Wilson. Photography by Jessica Turner.
It’s a grill only a mother could love.
Wilson, a pure-bred Lakeland terrier, was a show dog.
“But they discovered that he had bad teeth, and he wasn’t able to be shown anymore,” says Cheryl Zreet.
She and husband, Alan, adopted Wilson after he hung it up, about nine years ago, and it was serious business.
“They visited our house,” Cheryl says. “They wanted to make sure he was the only pet in the home.”
Wilson lives large in his post-show biz life. He loves to sit on a float in the pool. A vanilla pup-cone from Andy’s Frozen Custard is his favorite treat, and he’s been known to sneak a sip of beer. A recent vacation to Marfa found him stargazing at the McDonald Observatory and on a hiking trip across the Rio Grande. He also enjoys visiting 94-year-old Grandma Zreet at a nursing home in Georgetown, Texas. Besides that, sleeping is his favorite.
As a terrier, he despises varmints and chases squirrels with a vengeance.
Although he doesn’t like dogs or other animals, he always greets human guests at the door and makes them feel welcome. But ladies have to be warned to zip their purses because otherwise Wilson will nose around and steal their Chapstick or lotion.
His original name was Jerry — from a litter of puppies named after the Seinfeld TV series. They had to change his name because their across-the-street neighbor is named Jerry, and that would be awkward.
The Zreets have lived in Lake Highlands since 1991. Their son, Collin, and his wife, Taylor, are co-owners of Funky Picnic Brewery & Café in Fort Worth. And their daughter, Rachael, is a nurse practitioner and newlywed in Houston. She and her husband, Thomas Wright, have a one-eared cat named Van Gogh.
Cheryl Zreet and Alan Zreet with their Lakeland terrier, Wilson.
Read more about our Lake Highlands pets here.
