Fritz

This morning Mom was tired so we all went back to bed for about an hour. We normally get up around 5:30 AM. We went for a walk, ate breakfast and then Mom said "Who wants to take a nap?" There was a stampede to the bedroom and we all, including Dad slept for another hour. Now Mom is up and eating raisins for energy so we better stay out of her way until the "High" wears off.

As promised here is the next installment about Mom's dogs.

Fritz

After we gave away our little Boston Terrier, Kim, we were without a dog for a couple of years. During that time, we helped some friends who had just bought a small Inn in the Berkshires, in Massachusetts. We had some experience in cooking for restaurants and doing some catering. They had none. We went to their Inn and helped do some heavy cooking. Within a couple of weeks they decided they couldn't handle it. We bought it from them. That's another whole story or two that maybe I'll get into some other time.

The Inn consisted of a bar, restaurant and rooms. This was kind of a local place so most of our business was repeat customers. The Inn was on the main street at the foot of a mountain. A developer bought the land on the mountain and proceeded to build expensive second homes. Many of the workers came to our place for meals.

One of the men came to our place almost every day. He frequented the bar often. His dog would follow him and we started letting the dog into the bar. She would lie in the corner and just watch everyone. Her master would have too much to drink and leave without the dog. She didn't mind. When the bar closed for the night my husband would take the dog home in our truck. We had heard that the dog's owner mistreated her when he was drinking but we never saw it.

He did not know the background of the dog only that he got her at a shelter. She was a mix breed with plenty of German Shepard in her.

One day he and the dog came into the bar. He had already had a few too many. He accused us of trying to steal his dog. He said she would rather be with us and with him so he gave us the dog. My husband immediately bought her a new collar and license. She sensed that this was her new home and never went back up the mountain to see him. She was friendly to all who came into the Inn. For health reasons, we had to insist that she not be allowed in the dining room.

One family that came in every weekend had four children. They would coax Fritz into the dining room and hide her under the table. There they would slip her bits of food so she was very quiet. There were also a few other customers that did the same.

No matter how friendly she was when the Inn was open, the minute we locked the front door for the night she took it upon herself to become our night watchman. One step onto the large front porch by friend or foe would put her snarling at the glass front door. No one in their right mind would have tried to enter.

She usually occupied the corner next to the piano in the bar. If my husband went to bed early and I kept the bar open, she would move to the opening behind the bar. There she would lay until the last customer left and I locked the front door.

One of her favorite things was to go for a ride in the truck. We had to take our own trash to the dump so first thing every morning Fritz and Dad made the dump run. Dad had a plow for the truck and when it snowed he plowed our parking lot and several others for friends with Fritz sitting up on the passenger seat.

Y'all remember snow don't ya. I remember it but have no desire to see it again.

I wasn't long before we got another dog, our first "Buddy." That will be my next story

Today's quote is by George Eliot.

"Animals are such agreeable friends-
they ask no questions,
they pass no criticisms."