby was trying to print some documents and suddenly we noted that all the laptops on the network had their print drivers changed.So none of our computers were speaking to our old Hewlett Packard PS1000 printer.

After about a half an hour of trouble shooting I decided to remove the installed printers (there were like four PS1000 printers installed on each machine, so throwing caution to the wind, I did the remove and then a fresh install.

I then held my breath and printed a test page from each computer. One, two, three, and it printed off of one machine, and then the other.

Now this made me feel pretty good. However, both Hubby and I are operating on Windows XP, which of course will not be supported very soon. Call me disappointed! This Toshiba Laptop is the first laptop I have had that did not die on me.

Enjoy

I get tired. Therefore, I didn’t always make it up to 11:30 to see some of the events that actually happened hours before at the Olympics. I was really looking forward to watching Meryl and Charlie at the Exhibition at the very end of the games. I love Ice Dancing, but I fell into a deep sleep about 9:30 that night.

Today I was sent this link from The Meryl and Charlie website. I finally got to see their beautiful, romantic performance! Go ahead, take a look!