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Fritz was "my" first dog, a Cairn Terrier. Before we received the honour of having Fritz as a member of our family we had a Saint Jones Dog bred for hunting, Ilo, who was probably the sweetest and easiest dog imaginable to get along with. After Ilo had passed away the nagging began, "I want a dog!". And a dog I got, and then some.
It was my junior-level teacher who had a litter of Cairn Terrier puppies. After some convincing that it would not shed its fur, go wild barking and that it would be trained by me it was settled. It was going to be an obedient dog. Easier said than done! Let us quote Fritz on his arrival:
Fritz was a real life terrier! There was no-one or nothing who could stand up to him! He did what ever he felt like. He loved children and animals, well not large males, those he wanted to swallow, fur and all. During his final years Fritz found his soul mate in my mother’s husband, Gerth. Fritz and Jenna spent their last few years with them since they wanted to enjoy their lives as retired. Fritz had never been the cuddly one or the one to jump into someone’s lap, he did just fine on his own. But these two really hit it off. Fritz loved to cuddle in with Gerth, be with him in the car, at the office, in the dust at the construction site or simply take a walk around the town.
Unfortunately, our very own special little Fritz left us on May 2, 2005. His physical health was as good as can be, the body of a teenager, no tendencies towards tartar or anything like that, but he was going blind. We made the decision to let him fall asleep forever before he was not able to see anything at all. We can actually show our pets that mercy, to allow them the dignity of not having to suffer. He had his beloved Jenna with him on his way to heaven, they were put to sleep at the same time. Naturally he drew his last breath in the arms of Gerth. Fritz and Jenna were put in the same coffin and cremated together. Now they live as happily as ever up in heaven, far away from all the misery down on earth and without pain. I just know that they are looking down on us
Jenna was a Miniature Schnauzer who came to live with us in the year 1993. I had been fighting with my stubborn terrier on the fields of training and competition for a couple of years, the time had come for me to add something. Jenna was an incredibly considerate, well balanced, kind and loyal dog. Perhaps she was not the way schnauzers usually are. She was always with me, feeling at home anywhere. Jenna was not particularly interested in people, not that she was scared or anything, she just did not bother. However, slip her a few treats and you where instantly in the clear. I trained her in both obedience and agility. Actually, both Jenna and Fritz had some training at tracking, wild game tracking and at doing tricks. I think the training sessions got a bit more serious when Jenna came into the picture, I had learnt from my mistakes training Fritz. It is like I always say: "I wouldn’t have been able to do the things I do today if it hadn’t been for Fritz.". Jenna quickly rose to the victorer’s class as it was called back then (today’s class III). Agility was Jenna’s passion in life. We had a lot of funny and successful moments together. We came in second at the Best Youth of the Year in 1997, Became number 6 on the Agility Dog of the Year list, won the Junior Swedish Championship for teams in both 1997 and 1998 and came in fourth individually in 1999 (not quite sure about the year). We also competed in the senior Swedish Championship a couple of times. She was an amazing dog! We also did some competing in obedience. The one who was the most nervous when ever we competed was my mother. She was worried one time when we participated in a competition at the Söderåsens Brukshundsklubb. As I am sure you know you begin with Stay. We were ten competitors in our group, we lined up nicely on the command of the leader of the competition, unhooked and stayed our dogs, then walked away to the predetermined distance. My mother Bodil was standing at some distance, eyes wide, looking at the group, there were 7 Alsatians, 1 Riesenschnauser, 1 Rottweiler and in the middle our little Jenna. I must add that her nervousness vanished when she realized that none of the other dogs has eaten Jenna and our program was at an end. We beat all the working dog owners and their big dogs, we came in first. Jenna was put to sleep on May 2:nd, 2005. The previous summer Jenna had had a slipped disc. But with the help of a wonder-cure provided by the neighbourhood vet she got better right away. Unfortunately the slip came back and we decided that Jenna would be put to sleep together with Fritz. Fritz was Jenna’s soul mate, she would not have appreciated a life without him. Now they live happily together in dog heaven. |
