Gettin' Frisky!

Three years ago today, my sweet little fox terrier Frisky passed away. 

I tried to scan in a picture of her but it didn't come out very well.  She was black and white with brown on her face and ears.

I had picked her out at the local Humane Society earlier in the day and came back for her that evening.  My parents bought her for me as an early birthday present.  The Humane Society thought she was about a year old.  Her name was originally Bobbie but I didn't like that name for a girl so I changed it to Frisky after a friend commented how frisky she seemed to be.  Everyone I know repeatedly told me that Frisky was a cat's name.  I don't care - Frisky was her name and I wasn't gonna change it!

I took her home and it seemed to take her a few days to settle in.  She finally did and all seemed to be going well.  Until my brother and his family moved in with us for a few months!  Frisky became very vocal and stayed that way until the end.

She didn't like anyone but me after that.  She snapped at anyone who tried to pet her and growled at anyone who dared come near her.  I tried my best to socialize her, thinking that might help but it didn't seem to.  She did eventually warm up to other people but it took her a long time.

She loved to take walks.  At one time in my town, there used to be a dog walk to raise money for our local Humane Society.  Since that's where Frisky came from, we did the walk every year with the exception of the first year.  I'm not sure why she did this but after walking for any length of time, Frisky would always lift one hind leg up.  After awhile she'd switch legs.  Every single year on this walk, person after person would tell me that I needed to stop and check on her leg.  When I didn't, I'd often get dirty looks and probably nasty comments behind my back.  I took her to the vet after the first few times of seeing her do this and was told after a thorough checkup that there was absolutely nothing wrong with either of her hind legs and that this was a common trait of a fox terrier.  When I'd tell people this, no one seemed to believe me.  I liked to think this was just one of her many quirks and loved her all the more for it. 

When I read the ad for Chico, it said that he sometimes lifts one of his hind legs up too after he's walked for awhile.  This kind of drew me to him because it reminded me so much of Frisky.

I lived with my parents when I first got Frisky.  My mom decided one day to build a pond.  Around this pond, she has a variety of  flowers and plants.  Frisky adored walking around the perimeter of the pond sniffing all of them, walking away to sneeze and then coming back to do it all over again!  And yes, even sneezing all over again!

I finally bought my own house and moved her and my cat in.  She didn't seem to know what to think at first but settled in pretty quickly.  The cat took a little longer.  She was an older dog by that time and I'm sure it wasn't easy to adjust to new surroundings. 

One day I was shopping at the mall and out of the blue, purchased a chewing chihuahua puppy named Shiver.  This was a way bigger adjustment for Frisky than moving to a new house!  And she did NOT like Shiver in any way, shape or form and no problems letting him know it!  She learned to tolerate him but I don't think she ever really enjoyed having him chew and pounce all over her. 

One morning I woke up out of a sound sleep at 4:00 AM.  Frisky was clearly in some serious pain and I didn't know what to do!  I was used to taking care of a sick kitty but not a sick dog!  So first things first, I tried to figure out what was wrong.  She wasn't bleeding anywhere and she hadn't gotten sick.  I touched her gingerly all over but I couldn't tell where she was hurting. 

I regret this but I didn't call the vet right away.  It was 4:00 AM and even though my vet does have emergency service, I decided to call after they opened.  In the mean time, I just cuddled her and tried to keep her calm until we both went back to sleep.  I called the vet first thing in the morning and they couldn't get her in.  I tried to make an appt. for that following Saturday but they told me they only take certain appts. on Saturday's - which I found out later isn't true!  I got an appt. for the next week and kept my fingers crossed that everything would be ok until then. 

That Saturday morning, Frisky was crying again.  She was old and I just knew deep in my heart that this was the end.  I didn't even make an appt, I just brought her in.  They squezed me in and asked why I hadn't brought her in sooner.  I told them I tried but that I couldn't get an appt any earlier.  The vet said she was full of cancer and at her advanced age of 12, there really wasn't much he could do for her.  It would be in her best interest to let her go.  And so I did.  My parents took me out in the middle of nowhere where my dad buried her. 

May you always rest in peace, my beautiful Frisky!  I miss you more than you will ever know!