Obituary for Jackie Beck-Filtz, July 3, 2007-February 7, 2022
In late summer 2007, we set out on a quest for a Norwich Terrier. Similar in appearance to a Yorkie, Norwich Terriers are actually much closer to Cairns or other smaller terriers. You may remember the Norwich Terrier from the film Best In Show. We were always attracted to Norwiches for their hearty disposition and loveable, stout, intractable qualities. Remember the root of the word terrier is “terre” meaning earth, and as such, they like to stay strongly grounded even if they are at higher heights e.g., on a couch. We initially searched for a Norwich Terrier in the Las Vegas area but alas, with very few in the United States, it was not in the cards. After networking with the regional Norwich and Norfolk Terrier Association we found Joan Eckert from Abbedale’s Kennels in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We connected with Joan in early September and received our first pictures of a Norwich pup born July 3, 2007 from a large litter of 6. He was the runt of the litter, and Joan came to adore Jackie and told us if we ever had to part from him, she would take him back. Jackie came from a line of championship dogs, but to our benefit, he was not destined for fame due to crooked teeth and a patch of white hair on his chest. Such unique features made him all the more lovable. Our pup landed at Las Vegas McCarran airport on Monday night 9/24/2007. He was a little champion during the flight from Michigan and came out of his crate for the first time and into the hearts of all he met. We named him Jackie after Pop-Pop Jack Beck but was always known as Jackie.
For those who met Jackie, he was truly an original. One British friend who graciously watched him when we were away said, after walking him down the street, “People really love that pooch.” And indeed, he was beloved. He was smart and furtive but his intelligence often betrayed his at times nefarious intentions. In order to get human food he would try to trip us by literally positioning his body in front of us as we tried to walk out of the kitchen. He would often keep to himself but couldn’t resist cuddling up to those for whom he had affection, albeit with the “caveat” that it was always on his terms, though he didn’t mind if someone, a dog or person, wanted to roughhouse with him a bit. As he got older and more curmudgeonly, he became more and more idiosyncratic with regard to how he wanted to be handled. We tried to warn people not to pet him, but these warnings fell on deaf ears and many times people got bit, including us, sometimes breaking skin. After all, Norwiches are vermin hunters.
Jackie was somewhat of a globetrotter and over the course of his life lived in Las Vegas, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and visited many more cities. Jackie loved Las Vegas because of his doggie door and our cool tile floors. He enjoyed his independence in Las Vegas, but the summers were not always kind to his little paws with daytime temperatures over 120 degrees. He sometimes only got short nighttime walks in summer. Jackie made several doggie friends in Las Vegas including Amanda and Humberto Sanchez’s dog Poppy.
In 2011 we moved to New York City and Jackie traveled across the country. Jackie loved his walks in Astoria for the three years we lived there and made friends with many neighborhood dogs including Lucky the Pomeranian and Mosey Shepherd Mix. While Jackie loved his city walks, he did not enjoy the city sidewalk grates. Our landlord Laraine became Jackie’s dog god mother and gave him special attention many days. During our time in NYC Jackie found great groomers and vets as he started to get a little older.
In 2014 we moved out of the city to New Haven, Connecticut, and Jackie came along for his third move. In Connecticut Jackie experienced more outdoor parks and walks than the city life, and he loved his new, alight colder habitat. While Jackie had seen snow in New York City, he really got to experience this more regularly in New Haven. Jackie didn’t mind the snow as much as it annoyed him in finding his favorite scents. In New Haven, we learned how to groom and hand-strip Jackie himself after having trouble finding a groomer of repute.
In New Haven Jackie loved to ride around the car as we drove around the Yale Campus. It was a common sight to see Jackie in our tangerine orange car. After three years in New Haven, we made move number four to New Orleans.
In April 2014 we moved into the famous converted Masonic Temple with Jackie. With the New Orleans weather Jackie was able to get outdoor walks year-round. For the first two years Jackie enjoyed his walks around the neighborhood and on the levee by the river. As Jackie got older, he slowly stopped wanting his long walks but enjoyed the smells of the neighborhood full of dogs, white flowers, and critters. In March 2020 when the world closed for Covid, we were fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time with Jackie as other activities were curtailed. In August 2021 Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans and while we survived the storm, we evacuated New Orleans with Jackie and drove from New Orleans to Philadelphia for two weeks. Jackie was a trooper the entire drive. He loved to get up on his hind legs and look out the window every so often.
Jackie never lost his fight even as he aged. During one of his last groomings, the groomer asked how old he was. After revealing he was fourteen, he nearly exclaimed, “Geese, with that kick, he’ll live to be seventeen.” But right around this time, after his last vet visit, the vet told us that his trachea had shrunk, and this was manifesting in difficulty with breathing. He sounded like he had a smoker’s cough.
We just recently moved back to the greater Philadelphia area. There are many reasons we decided to move back home, but one of them was that knowing Jackie was older, we wanted him to pass away with family. Jackie was reunited with his Cousin Malcolm (Mariel’s Dog) and Millie, James’ parents’ dog. As could have been predicted, he was having trouble breathing one night after we put him to bed. He wouldn’t lie down as he must have been having chest pains. We decided not to take him to a hospital as we figured we could wait until the morning, although instinctively, we knew that things weren’t good. At one point during the night, Jackie went outside to go to the bathroom, and he seemed relatively ok. But he continued to have trouble breathing. We thought if he were to lay him down on the couch, that that might comfort him, but when he was lifted up, he emitted a yelp like never before. As we mentioned earlier, as he had gotten older, he resisted being handled. This time as he was lifted up, he didn’t resist at all. So we laid him down on the floor. We briefly discussed whether it was worth it to try and go to an emergency vet. We decided it wasn’t worth it. After about a half hour, Jackie took his last breath, and though he’d just lost his relentless, signature fighting spirit, he never gave up, right until the end. He passed in the early morning of February 6, 2022 at 4:30 AM.
In the first 24 hours after Jackie’s passing, everybody with whom we spoke was absolutely wonderful, for which I am grateful. We cried like never before, and we had been preparing for this moment over the last couple of years, but still, his passing came somewhat as a surprise as he had seemed fine as of late. Recall his groomer predicted he’d live to seventeen even though his breed usually only lives into the fourteenth year!
We’re adjusting to life without Jackie. We’ve been doing ok with this. We’ve been looking at old pictures and videos of Jackie. This can be painful but nostalgic. Part of the word “nostalgia” is the Greek algia which means pain. We’ve been thinking a lot lately about how years reduce down to days, hours, minutes, and seconds. We’d love it if you take a few moments to share your memories with Jackie.
With Love, Dan and James