RIP Blitz der Dritte Hund ( aka "Blitz the Baby" )

Last Thursday, our dog Blitz made his last visit to the veterinarian, and our family now finds itself without a dog for the first time in 25 years. I don't really know many words to say, but here's a little note that I wrote for a Facebook post on August 13:

The 12 1/2 year old German Shepherd Dog is slowing down fast. He's the first dog we've had who made it past 10.

It's not that time yet, but that time looms, ever-present, closer and closer and closer.

At 12, you start counting their age in half-years again.

Little did I know - at the time - that the end was only 11 short days away. I had hoped for just one more half-year, but it was not to be.

Here are some photos.

Blitz & @cmp2020 on Blitz's first Day Home (June 5, 2011)
Last Day at Home (August 24, 2023 )

And a lot of treasured days in-between. More than either of our other GSDs, Blitz loved to play, right until the end:

As with our previous two German Shepherd Dogs, Blitz came to us from the same breeder where Joe Biden got his first GSD, Champ. I don't know if they were from the same bloodline, but there seemed to be a resemblance between Blitz & Champ, even down to the diamond-shaped dark patch on the tops of their heads and the tan patches on the bridges of their noses (both dogs were about 6 or 7 in these photos):

Blitz (2018)
Champ (2015)

As to the long form of his name, "Blitz der Dritte Hund", we chose that because he was our third GSD and that was the German translation that Google Translate gave us for "the third dog". Of course, we never used that name anyway, but it just seems like German Shepherd Dogs are supposed to have long names.... He wasn't actually our third dog, though. He was our fifth, because we also had a Jack Russel Terrier and a Norwegian Elk Hound along the way.

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Blitz the Baby.

Every time I hear birds singing or tree frogs croaking in the yard, and every time I see the deer on the lawn, I will remember our walks together.

Every time I see a tree branch on the ground, I will imagine how you would have loved to pick it up and parade around showing off your "conquest".

Farewell. Faithful friend.