I can't believe it's taken me this long to introduce you all to my new dog, Katydid (aka KD). She's a sweet, beautiful 3 year old Flat-Coated Retriever. The story of how KD came to live with me is a sad one but one with a very happy ending!

In May of 2019, I lost both my dogs, Fizz and Zane, within a week of each other. Both boys were about 11 years old. Fizz had a degenerative nerve disease that stole his quality of life. I made the difficult decision to let him go to the Rainbow Bridge when he was no longer able to move around at all. It was such a sad time. I cried and cried and missed him terribly. But I took solace in the knowledge that Fizz was no longer suffering.

Zane and Fizz had been together for 9 years and Zane was also affected by Fizz's absence. He was a bit lethargic and didn't want to eat. I felt that he was primarily reacting to my sadness. Unfortunately, exactly one week after losing Fizz, I came home to find Zane had passed away while I was at work. I found him laying on the dog bed looking like he was asleep but I couldn't wake him up.

Needless to say, I was devastated! I couldn't believe both my boys were gone! For the first time in decades I didn't have a dog to feed and care for. My heart was shattered in to a million pieces.

When she heard of my sad situation, my friend Judy (a long time breeder of Flat Coated Retrievers) called me and offered me a young female of hers. She knew that a new Flat Coat was exactly what I needed! At first I wanted to say no because I didn't have any heart left to give to another dog. I asked Judy if I could think about it because I was still in an emotional state. She told me to take my time because she wasn't looking for a new home for the 2 year old girl named Jazz. She just thought that we would be good for each other.

I was still leaning towards saying no and becoming a strictly cat person when I talked with my friend Janet. She was frank with me and reminded that I'm a dog person and always will be a dog person. She pointed out at that in time I would want another Flat Coated Retriever so why not get one now! We've both known Judy and her dogs for a long time and there was no question that Jazz would be a wonderful dog who I would enjoy having in my life.

Judy was offering me co-ownership of Jazz and as I started leaning towards accepting her generous offer, my main hesitation was the dog's name. "Jazz" was too close to "Fizz" and I was afraid that I would mistakenly call her Fizz all the time and then start crying. So I asked Judy if I could change her name. Because I'm an entomologist I wanted to come up with an insect name and Katydid was what popped into my head. "KD" for short. Judy liked the name and gave me the okay. We arranged for me to get KD in about a week.

I was still sad and crying over Fizz and Zane as I drove to meet Judy and KD. I felt guilty that I was "replacing" them already. I felt like it was too soon to 'move on'. My outlook changed from the moment I met KD. She brought a big smile to my face and I started looking forward instead of backward. I started making plans for training and the activities I wanted us to do together.

It's been almost a year since KD came in to my life and she has become my best friend!! She's brought me so much pleasure. She is a happy, silly dog! We've been taking a variety of training lessons and I've been setting performance goals for us. She's a natural born retriever and loves to swim. She loves to learn and please. She has already become one of my best trained dogs and we still have a long road ahead of us to walk together.

KD has healed my heart and has allowed me to keep my great memories of Fizz and Zane alive. I am so lucky to have her in my life and I cannot express my gratitude towards Judy for her life saving generosity!