Last week, a friend wrote to me after she’d read my memorial tributes to my dogs Bogie and Ella, “you are fortunate because you can immortalize them with your words.”

Frazier and ShaniaImmortalize, perhaps not, but I have been allowed to tell some of their stories and have been blessed to feel that their lives had consequence and inspiration beyond my own couch, which they have rarely allowed me to sit upon. This time around, I owe the unassuming Frazier the credit he’s long overdue for.

As you may know, I’ve lost three of my dogs over the past three weeks. I found myself stumbling around in a daze, tearfully muttering “three dogs in three weeks.” Yesterday, my veterinarian friend told me to quit concentrating on the number, to realize that I had given them lives they wouldn’t have had otherwise, and to recognize that for those of us who have multiple senior animals, the odds are already stacked against us. She made a passionate and logical argument that I took to heart. I then stumbled around muttering “three of my dogs in three weeks.”

Frazier was probably Buddhist. Since I took him from the West Virginia kill shelter on his “last day” at 4-5 months of age, to today, his real last day, when he left his deathbed under the grape vines to obediently walk into the veterinarian office, Frazier was as good as gold, patient and accepting of any other animal, any circumstance. He was never sick a day in his life, until just recently. He was a beautiful mahogany color and an indeterminate mix with a curled tail. I told people that he was a “Giant Shiba Inu.” Some of them believed me.

Frazier was “raised” by my wolf Shania and Amadeus, a Giant Schnauzer-German Shepherd mix I had brought with me from Germany. Amadeus was the patient teacher of dozens of foster dogs over the years and he was killed along with 13 other animals in the fire that destroyed my home. I was grateful that Frazier had grown up to emulate Amadeus and not his uber-alpha stepmother. Shock and the subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder were kind enough to wipe away some of my memories of my fire. One memory I have is Frazier standing on my still-smoldering bed, looking out the blown-out window frame, pleading with me to save him. I don’t remember it, but I’ve been told that I knocked a firefighter down who attempted to block my access to the house and Frazier.

I couldn’t save you this time, my friend.

Shania originally had a pack of eight neutered males to boss around. Through attrition and adoption, only Frazier remained. So many years had passed that I didn’t have the heart to sever that bond, although with his hail-fellow-well-met personality, Frazier would have been a stellar family dog. He took Shania’s bossiness and our frequent moves in stride. They both survived the psychopathic cruelty of my second ex-wife, who still claims to be an “animal rescuer.” Frazier is now guarding the Pearly Gates to prevent her entry.

Shania and Frazier (with some help from me) raised a low-content wolf hybrid pup that had been found cowering in a WV coal mine, terrified of people. “Apollo,” now with obedience titles, lives with a couple who consider him the greatest dog in all of history, along with another hybrid brother, cats, geese and ducks, who he often naps with. He definitely has Frazier’s temperament and not his stepmother’s prey-driven prejudice of other species.

Shania and Frazier (with a lot of help from me) raised a born-blind Pit Bull girl who I had rescued from an animal hoarder situation (the first time I made headlines and ended up in court by challenging the authority of a State to kill animals). Today, she is the well-adjusted, joy-filled being who rules a friend’s life and schedule. What Cleo wants, Cleo gets. Perhaps she does take after her alpha stepmother a bit more than Daddy Frazier, but we had the good sense to make sure that her new human daddy is Buddhist.

All these years, it’s been Shania and Frazier, and now she is temporarily alone. It’s like Cher without Sonny. It won’t seem right every day at 4 p.m. to not have Frazier announce to the neighborhood that dinner is almost late. Not even a change to Daylight Savings Time knocked his timing off for more than a day.

It wasn’t until I’d lost him that I realized he had been the always reliable thread of continuity, from Amadeus, to Apollo, to Cleo. His most appreciative student, me, misses him and will always remember his gentle teachings. Sometimes we accomplish more lasting change with patience and good-natured reliability than we do by making a big noise. Thank you, Frazier.

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Memorial contributions for Frazier, Ella & Bogie, and for Jim’s continuing efforts for animals are being coordinated by Jade Murphy, blackdogridge@gmail.com


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Jim's book "PIECES OF MY HEART - Writings Inspired by Animals and Nature" benefits animal rescue efforts. For samples, info on fundraising and to download "HOW COULD YOU?": http://www.crean.com/jimwillis, or click here to order through Amazon.com:
http://tinyurl.com/9s888j
Celebrate WORLD ANIMAL DAY: http://www.worldanimalday.org.uk
**Some of the most important things in life are not "things"! Please use personal pronouns (not "it") when referring to animals.**


In the Middle of a World...

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