DOB: 4/14/88 DOD: 7/21/02
Likes: People food, water, people dessert, walks outside, food, windy days, people food, rides in the car
Dislikes: Thunderstorms, fire crackers, when mom leaves (be it to work, the store, vacation, etc), earthquakes, any rug in front of the kitchen sink
Frey is actually short for Freyr, the norse God of fertility, and according to some texts mischief. Fertility was "nipped in the bud" but mischief... he definitely lived up to that part of his name-sake. He was a pure bred Keeshond (or Dutch barge dog). He held the post of one of my closest friends... my "son" for nearly 14.5 years. He was the original "traveling dog" going with me on driveable business trips to Norfolk, Newport News, Oceana, Hampton, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Yorktown to name a few. (I spent many years working with the Navy... can you tell?)
When the rebel patriots party was defeated, many Keeshonden were destroyed and the breed nearly became extinct. The breed was saved primarily by the efforts of Baroness van Hardenbroek and Miss J. D. Van der Blom. The dog emerged in England where it gained increasing popularity, and in 1926 an English breed club was formed sporting "Keeshond" as the official name. Most of the dogs seen in the U.S. today are the result of the British lines. I have been fortunate enough to see the Kees in their "native" environment... on barges... but the barge captains I spoke with weren't pleased that they are not classified as "working" dogs in the U.S.
Frey would eat ANYTHING that is people food... salad, carrots, saag paneer, chili, string beans... you name it, you put it on a plate, he wants it. (Thanks to my mother.) In recent years he let me know he "retired" from active life, except for when the pizza delivery arrives...
He was the best "nurse dog" on the planet. When I had chicken pox in 1999, and later when I was going through treatment for breast cancer in 2001 and 2002, he never once left my side and followed me everywhere... including into the bathroom! He just wanted to make sure I was going to be okay... and he clung tenaciously to life until after my treatments concluded and he deemed me cured.
He was also one of the most stubborn dogs I'd ever met, and he truly had Dave and I (and almost everyone who met him) wrapped around his fuzzy little paw. He loved giving kisses most of all... in fact, my friend Suzy always called him her "Smackeroo guy."
Frey was one amazing pooch, and his capacity for love and loyalty taught me what to look for in others. I think it's safe to say, he left warm paw prints on many people's lives...
