Geoff

"Sparky" the Smooth Frisbeedog

Winnie & Mr. Raggs

Hal

Chips

Kilty

Tara

Mickey

Cody a.k.a. "Ferret Face"

Piggy

Curtis

Rocky

He was a great loved first child.  He entered our lives with very little notice and exited just the same. He was born on May 26, 2004 and was loved by his mommy and daddy since August 12, 2005. He died this past Wednesday (April 23, 2008) after a very short illness that left him weak. He lived a short life and was taken too soon, but the Vets tried all that they could to save him, he knew.

Rocky loved to sit in his chair and would watch out his window. he would play with his toys, his favorites were the duck, the baseball ball, and the cardinal bird. He wished to go and be wherever we were. He will be greatly missed, our buddy, our baby, our Rocky dog.

Arin, Jeremy, and unborn Charlie

Ozzie
 

Ozzie was our 13 yr. old family Wire Fox Terrier who just passed away the week of July 27, 2008 from Lymphoma cancer. He was a wonderful pet and family member as well. He loved sun bathing and running freely throughout his younger years. On rainy days, he would lay next to our piano while I would play for him. He always had an eager ear to listen to the music in would make. When our family started to fall apart, Ozzie was still there. He helped me learn about growing up and what it really meant to be a dedicated companion. I knew with him around I would always have a shoulder to cry on and friend that would never complain or give up on me. After his cancer diagnosis, the family saved up enough money to begin his treatment in hopes of painlessly expanding his long lived life. However, one week later it took a turn for the worse and he died at home in his sleep. He was really a true defination of "mans best friend" and is deeply missed.

Katrina
 
 

Trixie

Trixie was born in April of 1997.  My wife and I were married in June of 1997 and got Trixie in July using our Wedding money.  A very cute and good natured dog, she loved her cheese and some scraps of roast beef. She passed away on November 3rd of 2008.

Trixie loved to play and was very alert to strangers ringing our doorbell. She loved to go for walks and play tug of war with my socks. We all loved her and will miss her very much.

Russell M. Frey

 

Ciutti
Born September 1993 and died 2007
 
Dear friends:
This is the story of our foxterrier Ciutti.

Ciutti was born on September 1993, so 5 years before I was born. When I was little I hated him because I was scared of dogs, but soon I began to play with him and we were always together.

For my brother and me Ciutti has been our only pet. The best dog in the world. He was affective, intelligent and never got annoyed.

He was dead two years ago, and we still remember him in the family.

Paula



 

BlackJack

My family adopted Jack when I was in junior high. He was sweet, affectionate and the perfect family dog. For five, happy years, BlackJack was my perfect dog. He never bit anyone, not even when being drug around by his tail (that was the toddler's doing, not mine).

EINSTEIN (1997-2009)

Einstein, wire-haired fox terrier, died October 26, 2009, at Triangle Veterinary Hospital in Durham, North Carolina in the arms of his humans, Willie and Kate. He departed this life peacefully after several months of failing health due to acute liver disease.  He was buried in Pinehurst next to his mixed-breed companion, Billy, under a lovely pink dogwood tree that was given as a memorial to Billy, who died in 2005. 

Einstein was born March 24, 1997 in Stevenson, Maryland at the Evewire Kennel owned by famed wire-haired fox terrier breeder Eve Ballich, who was known for breeding champion show dogs with sociable dispositions.  Einstein’s parents were Ch Evewire Smart Decision (sire) and Evewire Gemini Jazzy Lady (dam). When Ms. Ballich was contacted about acquiring one of her puppies, she asked whether a show dog or pet dog was desired.  A pet dog was sought and that was Einstein.  It was never clear to lay persons what marked him from infancy as not-a-show-dog, but at several months of age his right ear refused to flop, which would have arrested any show dog aspirations.  Einstein’s veterinarian remarked that the standing ear was both a sign of strong extensor muscles and character.

Einstein was registered under the name Evewire Diplomat but called Einstein because Willie (a physics minor in college) believed that a smart dog deserved a smart name.  The name suited him.  However, Einstein was deliberately mis-called “Eisenhower” by a now-departed Greatest Generation neighbor who believed that he was more Eisenhower than Einstein.

In his early years, Einstein earned the nickname “Boom-Boom” because he boomeranged everywhere with typical fox terrier energy.  As a puppy, he entered a household ruled by 10-year old Billy who tolerated him as long as he respected her senior dog status.  For the most part he did, but he occasionally found sport in irritating her.  When she made her displeasure known by snarling and snapping, he disarmed her by licking her in the snout.  Although Einstein was cautioned that “what goes around comes around,” he never fully comprehended that lesson. Indeed, when WFT Missy Pearl joined the household in Christmas 2006 as a puppy, the roles were reversed and he was the senior dog to a wild puppy.  However, with his patient and sweet disposition, he tolerated a new puppy (a bossy female at that) better than Billy did, and he co-existed for the most part peacefully with Missy Pearl, with only occasional discord, until late into his illness, when his once-considerable reserve of patience waned.

Einstein was an obedience school graduate, although he never saw the point in obedience for its own sake.  But if a treat was offered, he could “sit” at the speed of light.  As an adult, he concentrated on neighborhood watch activities, screening new canines to the neighborhood with a skeptical eye, and ensuring that his home was free of mice and other varmints.  Indeed, his reputation was so fearsome that no mouse or varmint was ever known to dare to be within a mile of his home.  Although the occasional spider slipped through his enforcement net, he viewed insect chasing as beneath his talents and concentrated his efforts on protection against larger threats.   His watch activities including riding shotgun with Willie to Pinehurst, and sharing guy-talk and a bagel on the drive. 

When not on watch, Einstein’s favorite past-times included chasing a tennis ball, preferably as a solo activity and not in concert with Missy Pearl, who tended to be domineering in multi-dog games.  Indeed, it led to separate games for each dog, such that Missy Pearl’s extreme vocal unhappiness at being restricted from play and forced to watch him retrieve the ball gave Einstein at least as much enjoyment as the mere act of  retrieving the ball.  Until diminishing eyesight affected his catching ability, Einstein was a talented short-stop who could catch a ball on the fly or a ground ball on the first hop.  Einstein’s special variation on a game of ball was that he would bring the ball to a hand, but would not release it – rather, the human was required to battle Einstein for the ball, with Einstein either clenching the ball strongly in his teeth or holding it under his paws with his surprisingly strong grip.  As humans tired of that variation, Einstein injected new energy into the game by placing the ball behind the refrigerator or under a piece of furniture that he could not reach and then notifying the humans.  The ball could then be retrieved only by humans engaging in awkward angles, such as lying on the floor.  However, the next part of the game required Einstein to immediately re-establish control of the ball once freed from under the furniture, thus requiring humans to establish defensive positions while lying exposed on the floor. While unimaginative humans found the game tiresome, Einstein never did.

Einstein was a staunch advocate of moderate exercise and, until recent months, enjoyed regular several-mile walks. Einstein’s steady marching – even in North Carolina summer heat -- was in contrast to Missy Pearl, who easily runs half-marathons in cooler weather but needs frequent rest breaks when walking in 90 degree heat. 

Einstein also was a canine foodie in that he enjoyed any item normally thought of as food (except parsley) and he pushed the definition of what constitutes food to include shoe insoles, socks, wild animal droppings, and other detritus.  An adventurous diet was a costly diet as Einstein’s consumption of a sock once prompted a $400 endoscopy to retrieve the sock.  Although he was on a special diet from the age of 7 due to bladder stones, Einstein was able to enjoy the occasional McDonald’s hamburger, pasta, and other delicacies.  His all-time favorite treat was a hard-boiled egg, and hearing the shell crack fueled his anticipation and added much to the enjoyment of actually eating the egg. When his hearing was at full peak, he could hear the shell crack (or the quiet rustle of a treat bag) several rooms away, which saved his humans the considerable trouble of actually having to call him to come get his egg.  Several months before he died, he developed diabetes as a complication of his liver condition and settled into a pleasurable diet of Whole Foods rotisserie chicken or Willie’s grilled chicken breasts.  He did relish several bites of a McDonald’s hamburger the day before he died.

Einstein was universally proclaimed as a “good dog” with uncharacteristic mellowness for a wire-haired fox terrier.  While he had no great love for other dogs, no human was a stranger, and he had a particular affinity for adults who weren’t sure they liked dogs and he immediately charmed them by curling up next to them with a paw in their lap.  He particularly enjoyed the company of teenagers who had stamina for long games of ball.  Einstein would agree to sleep in their laps as they watched movies but, if they forgot that a game of ball was necessary while the movie was on, he reminded them.

Einstein also had the singular ability to go from activity level 60 mph to zero when the light was turned off to signal bedtime, which never failed to amaze his humans. 

When he was picked up from his breeder in the first months of his life, Ms. Ballich’s initial description of him was that he was “affectionate.” That lasted to the last days of his life, when, despite his illness and frailty, his greatest pleasure was licking Willie excitedly in the face. 

Within an hour of Einstein’s passing, Kate encountered a stranger walking “Aster,” a 5-year old female wire-haired fox terrier so-named as a play on the most iconic of wire fox terriers.   To a believer, the extreme rarity of an encounter with another wire-haired fox terrier on any day, let alone this day of all days, is Einstein’s message that the fox terrier spirit is indomitable and is present always if we know where to look….

 Einstein will be missed greatly by Willie and Kate and all who knew him, and he will be remembered always.

Winston
Born October 13, 1996-Died April 2, 2010

Winston came into our lives about six months after we lost our first wire to cancer.  My two daughters, ages 4 and 6 and I told my husband that we were just going "to look" at the puppies.  We drove from our home in Oakland, CA to Santa Rosa.  There were two puppies left a boy and a girl.  They always say to choose the pup who comes to you.  Well Winston didn't do that -- he ran around the garage where the breeder kept the puppies.  We chose him primarily because the little girl was gnawing on my 4 years old's hand which she didn't like!!  Winston turned out to be the best dog I have ever known.  He was smart, sweet, friendly, loving and silly.  He loved his toy fox, treats (any kind) and most of all he loved us.  He went almost everywhere with us...to the mountains, camping and he loved his walks.  He especially loved the long walk where we would get to the stream and he would take a swim.  He was always healthy but in the end he died from renal failure.  Truly one of the saddest days of my life was April 2, 2010.  I will miss him every day of my life.

Gay, Mike, Rachael & Allie Chiappetta

 

Casey
Died June 22, 2009

Casey lost his fight against kidney decease on 6/22/09 at eight and a half years of age. Over the years, I submitted photos of him to the Fox Terrier Networks annual photo contest. He came in second and third place, and received an honorable mention.  Casey loved to raise money for the Michigan Humane Society by getting sponsors and “walking for the cause” in his community in Plymouth-Canton Township. He was one of my best friends; I will always have him in my heart ..... he is missed every day.