A Dear, Sweet Friend

Over the years there have been pets come into our lives and stay a while before leaving.  But there was one who came and stayed with us her entire life, a dear, sweet, little friend.  Her name was Quasar.

We got Quasar because Stachelbeere really wanted a dog.  We had a dog when he was younger, a big black lab mix that we really liked.  We took that dog in because he belonged to some friends who were in the military and were being relocated to a place they were unable to take their pet dog.  So he came to us.  He was a good dog that we kept for several years until the circumstances we were able to provide him weren't enough to keep him in good health.  So he went to some friends.  Over the couple of years that followed we tried other dogs but, for one reason or another, none of them worked out; they came, stayed a short while, and went back out of our lives. It had been several months since our last try when Stachelbeere, who was 14 at the time, started pressing us to get another dog.  One day he mentioned he'd heard of a farmer who lived a little ways out of town who's dog had just had puppies and could we please go look at them and see if we might get one of them?  So we did and that is when we first met Quasar.

Quasar was born in January 2004, in an enclosure that was in a barn.  She was the runt of her litter.  She was pure mutt, her parents were mutts, her grandparents were mutts.  My Dad would have called them all Heinz 57s, an indeterminate mix of too many breeds to single any one of them out.  They had characteristics of several breeds.  In the litter there were long haired puppies, short haired puppies, brown puppies, black puppies and a curly tailed little runt.  Quasar's Mom looked to weigh around 40 - 45 pounds and had long, brownish red hair.  We never saw Quasar's Dad but the farmer said he resembled a small lab.  This was in February when we made the visit.  Stachelbeere picked up several of the puppies and held them, played with them a little.  Then he would hand them to his Mom, who would hold them and see how she felt about each.  They both settled on Quasar and it was decided.  However, Quasar was not yet old enough to be separated from her mother so we had to wait a few weeks before we could take her.

On our back doorstep, the day Quasar came to stay

The understanding was that Quasar was Stachelbeere's responsibility, he was in charge of her training, he was in charge of taking care of her, he was in charge of housebreaking her, and he was in charge cleaning up after her.  And he was more than happy to take all that on.  He was impressive.  In those days before the Internet, he did a lot of research into how to train and care for a puppy and he did it all.  Whenever he ran into something he needed, he'd let us know and we'd do what we needed to help. And he got help from his siblings, as well.

Quasar, March 7, 2004

Stachelbeere had broken his foot shortly before Quasar came to stay.  School was also still in session so Stachelbeere was a busy young man during the next several months.

March 9, 2004

We didn't know the exact day of her birth so Stachelbeere just picked a day and we called it her birthday ever after. He said he picked the same day of the month as his own.  The two spent a lot of time, a lot of time together.

March 21, 2004

And Quasar was a quick study, she learned all the required things Stachelbeere was teaching her.  She house trained pretty quick, she learned what was okay to chew on and what was not okay to chew on.  Both of those were very important for her to learn, and she did.

April 4, 2004

Two things Stachelbeere was never without, the book he was reading and the little mutt.

May 10, 2004, the photo on her medical record

Pretty soon, Quasar was old enough for her first visit to the vet.  They took a picture that stayed on her medical record the rest of her life.  The same picture also was on all the postcards the vet sent us over the years to remind us of needed visits and shots.  I was in getting her license once and had Quasar's records with me.  The village clerk commented what a cute little pooch she was.

Quasar grew and fit into our family very well.  She loved her people and her people loved her.

August 2004

At the time, the house we lived in didn't have a fenced yard so if Quasar was outside she was on a leash.  But she was never inclined to run off so, even though she was usually wearing the leash, there wasn't always someone hanging on to the other end of the leash.  It was turning out that Quasar was a very social animal.  She really liked being with her people.

June 2007

She was a part of our lives, proving to be a good fit for our family.

June 2007

We kept tennis balls, among other things, around for her to chew on.  She never got good at learning to play fetch, but she sure loved to chew and worry the tennis balls.  She use her front paws almost like hands, working the balls around to chew on them.

June 2007

Hang on to those ball, can't let them get away!

June 2007, life is good.

October 2007

In October 2007 we moved to a new house and a new city and Quasar moved with us.  Quasar actually handled it quite well.  Life was a little chaotic for a while but she took it all in stride.

February 2008

Didn't take her long to settle into the new place and be quite at home.

July 2008

Stachelbeere continued to be the main figure in Quasar's life, although everyone in the family was always there.  But you could tell she had her favorites.

December 2008

She was a very tolerant little pooch, in this family, she had to be.

February 2010 

At six ears old, Quasar had already begun to get some white around her face.  But she was still plenty energetic.  This little dog could jump.  Stachelbeere would hold a dog treat in his hand, with his arm stretched out nearly straight from his shoulder and she could jump up and get it.

February 2010

During the day, she liked to be on the couch, sometimes falling asleep.  She would sleep with her chin hanging off the edge of the couch.  Didn't seem to me to be very comfortable but she didn't mind it at all.

February 2010

Another favorite place to sleep was curled around someone's feet, whoever was available.

April 2010

She loved being with her people, and her people loved her.  Himbeere enjoyed having her around.

April 2010

June 2011

If we were out in the yard working you could be sure Quasar was near by, playing or just enjoying being around.

June 2011

She wasn't much for being outside on her own, but if anyone was out there that was where she wanted to be.

December 2011

Pretty soon, as grandkids came along, Quasar had no trouble accepting them at all.  While we worked with the grandkids to help them understand how to treat a pet dog, Quasar was very tolerant and took them right in.

December 2011

They played together quite nicely.

September 2012

As she aged, Quasar continued to show more white around her face but she was still full of energy and play.  She loved going for walks.  If anyone would act like they were going for a walk she would drive you crazy with her whining and impatience.  You couldn't get out the door fast enough to keep her happy.

February 2013

And she still loved to chew on her tennis balls and other chew toys.  The more the merrier.

December 2014

And she still loved to snuggle.  If allowed, soft, warm blankets were a favorite place.

January 2016

As she got older, she liked to snuggle closer, it seemed.  Right next to you often wasn't good enough.  She wanted to be on you, or up as close as she could get.

June 2016

When Heidlebeere moved closer we took her with us to visit one time.  She nearly drove us crazy on the drive because she was a very nervous traveler.  But once there she had a great time exploring.

June 2016

Heidlebeere has a small creek running along their property, Quasar had to check it out.

June 2016

Lots of smells and things to check out.

June 2016

We didn't have Quasar around other dogs very often, but she got along with Heidlebeere's dog quite well.  Whether at her house or at ours, they were good friends.  That actually was a good thing.  Quasar never did well in kennels.  When she was little and we'd go traveling we'd leave her with some friends and she did very well with them.  But then, after we moved, that was no longer an option and we tried a couple of the kennels here in the area, including with her vet, who offered boarding services.  But she just didn't do well at any of them.  She would nearly starve herself - she didn't eat well at all when she was in a kennel.  We even tried having the neighbor kid take care of her in our own home but that didn't go well, either.  The last few times we traveled and needed someone to stay with her, Heidlebeere let us leave her with them since they were pretty much on the way.  That worked very well.

December 2017

As she got older, she slowed down.  At one point she tore her ACL chasing squirrels in the backyard.  She recovered from that well enough but by this time she was getting arthritic and beginning to slow down. But she still loved the grandkids and was very good with them.

December 2017

Still loved being nearby, if not in the middle, of wherever her people were.

December 2017

If the grandkids got too close, as the youngest was sometimes wont to do, she'd just get up and move away.  Sometimes she'd give you a look as if to say, "Can't you do something about this?"

January 2018

And she loved laying in the warm sunshine that came in the windows.  She was like a cat in that regard, always looking for a sunbeam to warm her arthritic old bones.

January 2018

She was getting pretty white in the face by this time.  With the arrival of January 2018, Quasar had reached the age of 14 years old.  She was slowing down.  Her arthritis was affecting her ability to walk, she favored her right, rear leg, often not putting much, if any weight on it.  But other times she'd still run across the yard like a little pup, albeit a little slower than she used to.  And we'd find ourselves calling out to her, "Don't hurt yourself!"

January 2018

She had always been one to snuggle.  Didn't always look the most comfortable, but she was happiest when she was snuggled up close.

Anybody lay on the floor for any length of time and you could be sure she'd be there ...

... curled up and snuggled in.

January 2018

She still had her favorite people and loved being near them.  If she couldn't find someone who would let her sleep in the bed with them, Quasar would come lay next to our bed on the floor.  More than one morning I woke up to find her laying right on top of my slippers, right next to the bed.  I mean, how can that be comfortable?!

January 2018

Schwartzbeere had moved in with us and brought his dog.  The two of them got along well, they both loved to lay in the sunbeams when they could find them. They learned to share.

Quasar, during the last couple of years, would lay with her nose covered by her paws.  She did this a lot.

It was not uncommon at all to find her laying there, covering her nose.  I often wondered what this did for her.  I have no idea, but she did it a lot.  You'd see her laying there, sound asleep, nose covered.

January 2018

Toward the end, she slept a lot.  if she wasn't in the middle of doing something she would be asleep.

January 2018

Still sleeping with her head hanging off the couch.

The last year of her life, her health was visibly declining. We think she was suffering from mild senility, she was forgetting some of the basic rules she'd lived with her whole life, and her appetite began to drop off so that she lost weight, about 10 pounds in her last two or three years. Or maybe, with all the grandkids around on whom she could depend to drop food on the floor, she just decided to get picky and hold off eating her dog food in the hope of getting something from the grandkids.

At any rate, last November we thought she might have had a small seizure.  We weren't sure.  But then on Sunday, April 22, 2018, she definitely had a seizure.  It lasted a few minutes and moved her across the room until she rolled into Brombeere, who grabbed her and gently held her until it ended.  A day or two later we think she might have had another during the night. Then on the 25th, Schwartzbeere came home to find her on the floor, unable to get up or even hold her head up.  We took her to the vet that evening because she wasn't recovering.  She wanted to get up but couldn't or even hold her head straight.

April 25, 2018

She was not well.  The vet said normally they would do some blood work to see if there were any problems with her organs but we had just had her in for her annual check up a few weeks before and everything was normal.  After looking her over he concluded there was probably a tumor or some kind of mass pressing on a nerve in her head on her left side that was giving her what was essentially extreme vertigo, rendering her unable to stand or even hold her held normal.  She kept falling to the side.

April 25,  2018

After talking with the vet about the prognosis and what quality of life she could expect, we decided it was time to put her down.  Even though we'd known this was coming for some time, it was still a difficult decision.  The vet gave us some time alone with her and then, a short time later, she quietly slipped away as Brombeere held her.

Quasar's collar, all her tags, and her records

We were concerned about her remains being left undisturbed if we tried to bury her in the yard so we had the vet arrange for her to be cremated.

September 2012

She is the only dog I have lived with for her whole life.  She was a wonderful little mutt, a delightful pooch.  She could drive you crazy with her impatience.  She was always underfoot, and, like most dogs, always looking for a handout. We, at one point, affectionately gave her the nickname of SID (stupid idiot dog) because she could be so annoying at times. But she was loving, and tolerant, and as patient with the kids and grandkids as the day was long.  She was a marvelous little dog.  She was everything we wanted in a pet.  The D&C tells us the Lord saves the work of His hands.  That being the case, Quasar joins the ranks of the pets we hope to continue to be with and enjoy in eternity.