29 June 2023

Snowdoll came into our lives because our lives were changing. Because someone was almost always home, Romanov was spoiled. He rarely had to be put into the crate. But schedules were changing and children were growing up and moving out.

We adopted another husky. On Facebook, I saw someone who needed a new home for her husky. They had cats and Snowdoll did not play well with cats.

Truth is, Snowdoll didn’t play well with anyone, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Rob took Romanov to an off-leash park to see how he would get along with Snowdoll. Before I knew it, Rob called. “We’re coming home now.”

By “we” he meant Romanov and Snowdoll. The family who had bought Snowdoll were so impressed with how well she and Romanov got along they gave her to us, along with some food, a food bowl, some toys, etc.

See what happens when I let Rob leave the house?

Snowdoll was a sweetheart and oh-so-neurotic. She settled into her new home after living in a dog boarding facility. She claimed a pillow for her bed and her favorite ladybug toy from her bag of things, and accepted all the belly rubs she could get.

FYI, she never tired of belly rubs. In fact, I used to call her a “Belly Rub Slut” because she was so enthusiastic about them.

The poor thing did not know how to play, however. She loved to play with Romanov. The problem was she would growl and sound very scary while playing, which, for obvious reasons, put other dogs off. Her body language was “let’s play” but her vocalization was “I will fight you!”

Romanov got used to it, and they played together.

Snowdoll loved to roll over onto her back for belly rubs, as I have already mentioned, and to play with her toys or gnaw on rawhide. She had a painfully high-pitched bark when she was excited, liked to slide under furniture—beds, coffee tables, etc.

She had a little black spot on the tip of her tongue and one under her tongue as well.

She was as generous with her love as she was greedy for our love.

And she made us laugh.

She lived a good, long life. We made the difficult and loving decision probably later than we should have. Arthritis and dementia had taken hold. It was sweet and sad to see her recognize me after she had wandered past me several times. Then she stopped recognizing us, and we knew it was time. She struggled to move because of the arthritis and not recognizing us meant she was alone in her pain. Although she still loved belly rubs, she couldn’t roll over on her back anymore.

We still miss her.

We still love her.