Goodbye Old Friend
20 May 2014
Jill
Bonjour Red Knaidel
AKA Fuzzy
May 16, 1996 - May 19, 2014
When Jamie and I went to Bonjour Kennels to get a puppy, we didn't pick the liveliest puppy, we didn't pick the quietest puppy and we didn't pick the puppy with the best conformation. We picked the puppy who seemed to like us the most. That was Fuzzy.
His whole life Fuzzy was interested in two things, being with his people and food. And Fuzzy would put up with almost anything to be with his people. He went to Jamie's soccer games when he was tiny. He got lugged through the woods in a carrier to watch Bud ride trials motorcycles. He walked miles and miles and miles with me. When my sister, Joan, and I hiked sections of the Erie Canal towpath, 8 or 9 miles at a time, Fuzzy would trot along with us. He didn't need a leash unless we were crossing a highway, he'd never go more than 50 feet from me, and he'd often walk right between us, just wanting to be one of the group. He also expected to share a bit of our lunch.
When we got our first powerboat, Fuzzy went boating. He didn't like the noise or vibrations of the engine, but he'd put up with it as long as I held him in my lap. The next year, when we moved to a bigger boat and Tuscarora Yacht Club, Fuzzy was there. He was always a bit put off that he wasn't allowed in the clubhouse. His people were in there; he needed to be there, too. When we learned to sail, so did Fuzzy, even though he was already a pretty old dog. We'd put his little bed on the seat in the cockpit and he'd sit there, patiently waiting until I could sit down with him and pet him. When it got rough, Fuzzy and his bed were tied to the helm pedestal in the floor of the cockpit. One spring, when we brought our Beneteau from Olcott, where it was stored, to Wilson and Tuscarora Yacht Club, Fuzzy was riding on the seat in his usual place, as it was a calm day. As we neared Wilson, we had to tack, the low side became the high side and Fuzzy and his bed slid from the seat to the floor, Fuzzy still sitting quietly in the bed. Oops, sorry Fuzzy.
Fuzzy had me trained pretty well. If I was walking or working, Fuzzy was happy to be near me on the floor or on the ground. But if I stopped, he yipped. I didn't like his little yip so I'd pick him up. Good person. If I was standing around and especially if I was talking to other people, he wanted to be up and in my arms, part of the conversation. When I'd go to visit my Mom and we'd play cards, Fuzzy would sit on my lap for hours. As he got older, he finally conceded to sit in his bed, right next to my chair.
When we got boat bicycles, Fuzzy learned to ride in a bike carrier. When we sold the farm and moved aboard, Fuzzy came, too. In November of 2010 I had to leave Bud and Fuzzy on the boat and go and stay with Jamie to help her with Adler while she studied for the step two exam for her medical license. I was gone for 5 weeks. Rick Sindoni and Rick Sampson each came for a week to help Bud move the boat further south (and among their jobs was turning Fuzzy's food bowl so he could get all the food out of the corners). When I finally came back to the boat, Bud and Fuzzy came out to meet me. Fuzzy already had cataracts and his sight was getting bad. He didn't recognize me coming across to him. But when I picked him up he was so happy that he cried in my arms.
I had a front carrier that made it easier to transport Fuzzy from the boat to the dinghy (not his favorite ride) to shore. Although not terribly fond of the dinghy, Fuzzy did discover that he loved the beaches in the Bahamas. This is Fuzzy on his first beach walk, January of 2011 on Grand Bahama.
I realized when Bud and I went sailing with Scott and Tamera a few weeks ago that was the first time I'd been out in any of our boats without Fuzzy along. It wasn't that Fuzzy was an avid boat dog, Fuzzy was just an avid people dog, and if his people insisted on going to sea, so would he.
Yesterday, Jamie and I had to take Fuzzy into the vet and say good-bye. I was sad that we couldn't wait for Bud to come back, but Bud and I agreed that the most important thing was that Fuzzy get to die peacefully, in my arms, and we were afraid that he wouldn't live out the week until I could bring Bud back. So I held Fuzzy with the tears streaming down my face, and talked to him and told him good-bye as he drifted off to his final sleep. Good-bye old friend, I can't believe you're gone.