from apple Fritters to sweet Basil

I knew after Fritter passed away that I wanted to get another dog. I wasn't trying to replace him, I just wanted to fill the hole in our home. It was weird and so quiet with only Twiggy calling the shots. Everyone thought it was too soon, and maybe it was, but Fritter isn't coming back and we had a space to help another dog.

And I am an adult and I can do what I want, and my Mom told me when I was little that I could have as many animals as I wanted. (Hi mom!) Ha Ha!

I wanted to adopt a dog because that is what we did with Fritter, and really who wants to deal with puppy stuff? Not me.

I found a dog that was almost a spitting image of Fritter in Washington state, and I was willing to drive there to go get her, but she was adopted the day after I saw her picture on Petfinder. Apparently she had a lot of people interested in her, so I am sure she was placed in a good home. I thought I would look on Kijji to see if anything there looked promising. I saw a few pups (I know I just said that I wouldn't but....) and then pages and pages in, I saw him...

Oh my! I was ecstatic. Mark had no choice in this decision, I told him I was getting this dog! He met all the requirements I had.

Cute (check)
Good with kids (check)
Good with dogs (check)
Good with cats (check)
Email sent (check!)

I got an email back saying that someone was coming to look at him, and I asked her if I could do anything to meet him first. (insert crazy lady email here)

I figured there was no way she was getting back to me. But she did! The next day. The people were a no show and he was mine if I was still interested.

I dropped the girls off early the next morning (Thanks Auntie Bev) and caught the ferry and met them there. I warned them ahead of time that I only had about 10 minutes turn around time to get right back on the same ferry back to the mainland, and it was a fast meeting. 3 minutes tops.

"Hi"
"Hi"
"He's so cute!, and so soft!"
"Nice to meet you..."
"Ya Ya, gotta go, give me the dog, BYE!" (Running with a ferry employee)

It didn't quite go like that, but it was fast, and I felt bad. I would have been really upset if someone took my dog that fast and left.

Oh Well...

He's Mine, all MINE!!!

and I love him.

Maybe not as much as Poppy, but close.

Apple Fritters

Fritter 2002- 2011

A few days ago I lost my best canine friend Fritter.

Fritter was my first dog as an adult. I always had dogs growing up, but he was mine. (and Marks)

As soon as Mark and I moved in together I wanted a dog and chickens. We had adopted a 13 year old cat, but I wanted a dog. Badly. We agreed that after we got married we would start looking for a dog. A week after we got married we went to Thunder Bay ON for Marks' cousins wedding. I had been volunteering at our local SPCA for quite some time and I wanted to see what their shelters looked like compared to ours. Mark and I really didn't have much to do in Ontario so we decided to go to their local shelter to kill some time. Plus maybe we would see a dog we really liked.

We went in looking for a puppy, and the staff lead us past some cages right past this wiry, crazy eye browed and bearded dog to a little black Newfoundland pup. I know I wanted a pup, but I didn't want a huge dog so we said thanks, and  walked back past Mr. crazy hair and he literally did a cartwheel! We stopped to look at  him and he did a few more. Huh. He's cute I thought. But, a puppy, we wanted a puppy.

Mark and I left and drove around some more. Out of the blue Mark asked me what I thought of the crazy cartwheeling dog. I thought he was really cute. So did he. We went back and we were done for.

We took him outside where he didn't even care to meet us and we knew he was the dog for us.

I called WestJet to see if he could come home with us, and Mark called his aunt to see if he could stay at her house.

We explained that we were from out of town and the staff assured us that he had been in the shelter way too long (3 months) and they didn't care if we were from BC. The lady actually said she was glad that he would get a fresh start. His name was Eddie. He lived with a homeless lady and her cat. He had been taken away from her because they had become a nuisance to people. Another lady had adopted him and named him Buddy. One day while out for a walk they bumped into said homeless lady and she wanted him back. For some reason she gave him back to her. He ended up back at the shelter again after pestering customers at a donut shop. Cue the crazy couple from BC!

We found out all of this info after we paid for him and then were told that we couldn't adopt him because they found a microchip that they never noticed before. They had to contact his previous owner first. The lady behind the counter decided to pretend there was no chip and she let us go with him. She figured he just needed to get of Thunder Bay!

We drove right past the Robin's donuts where he had been picked up and they had a sign out front advertising a special they were having on apple fritters. We knew that had to be his name. Fritter.

He was an awesome dog, laid back, goofy, and loved everyone! I couldn't have asked for a better pet. A super dog right from the get go! (well after we convinced him to eat dog food!)

Fritter started getting sick about 3 years ago, and stumped all the vets and specialists that he saw. We pumped him up on steroids, and he improved, then deteriorated, improved, and then over the holidays just didn't seem to have it in him anymore. We talked to our vet and decided that it was time to let him go.

Fritter passed peacefully in our home, where he belonged.

I miss him.

 Kickin' it at the cabin

 Making a sick little girl feel better