Snickers died last night, January 6th, 2014. His death has just become the first major event of the new year..., but it wasn't unexpected. (He has been showing symptoms of decline for several months. He seemed to bounce back a little from a period of panting, weakness, and fever; but within the past week his condition worsened.) We're thankful that Jasmine and Samantha were home for the holidays; so we didn't have to make that awkward, unpleasant phone call (or that Facebook post) while they were at school. Snickers died at home; and for the most part he seemed to live the life of a full blooded canine until his very last week. Here is his story...
Snickers was a rebound dog, in reality. We got snickers two or three months after Scooby died. Scooby was the first dog in the family, preceding the children. We cried like babies when we euthanized Scooby; so I wasn't really anxious to have another dog, maybe for years, after Scooby died. Dianne is dog person. She loves the loyalty and affection of a good lap dog; and so, after a few months Dianne wanted another.
We thought long and hard about the right sort of dog. We've both had dogs before; so we know how important it is to find a dog with the right sort of demeanor. We debated on getting our first pure breed dog, or going to the shelter like we did before. One day Dianne heard about a rescue group that was looking for homes for Australian Shepherds. Australian Shepherds! So... Aussies are not really known as laid back, cozy, fluffy lapdog sort of breed, right? "But what's the harm in taking a look" (I paraphrase). Thus, we went to humbly meet with Snickers original guardians...
Snickers puppyhood tale was sad to tell. Reputedly, Snickers and his litter were found soggy and half drowned near a creek in the country. Someone brought them to the rescue group for resuscitation; and now three or four of them are romping around the foster puppy-parent's living room like the cute little rascals from 101 Dalmatians. It's a foregone conclusion that we'll be taking one home. It's only a question of which one. Suffice it to stay that Snickers markings, his random meanderings, and his general 'Joie de vivre' made him the favorite. After a careful screening by the organization, (to be sure that we didn't plan to freak out with a new puppy, physically traumatize the puppy, or somehow bring shame upon the institution of puppy rescue) Snickers became our pet.
Naturally Snickers was an energetic dog with all of the herding instincts of his breed. It wasn't long before I enrolled him in puppy obedience class (which I'd say that he barely passed, honestly); and shortly after that I took him to a class in 'agility' training. If you don't know, agility training is where you take your dog through an obstacle course, with a goal of following commands, and completing the course, in the best possible time. There are treats and clickers and praising ("Good dog, Good Dog!, Oh what a Good Dog!!") and lots of running, (and turning around..., and turning around...,) and running. So this is great fun; but I'm pretty crafty (arts and crafts crafty), so I figure I can build this-here obstacle course, and put it in my back yard, and save myself a little bit of time and money driving to the course at the kennel...and to my credit, I did build a lot of the components of an obstacle course, which are currently providing the scaffolding for the spider webs in our crawl space.
It's a lot like signing up for a gym membership after you make that New Year's resolution.
So then, I think we entered the phase of Snickers life where long walks became routine. Long walks and doggie daycare. Many days on my way to Garner I would drop off a very excited Snickers at Gentle Care Animal Hospital (aka 'doggie daycare'), for 4 or 5 hours of unbridled group dog play. He would get in the car at the end of the day and lie down...yes, lie down... on the back seat for a contented ride home. And at home he would lie down... can you believe it... while we ate dinner, and watched our shows. This was a great thing. No prancing around the back yard, with an apron full of doggie treats. No moving to a country estate to find a grazeable pasture with real sheep. Just doggie daycare. Ok, so he learned bad habits, like barking at the strange dog across the road; and sometimes he came home covered with dog slobber; but, on the whole, much better! And we got reports each day of what doggie friends he liked to play with, and how good'a boy he'd been that day. Awesome.
Then; tragedy. We took Snickers with us for a trip to the NC mountains near Asheville. After a three or four hour drive, we stopped at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just off of Highway 40. We did some shopping. We let the dog out to get some fresh air. There is a beautiful hillock of shaded lawn behind the center and adjacent to the parking lot; so we threw the tennis ball a few times and then headed back to the car. But what does idiot-savant 'Dad' do; but throw the tennis ball toward the car. And what does Snickers do? Well, of course he chases. And gosh-darned if Snickers didn't catch that ball. We don't really know... but if he did catch it, he caught it in the midst of the greatest leap of his life, right over the edge of an 8 to 10 foot embankment, with nothing but paved asphalt for a landing.
Snickers broke both his forelegs in the fall/leap; setting a new standard in our family for actions that cause Regret, with a capital 'R'. But Snickers recovered. He had surgery at the NCSU Vet School, and he came home as a more valuable puppy, but far more reserved in his love for tennis balls.
Snickers is really the only dog, I ever let sleep on my bed at night; but Snickers got a free pass to sleep on my bed for the rest of his life. Ultimately he decided not to put up with the battle for bed coverings; and returned to his own bed; but such was the degree of my culpability, that I felt compelled to provide some restitution. Now, after years of atonement, this episode is a really great party story; really self-deprecating; great (though pitifully morbid) sound effects; and great cartoon-like analogies. Snickers really was the dog that thought he was a super-hero.
Not long after that, Snickers became the mentor for Orion (a cat!); and the two of them became quite a compatible team. Snickers and Orion would take turns at meal time rousing us from our blissful slumber. Orion would swipe at Snickers from the easy chair; and Orion became the unwanted recipient of Snickers' libidinous humping gestures (if he could be cornered). Snickers had his vices. He would snip at peoples shoes (and toes). He would bark at or rush at threatening men; or at non-threatening, but rambunctiously, scampering children. Apparently Snickers wouldn't discriminate between rabbits, squirrels, sheep, or children. He was just entirely fair, in a feral, carnivorous sort of way.
Ultimately, Snickers' became an integral part of our family, and a reflection of our baser and our loftier ambitions. He was a loving companion and a faithful friend. He lived the full life of a dog; who, originally adopted as a replacement, grew to become irreplaceable.
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