In which we remember Gretta

Tonight my beautiful dog Gretta died.

She was approximetly 14 years old, German Shepherd cross and she has been my best friend since I was 9. We decided to get another dog to keep our old dog Fido company. So I wrote a letter to the RSPCA (from Fido) asking what sort of dog would be good to keep him company. The letter was signed with a muddy paw print. A reply didn't come but we went looking for a new dog anyway.

Gretta was chosen because she was the only dog at the Animal welfare league that wasn't barking. She got her name because I wanted a dog called Grettle but Dad thought that was too hard to yell so she was named after Greta Garbo. On the way home in the car I was a bit upset because Gretta chose to rest her head on Haydee and not on me. However, I was soon relieved as Haydee was the one who came home covered in dog vomit. When we arrived home the letter had finally arrived from the RSPCA.

Gretta was never any good at playing fetch. While we still had Fido she would sneek up and steal the ball before you could pick it up to throw it. I nearly changed her name to Robber or Bandit. Her name was spelt with two Ts because during a trip to Darwin I got a tag made for her and suddenly realised I didnt know how to spell her name. On asking Haydee she told me Gretta had two Ts and so it stuck.

Gretta continued to hate car trips so when Haydee's dog Meg went to obedience classes (level 1) Gretta stayed home. However, I sat and watched the level 3 class and then the next morning I took Gretta out onto next doors tennis court and trained her. I found that she would walk much better without the choker chain on but with her lead wrapped around her neck. I took Gretta to the Walford pet show the year that Haydee was in year 9 and she won some ribbons. I think she got second for best trained. I also trained her to jump. After seeing that she could jump the height of our 7ft gate I started getting her to jump over tables and chairs and anything else I could turn into a jump. At one point she jumped over our 4ft pool fence and we were regularly seen at the park jumping over the barricade that stopped cars driving on the oval.

On walks Gretta loved to watch the ducks in the creek and the trains as they went past. She and I used to walk along King William Rd every Saturday morning, I would buy her a sausage roll and we would stare in at the cakes in the cake shop. She and I trained for all my sports together. When I joined the soccer team I taught her to play and we would kick the soccer ball around for hours, her goal was the fence and mine the side of the house. When I joined the netball team she always tried to steal the ball and when I was training for crosscountry running she would come running with me. One time we took her up to the hut at Nara and I came riding down on Tosca. I called Gretta from around the corner and she came running but slammed on the breaks as she caught sight of Tosca, then she tried to convince me to get down off that scary creature.

Gretta loved to escape. She could jump out of smaller fences, push her way through brush fences, climb onto rubbish bins to jump over larger fences. Sometimes she would simply sit in the driveway and wait for me to get home just to say "Look what I managed to do". Sometimes she would run away to meet me at school. One time she went to my dentist appointment. She and the local ranger became well aquainted. She would hide from him if he was sitting at the park while we were there. Luckily for us he always just brought her straight hime and not to the pound because the shorter amount of time to have her in his car the better. Gretta also learnt how to sneek into the house. She could open the laundry window and come in and sit with me while I watched TV or did my homework. It took Mum ages to work out how Gretta was getting in.

Gretta had a particular bark she used when she wanted me and would not use it at anyother time. Not that she barked all that often anyway.

In order to play fetch with Gretta you needed Meggy. I would throw the ball, Gretta would race after it and then bring it back halfway. Meggy would be waiting there and would take the ball from Gretta and bring it back to be thrown again. Gretta would much rather just be chased with the ball. One year I got a dog science kit for my birthday. Gretta and I explored all the dog senses but her favourite game was smell. I would hide a biscuit in my room then take her in and she would have to sniff it out. We also played hide and seek. I would tell her to stay in one room then I would go and hide somewhere else, call her and she would come and find me. She also used to climb trees with me. Once soccer was over Gretta never played with any toy other than her tennisball.

Last year I took Gretta to Mildura as I had to go there for work. She loved being able to spend all day with me and even put up with the car ride to and from site each day.

As Gretta got older she became blind and deaf but that didnt stop her wanting to play with her ball, swimming in the dam or playing with the puppies. Gretta was allowed to sleep in my room. If I didn't get up in time for work she would nudge me in the small of my back trying to roll me over (if I was facing away) or give me one lick on the nose (if I was facing towards her) to get me to wake up. It is pleasant waking up to a big brown furry face. Gretta loved to rub westringia or lavender over herself for perfume. There was a spot on the right hand side of her nose which always smelt of pancakes.

Gretta was the best of Tori's bestest buds.