On Monday I lost a close friend.  It was not COVID-19 related nor was the death a human.  I had to put my Weimaraner down.  My daughter found Charli lying on the ground twitching with marks all around on the ground where she had tried to get up.  It appeared she had had a stroke.  We had already scheduled an appointment with our vet for Wednesday to help her cross over, but leave it to this little German dog to be exact.  You see, she went to the next adventure exactly 15 years and 7 months to the day.  Charli, true to her nature, fought time as long as she could.  In all those years we had one of the best dogs I could ever have asked for.  She had many nicknames, Chuck, Charles, The Little General, and Pretty Girl.  In fact, my daughter would laugh in delight seeing Charli’s excitement as I started asking, “Who’s the Pretty Girl?” But the one that stands out is Frog Dog. 

If you are not familiar with the breed, well honestly, they aren’t for everyone.  Weimaraners were originally bred for nobility to be hunting dogs, specifically for big game.   They are stubborn, high energy and have separation anxiety.  If you aren’t into a constant, always “on”, companion by your side, then stay away.  I can’t tell you how many times I tripped with Charli under foot.  They are known as the Grey or Silver Ghost because they want to be with their human family, by your side 24/7.  They assimilate to one or two people as their “master” though they are great family dogs and love people.  They are intelligent, fast and athletic.  If you don’t give them something to do you really might not like what they come up with.  Weimaraners are escape artists and capable of opening doors, which is a testament to their intelligence.  They will test you and you need to know you are in for a lifetime of constant training and reinforcement.  The rewards though are great and you will have a fiercely loyal companion.  You can find out more about the breed here.

Charli was the great granddaughter to my wife’s family Weimaraner named Lucy.  I was fortunate to meet Lucy before she passed.  While dating my wife, she warned me their dog didn’t like strangers and it would take some time for her to warm up to me.  To everyone’s surprise, Lucy took to me quickly without so much as a bark.  I had never seen a Weimaraner before meeting Lucy and was struck with their beauty immediately.  Later on, before Lucy had passed away, my father-in-law managed to find a litter of puppies from one of Lucy’s daughters.  Emma joined their family, and as time went on, had a litter of puppies in October of 2004 and Charli was born.

Now Charli was both independent when needed but also quick to be by your side.  She was a middle of the litter pup.  Like her great grandmother, she took to me quickly.  In fact the bond became so strong she permanently scarred her lips trying to chew through her crate to get to my side as a pup.  Lesson learned, she had assimilated to me and crates were not in her future.

It was my wife who originally suggested the name.  As a kid growing up, we took in a stray female dog.  Her name was Charlie.  Charlie had been lying in the snow outside our house for two days.  I begged my parents to let her in and see if she was alright.  Now, you should know, I was absolutely afraid of dogs.  In fact, I had climbed a family friend who had been watching us like a jungle gym the year before because I saw a dog 300 yards away in a park.  My parents talked it over and Charlie became part of our family.  Ann knew how much she had meant to me so she suggested naming my new dog after her.  I agreed but changed the spelling of the name.  Later on, when my father-in-law hadn’t sold many puppies from that litter, we picked up Morgan. 

Unfortunately, after the move from Kentucky back to Kansas, Morgan was struck by a motorist.  We got a call from someone who found my cell number on Charli’s collar.  The two had jumped a fence and weren’t familiar with the area.  They had been missing for several days.  I drove out on the Interstate to meet the guy who called only to find Charli loyally standing guard over her dead sister.  My wife’s heart was broken as was Charli’s.  The two mourned together. 

Now being a hunting breed, you might be wondering if I ever took Charli hunting.  The answer is, “Well, sort of…”  While living in Kansas working for Bushnell, where I lived outside of Ottawa, I had access to several hundred acres of ground.  Many of my co-workers would come down to my house and turkey hunt.  Bushnell had just launched the Trophy Cam which was the smallest footprint with the longest running battery life on the market at the time.  I had cameras for testing set up all over the woods and I had patterned the turkeys.  The chain of events would never fail.  Charli would find us, specifically me.  I would put her in the house in the early morning hours and leave her in while I took my friends hunting.  After listening to her whining while going back and forth from the bedroom to the side door, my wife would let her out.  There we would be, all set for turkeys to fly down from the roost when the sound of the tags on her collar could be heard coming right to me.

So how did Charli get the nickname Frog Dog?  It turns out that she liked wading in our neighbor’s pond.  As we watched her more and more, we started to notice that she was actually pointing on frogs and tadpoles.  She would spend hours at that pond wading into chest-deep water and some of the smelliest, black sooty bottoms looking for frogs and tadpoles.  We started calling her our Frog Dog and the name stuck.  Today, this site and several others, as well as product ideas, are the property of Frog Dog Gear, LLC.

I have said Weimaraners need a job or you might not like what they do with their energy.  In 2008, our daughter was born.  Charli and Morgan would lie below her crib during the night and keep watch.  During one of these nights, I leaned over and told Charli she had a new job, to protect my kid.  I was headed out to go live in Kansas for the position at Bushnell while we tried to sell our house in Kentucky during the economic downturn.  Charli seemed to understand and administered a healthy amount of kisses to my face.  Charli had an amazingly quick tongue, so much so we nicknamed it a martial art known as Tongue-Pow.

Through the years from that night, Charli not only took on being by my side but those of my wife’s and my daughter’s.  Our daughter spent her toddler years through most of grade school with Charli by her side.  I can’t tell you how many things my daughter put on her head or in her ears like a stethoscope.  Charli tolerated every bit of it like a champion. 

Her spirit and temperament were just unbelievable but time doesn’t stand still.  About two years ago, Charli stopped trying to jump into the car with us.  Her hearing started to go and hand signals became more important than ever.  She started to not make it all the way down the drive to meet us at the gate and the pep in her step was getting slower.  The past six months, her once massively strong hind legs had noticeably gotten thin and she began to have a hard time with balance.  As much as we want our pets to last forever, we know these days will come.  As I lay by Charli waiting for our vet come, her eyes told me her mind and spirit were strong but her body was failing.  I could fill pages upon pages of stories but those memories are mine that I will cherish till I am called home.   As sad as I am, I am ever so very thankful and blessed to have had Charli by my side these fifteen plus years.

She is my Pretty Girl, our Frog Dog and best friend. 

Emma’s Bluegrass Charli, born 10-18-2004, died 05-18-2020.

• L. Yarbrough, Bucks & Beers