Dieter Dreitzler

Dieter was a beloved dog who was so much a part of his family, yet died from preventable causes after a succession of mistakes at multiple veterinary hospitals (21-54, 21-60, 21-61). His mom and dad, Dieter and Kendahl Dreitzler, have written some words and shared some photos so you can discover who he was and how much he meant to everyone.

We first saw Dieter as we walked out of a restaurant after brunch. He was lying on the cement at an adoption event. He looked like a cross between a little, brown bear cub and a baby buffalo. His hair was wild, his eyes were sweet, and we instantly fell madly in love with him.

We remember how special that day was. We brought him home, gave him a bath and put him in the bed with us. He took a big sigh of relief and slept on his back the entire night. That became his favorite spot in the house. In between mom and dad, on his back just like a human with his head on our pillow. We would get the biggest kick out of it. 

If you are lucky, maybe once or twice in this life the gods will send you a ❤ dog, an angel from above. Sent to heal your broken heart, bring you so much love, laughter and joy to you more than you can believe possible. Dieter was exactly that to our family. 

Dieter was the only male in our pack of 5 females (Yes, we had 6 dogs 😉). He was the perfect little gentleman with the ladies. We would watch in amazement how he would somehow win the hearts of our older, cranky poodles. We would walk into the room and gasp and laugh at the sight of him playfully wrestling one of the ole grumpy gals. He brought those older ladies back to their teen years. They all had a crush on the Deet man. Our one little girl, Willow has never been the same since his passing. 

Dieter was a busy guy. He liked to do his morning perimeter patrol checks around the yard to make sure no lizards were sneaking in. He also loved car rides to grandma and grandpa’s house for an afternoon swim. He’d stick his head out the window and the wind would blow his beautiful, long ear locks back. 

He was the perfect blend of protector and big-time cuddle boy. He was so incredibly sweet and soft and had the most soulful eyes. We will miss him terribly for the rest of our days.

What haunts me the most is that his last hours on this earth were extremely painful and so unnecessary.  The Arizona veterinary system completely failed him on many levels.  We only had him for 4 years and he was about 2 when we adopted him. His life was cut in half on 10/10/2020. Dieter was not a pet, to us he was our son, and to this day, we still have sadness and grief.

RIP our sweet boy. We will love and miss you forever Dieter.