Your Pet Tributes

'Strudel'

by Owen
(Antioch, CA, USA)

Strudel... after her last grooming.

Strudel... after her last grooming.

Lament for the Party Poodle
O. Kris Widmer
November 13, 2011


Remembering "Strudel the Poodle"
12/1997 - 11/12/2011


They said you were a "Party" animal.
The breed of a poodle.
The markings of a Doberman.
You weren't breed standard, no papers
with your black back and
tan chest, inner legs, nose and eyebrows.

You could have and would have
been anyone's pet,
free from the pressure of AKC events,
but fate and the Barnett�s
and gave you to us.
Lucky us!

We named you
(after an extensive search)
after a favorite food item.
You grew to love it too.
Who wouldn't.

You were the "Tiny Tim" dog.
Lame from the start.
Arthritis in your left front leg.
But smiling, always eager
to go on a long walk
which for you was around the block.
Quickly you would start hopping,
but carrying on none the less.
"Don't mind me...I've still got 3 good legs.
I'm fine."
Then shortly, Debbie would pick you up
and triumphantly carry you home.
But you never complained.
After a drink, your face would say
"God bless us everyone",
then you'd collapse in your bed
to sleep it off.

It's amazing you made it this long.
14 years.
What, with that emergency hysterectomy
after your first "love" date with a male pooch.
Then there was the cyst on your left chest
that grew to the size of a small orange.
Sorry for this extra baggage.

Still you were the top dog around here.
Lady never could mount an overthrow.

You were well traveled for a small breed.
Sacramento to Deer Park to Redding.
Numerous trips to Lakeport and Paradise.
And finally a move to Oakley, then Antioch.

We knew you wouldn't be with us forever.
Cloudy Eyes
Bouts of �funkiness�...you'd always pull out of them.
We dreaded the decision, we really did,
and you owe the delay to us following
the end of life criteria for a beloved poodle that preceded you.
The Lizette Rule
"If she can eat and get outside by herself...O.K."
That became the family standard
for knowing when the time had come
to give a beloved pet
its final shots.

And so you kept living.
High powered night-lights to guide you outside.
A doggy ramp to ease you over concrete obsticles.
Steps by the side of the bed so you get back where you wanted to be.
Talk about a pampered pooch!

We just didn't think it would be this soon.
Not on a Sabbath.
Not 3 days after our return from a business trip.
No.
We just didn't think it would be this soon.

And so...we are left with the certain opinion
that we did the right thing by you �
for the past 14 years and on this past Sabbath afternoon.
Should we have let you sleep off this funk too?
No, you were in great pain.
Should we wait, see if you made it through the night.
No...you had suffered enough.
Was it the "poison mushrooms" we found in the yard the next morning.
We will never know.

We only know...that today...you are at rest.
Blessed rest.
No more groaning to be released from this old world.
No more waiting eagerly...for us to come home
or for us to be revealed as Sons of God.
(Romans 8:19-22).
No more being subject to futility,
but you are �set free
from the slavery to corruption
into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.�

See you in heaven!

And so I say....and we as a family say...
�Thank you...Strudel the Poodle.�
(People always smiled when they heard that.)
Soon we shall smile again when we think of you...
but just not yet...it's all too fresh.

Yes...They said you were a "party" animal.
The breed of a poodle.
The markings of a Doberman.
And looking back, we also know now....The heart of a champion.
Thanks for bringing your party...to us.

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