A few days after the passing of Kitty, FullEclipse and I began to talk about getting a new puppy to help Paczki deal with the loss. Her way of coping was to ask for a small dog that could live longer than a boxer. She had ideas on what to do to track the dog’s life, etc. It was cute yet heartbreaking in a way. I am happy that Paczki was able to deal with the loss in a logical manner.
As much as I hated the idea of getting a new puppy, especially since I had not grieved Kitty, I knew it was the right thing to do for the K Family. FullEclipse and I had talked before about which kind of dog we would after our Boxers died. We settled for a Boston Terrier. One of my best friends has a Boxer (one passed away) and two Bostons. The personalities mesh really well. Bostons are a smaller version of Boxers. With Kona being an older dog, she needs a smaller dog to be able to keep up with the playing, etc. We also wanted a boy because two Boxer girls are bound to fight. Kona will only hurt herself since she is the dominant dog.
After many phone calls and ads, we found the perfect breeder. She asked the right questions and had no problem answering ours. You would be surprised to see how many backyard breeders pose as reputable/caring. The breeder and I emailed each other often. She sent us pictures. There was a guy who stood out right away. He was the bigger puppy of the picture. A cute brindle boy. I always want a solid color dog, but life sends me brindled dogs! We made plans to visit the breeder. My issue was the travel. At 50 miles away from home, the idea of making a few trips out there seemed so daunting. On a Saturday morning, we got the kids. Paczki whined because she wanted to stay home. Once she realized where we were going, things got much better.
So, we met our guy. I had a name picked out but it didn’t seem right. The breeder had an Ethel, Lucy (loved her!), and Fred. I looked at the puppy. He looked like a Fred to me. The name stuck. It is a great name. When we registered him for the AKC, he was given the name Fred XVI – fancy!
Here is a picture of the day we brought Sir Fred Stink Eye K XVI home:

He was smaller than Kona’s tongue.
Fred is getting used to being around us. One of his ears is goofy. We decided not to tape it as it was suggested. That only makes him more unique. The tie adds to his personality.
I miss Kitty like crazy, but I know he is finally at rest.
Fred has helped a lot.
