My Beloved Dog, Kramer

Today, November 5th 2016, would have been Kramer's 15th birthday. I miss him so, so much. Earlier this year, on March 14, 2016, our family had to do one of, if not the hardest, thing we have ever done. We said goodbye to Kramer. Kramer was our first family pet, a black miniature schnauzer. Kramer had not been doing well. He was over 14 years old (the average age for a schnauzer is 11-14). He had already been deaf for about a year or longer. A few months back we noticed him behaving oddly. He wondered around, he didn't get excited when my mom, brothers or I came home. He started losing control of his bladder. So, back in January we took him in to see the vet. At that time we found out that Kramer was experiencing two things: Sundowners syndrome (basically dementia for dogs) and the onset of congestive heart failure. We were told at that time that Kramer might have six months, but more likely only a couple of weeks. We were told what symptoms to look out for. Over the past few weeks those symptoms started to show themselves. He lost even more control of his bladder, to the point where we had to put a diaper on him. He lost weight, 10% of his total body weight. His back legs would shake uncontrollably when he stood. His whole body started to bow. He became anxious and restless, signs that he was in pain. His breathing started to become more labored. He could still walk around, and at times acted normal, but he was declining so fast. As a family, we decided that he only had a few weeks left, and rather than wait until he was in total agony, we made the appointment to put him to sleep. He went peacefully, it took maybe a minute. The day of, I picked Chandler up from work around 1:30pm and got to the house around 2. My Mom came home soon afterwards. We all just hung out in my parents room and shared some stories about Kramer, talked about how much we loved him, took one-on-one pictures with him and said our goodbyes. For the last half hour or so we just all laid there in mournful silence. My Dad made the decision not to go to the Vet with us, he felt he would just get in the way. So my two brothers and mother and I went. After picking out the urn, paw print, and other things we took him back. He went peacefully. It was so hard to see, it felt like a piece of me was ripped away. 

To me, Kramer was the embodiment of devotion, loyalty, innocence, and unconditional love. Chandler said, and I agree with him, that in a lot of ways Kramer kept our family together. He loved us all so much, and so well. He kept our spirits up, especially during hard times. At times, when I had to be there to comfort and take care of my family he was the only on whom I could rely for comfort. Sometimes, when I was depressed I would go to my room and just lay in bed. After a few minutes, Kramer would scratch at my door until I opened it and then he'd jump on my bed and cuddle up with me. He was always so excited to see me whenever I went home. On many trips to my parent's house the highlight for me was just seeing and being with Kramer. Oh how I loved him and oh how I'm going to miss him. So much, so, so much.

I feel I should write down some of Kramer's history here. That way I'll have it, along with the many pictures my family and I have of him. Kramer entered our lives on December 25th, 2001. He was just 8 weeks old, having been born on November 5th of that same year. My mom had been against us getting a dog for years. However, her heart had been softened by the women she was visiting teaching, who got a puppy poodle. My dad saw this as an opportunity to finally get our family a dog. My dad had a miniature schnauzer growing up, and wanted another schnauzer. We found a lady who, if I remember right, lived in either Spanish Fork or Springville. Dad picked out Kramer, and a few weeks before Christmas let me in on the secret that we were getting a puppy for Christmas. I went with my dad to buy everything we'd need for a new puppy. We hid all of it in the shed that was outside our house. I got to see Kramer about a week before Christmas. Then on Christmas day, the woman who had Kramer delivered him to our door. It was in the afternoon, after we had already opened up all of our presents. I answered the door, I had been waiting by it all day, and took Kramer in my arms. He was so small, and just adorable. My mom was confused, who would come to the door on Christmas. Then she spotted Kramer in my arms and her heart melted. She let out a huge "Awww" and picked him up. She was hooked and Kramer was a mamma's boy from that day on. We had a family vote to decide on his name, I remember one of the names that was in the running was Buzz. The name Kramer (obviously) was chosen. One of my earliest memories of him was that day, we put him in a little kennel my Dad and I had gotten for him (trying to kennel train him lasted maybe a week). The kennel was in the kitchen, and at that time we had hardwood flooring in the kitchen. Kramer stepped out and slipped on the hardwood, let out a cute little yelp of surprise and fear and then ran back into the kennel. He was such an adorable puppy. I remember that day, on Christmas, it was my responsibility to take Kramer out to go potty. We went out into a small square of shoveled cement in the backyard and hung out for a little bit, waiting for him to go potty and when he finally did I praised him, as you are supposed to when the poop in the right place. He was so happy he jumped up and down. Eventually we got Kramer trained to the point where he would mostly go potty in the area outside that was the garden.

About 2 months after we got Kramer we decided that we would crop his ears. Cropping is where part of the skin of a dog's ear is removed to give it a triangular look. At the time, there was a possibility that we could show Kramer in dog show's, he had perfect proportions and several different people who knew a lot about schnauzers told us he was one of the best looking schnauzers they had ever seen. My dad's schnauzer had cropped ears as well and we decided we wanted to have the procedure done to Kramer as well. Sometime during the operation, we aren't sure when exactly, something happened to Kramer. He went into a comma and was in one for a while. After he woke up, we got him back with his poor little ears bandaged up. Something was most definitely wrong. Kramer could only walk around in circles, clockwise circles to be exact, and only after someone helped him onto his feet. His head bobbed a little up and down and he just turned his head from side to side constantly, in order to get him to eat or drink you had to follow his head movement with the bowl. After about a week Kramer was still in really bad shape. It was at this point that we had a family meeting and decided that we would fast for Kramer, but if after the fast he had not improved then we would put him to sleep. The next day we abstained from food and drink. On the morning after the fast Kramer was just as he had been before the surgery. We were all so relived. It was this experience that gave me a testimony of fasting and prayer.

Kramer was a really smart dog. We of course taught him sit and stay. But more than that, Kramer was sensitive to our needs and often sought us out. I remember my Dad and I teaching Kramer kisses. We took butter and put a thin film of it on the back of our hands and then called Kramer over and let him smell it. Then as he began licking our hands we said "kisses" then we took our hand away and the other person did the same thing. I taught Kramer to shake. I took some bread (Kramer loved bread) and would hold his paw with my had and shake it and then give him a treat. After just two or three times working on this he had it. He was also very good at the come command and stay command. I remember going to get our family photo taken at the mall. First we took Kramer on a walk (he loved walks, more on that later). Once we arrived at the mall we took him around the mall to where there were plants in the parking lot and surrounding area until he had run out of marking his territory ammo. Then we went inside. It was my job to hold Kramer during the photo. We wanted it to look natural, so I wasn't holding him much. The photographer kept calling Kramer's name to get him to look at her for the photo. Problem was, Kramer always went to the person who was calling his name. Finally, I had to tell the photographer to look at Kramer and say "Stay, stay" and after that we had a perfect family photograph.

As I said above Kramer loved going on walks. When he was younger he was so excited that he would pull against his leash, nearly choking himself, to get to the next mailbox, tree or shrub that he could sniff. I remember on one of the very, very few scary instances (I can only think of this happening twice actually) when Kramer got out of the yard and got lost, that I found Kramer just on the north side of the house. There was snow on the ground He was kind of laying down in the snow, whining. It looked to me that he had taken himself on a walk around the block and had gotten to the point where he didn't know where we were.

Kramer had a pretty good time with other dogs before we got his son Eight. We had some friends in our ward named the Bills. The Bills had a giant dog, which I believe was a husky. It was easily 4-6 times the size of Kramer. He and Kramer had a ton of fun playing with each other, Kramer would run for a bit to get speed and then jump at the much larger dog, which would just lick Kramer with his huge tongue. Kramer would come away from these play-dates soaking in slobber. One time we were dog sitting the Bill's giant husky and we went out for a little bit. Naturally we left the dogs outside to play. When we got home we found the husky 1/3 of the way through Kramer's tiny doggy door which led into the house. It was quite a lot of work to get him out. Kramer just played with the dog while we were working how to get him out.

Now for a few things that Kramer either loved or hated. 

Kramer loved walks. As I said he would get so excited while on the walk he would nearly choke himself on his leash. He loved walks so much that our family couldn't say the word "walk" around him without him yelping in excitement. If you had already said the word and put his leash on him you had better have had your shoes and jacket on already, Kramer would chew on his leash until you got out of the door (I don't know how many leashes he destroyed this way). 

Kramer hated water, especially baths. I'm not sure when it started. I do remember one of the first times that the sprinklers came on in the back yard when he was out there. He barked at them while trying to find a place where he wouldn't get wet.  I eventually went and picked him up and brought him to the patio. Kramer hated baths, after we would give him a bath and brush his hair he would go outside and sulk for a half hour or so. I remember that he grabbed his brush, took it outside and chewed it up, I think that he thought that would stop the baths and brushes. 

Speaking of baths and brushes, Kramer hated getting his haircut. Originally, the groomer that we used for Kramer lived in Spanish Fork. Most of the time, I would be the one that would take him there. Another thing Kramer loved, car rides. Oh he loved sticking his head out. Anyways, Kramer would be having the time of his life on the car ride. Then we would pull up to the groomer's house and about 10ft. from the door Kramer would realize where he was and pull at his leash. It was always so sad to leave him there. He always did look so good afterwards though. Luckily he was quick to forgive. Eventually, our vet prescribed a mild sedative to help Kramer relax while being groomed. 

Kramer loved looking out the window. He had his own spot on the couch where he would sit and look out the window. He'd occasionally bark but not often. There was a spot, just in front of Kramer's ears on his forehead, that Kramer loved to be petted, especially when he was younger. His eyes would roll back in pleasure and he'd lean into whomever was scratching him. 

Most of all Kramer loved us. He showed this all the time. He was so excited to see me whenever I came in the door. He would jump up on the couch and snuggle up next to me, while I scratched his ears, or just petted him. When he came upon me sleeping or taking a nap, he'd jump up on the bed and sometimes he'd just lay down next to me. Most of the time he'd lightly paw at your shoulder or face until you lifted up the covers and then he'd snuggle up right next to you. 

As I said above, Kramer was, is, the embodiment of pure love, devotion and loyalty. I hope, oh so dearly, to see him again on the other side. I love you Kramer, I'll always remember you.