This past Thursday, (July 28, 2005) we had to end the suffering of our beloved family companion Ragnar "Ragnar the Terrible" & "Ragnar the Wonder Dog" our 11 year old German Shepherd. Like many of you who's lives have been touched by a four legged friend, it was a heart wrenching decision to make. Ragnar had been declining over the past 8 weeks since he was diagnosed with a tumor that was pressing on his esophagus (so he could only eat his food and vitamins after it was run trough a blender) and attacking his spinal nerves (so that he had lost all feeling in his right leg). In spite of all of this Ragnar surprised us all by continuing with his favorite pass time of patrolling the grounds to find the biggest logs to drop at our feet while he waited patiently for us to throw them for him.

Ragnar was always such a gentle playmate for the kids. And, he was a great teacher to our two other dogs Libby and Valhalla. Showing Valhalla these past few weeks all the fine points of stick / log fetching. Still we could always count on him to alert us when visitors were coming down the road. He especially liked our UPS driver who gave him dog bonies and took the time to throw his sticks & logs before leaving to continue his rounds. Ragnar often impressed us with his exceptional keen insight into the hearts and intentions of others. Through experience we learned that we could trust his instincts so, if Ragnar liked you we knew we would too! Finally, Ragnar has held a special place of honor on the back of each of our Third Reich music CDs as our PzG mascot.

Ragnar had such a big heart that just didn't want to give up! I guess he understood in his own way how much we needed him and just kept on going in spite of his discomfort & pain. But, on Wednesday when we found that his good front leg had a massive infection that had burst we knew the time had come to say farewell and pass the PzG mascot torch on to Valhalla. Ragnar in countless ways you were a very special friend and companion and we will all miss you! Until we meet again we will hold your precious memories in our hearts.

Michael Kelly

P.S. Thank you so much for the out pouring of email condolences that we have received since Ragnars passing. We have read each and every one, almost never with a dry eye, and your heart felt stories about your own beloved pets both dogs and cats as well as your expressions of friendship have meant so much to us!