Sunday, February 28, 2010

A Tribute to a Beautiful Friend









We are so incredibly sad to say that we lost a very good friend, Anne Krevet. Our thoughts are with her two beautiful dogs Ben, Charlotte, (Charlotte seen here in this picture with Anne) her husband Oliver and their families.

She was our dear friend. We will never forget Anne and how wonderful she was...ever. I have the best memories of Anne and her dogs.

It all started 4 years ago when Anne and Oliver adopted Ben. They already lived with Emma who was a very old Pit Bull girl that wasn't really that interested in goofin' around with other dogs.Ben respected Emma's boundries and they lived well together until Emma passed on of old age in 2007.

Believe it or not Anne was afraid of Pit Bulls initially. She's from Germany where they're banned. On top of that, Ben has this funny, cute look. He looks right at you like, "ok, so what do we do now?" When Anne was first living with Ben in their foster period he would look at her this way and then, well, she would look back at him. He would keep looking at her and she would keep looking at him. She would call me almost everyday at times for support and sometimes just ask me with her beautiful German accent, "why is he looking at me?". Of course I would have to tell her, "well,because you're looking at him!" "He's wondering why the hell you're staring at him!" "Oh", she'd say. She loved him and was learing how to understand his language in the cutest way ever.

Life went on with Ben, Oliver and Anne. Ben went through a stage that dogs go through of being goofy, jumpy, nippy etc. He became leash reacitive around other dogs as well. They also had a hard time with his teenage behaviors and goofiness in the evenings after dinner. He pulled on the leash and was just a bit of a bugger at times. This is completely normal adolescent behavior for dogs and it can sometimes be very challenging.

One day Anne and Oliver expressed to me that they had doubts as to whether or not they were good people for Ben. I didn't think there was any place better in the world for him, they just needed some guidance. So Anne, Oliver, Ben and I went to the park for an afternoon to do some training on handling him with other dogs around on leash. Luckily there were 6 small Chiuauas at the park that day so the training was tough for them at first! Then something clicked for Anne that day on what to do with Ben in these situations. Then it also clicked with Oliver. It seemed that there were no issues with Ben after that day. Anne often reminded me of this for a long time to come. One of the many things I loved about Anne is that she took this and ran with it. Ben ended up being the BEST trained dog! Anne was such a good person for Ben. She learned so quickly about what to do for her dog, it was amazing.

A short time later Ben acheived his Canine Good Citizen cert.....and he passed it just beautifully. A short time after that Anne, Ben and I went into rest homes to test/train Ben for therapy work. He then passed that with flying colors.

Recently Anne visited a Parkinson's clinic regularly with Ben and unselfishly helped people feel better with her beautiful Ben. She often talked about how much she loved him and what a great dog he was. She proudly told people how she used to be afraid of Pit Bulls but wasn't anymore. She wanted others to learn from her.

Anne and Oliver kindly fostered Charlotte for Our Pack who came from a dog fighting case then adopted her from us in 2008. Charlotte (also a registered therapy dog) and Ben are just good buds and live together happily due to having such a good home. She sent me many pictures of them snuggling, being silly or just hanging out.

I'm so proud of Anne and Oliver for their dedication to their dogs and sticking it out as some people don't through that teenage period....I'm just so damn proud of Anne. She grew through her dogs and they were her life. She would want us to keep up the brag about them!

I love Anne with all my heart. She was my friend. She loved scary movies like I do. We had so much fun watching the spooky stuff. I loved the way she would look at me at times when I would instruct her on a doggie issue like, "what, are you crazy?"

I want to publicly thank her for being her. She was generous and helped Our Pack tremendously. She helped her dogs live a lovely life and gave them heaven as a home. She helped sick people to feel better and forget about their illness for a time with her therapy work. She had the biggest heart and was always so willing to help. She was such a good person with an honesty I will always admire. She did so much that was good. She was truly amazing and she will be dearly missed....always.

Anne is now with her beautiful Emma....we love you....

8 comments:

  1. What an amazing tribute for an amazing and gutsy lady. I read every single word, gulped it down actually. The breakthrough at the park got me. The turning point. Ugh... what more can I say. I'm so sorry you lost you friend.
    Twinkie and family

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  2. I'm so sorry you all lost your dear friend and that Pit Bulls lost a champion.

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  3. How sad to lose a good friend and fellow pit bull lover. Good friends, truly good ones, are so few and far between. I'm sure Anne is smiling at the sound of the beautiful words you've written in her memory. I'm so sorry for the loss of such a wonderful person.

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  4. This is such a nice tribute! I am so sorry about your friend, but so glad she got to have the privelage of doing great worth the dogs (esp the pits) :) I am sure she touched many lives with her passion for the animals, we need more people like her!

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  5. Thanks for the wonderful thoughts! Anne will be missed by all of us at Our Pack and all that knew her.

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  6. Liebe Anne,
    Nun bist du bei deinen über alles geliebten Engelchen, Schnuppi und der so suessen Emma.
    Anne du hast mir so sehr geholfen in einer sehr schweren Zeit.Ich hoffe auch ich konnte dir immer helfen mit meinen worten liebe Anne.
    Ja du hattest mir so unsagbar geholfen.
    Anne, deine Hilfe werde ich niemals vergessen.
    Du hast über mich mit deinen Freundinnen geredet und mit Oliver deinem Mann,dem ich
    aus tiefstem Herzen Beileid wünsche.

    Snoopy`s Papa

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  7. I didn't know Anne, but after reading this I love her. Very beautifully, honestly written tribute to a wonderful person.

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