The K9's
Sally - In loving memory
(U-CDX Sally Amber Starlite CD, AX, MXJ, OAP, OJP, EJC,
EAC, EGC,
O-EJC-V, EAC-V, EGC-V, NGC-V, PD1, JS-N, RV-N, CGC )*
9/15/1991 - 7/21/2006
The first time I held her she was just minutes old ...
... a warm, damp
little life, with fur the color of a field of wheat.
A few days later, her eyelids parted to reveal the most heart-meltingly beautiful brown eyes. I can't explain it, but I knew from the instant our eyes met for the first time that she was destined to become an important part of my life
Serious and oh-so-reserved in public, at home Sally was a smart, funny little elf-girl - energetic, silly, mischievous, peppery, just a tad imperious ... and she had the most beautiful singing voice! She never went through a clumsy stage like most puppies. Like a budding ballerina she was aware of all four feet and knew how to use them from the very beginning.
As she grew, her wheat-colored coat turned
the brilliant gold of a new copper penny, and we began to explore the
wonderful world of dog sports together. Sound sensitive and
high-strung, she wasn't the dog any sane person would choose for these kinds
of activities.
Fortunately, nobody told her that and God only knows, I was too stubborn to
care ... so this nervous little elf and her klutzy, know-nothing
partner set out and won a bunch of ribbons and titles in obedience
competition.
But it was the brand new thing called "dog agility" which was to make her heart sing. This dog who loved to move found her passion in a sport that celebrates motion. How she loved to soar over jumps! And soar she did, for a good 10 years of her life, competing for her first time at Bayshore's first New Jersey AKC trial in the spring of 1995 (in the 18" Novice A class ... with a window jump, 1 ring, 1 judge and 80 runs total!) and competing for the last time in October, 2004 in NADAC tunnelers, where she placed ahead of many dogs who were about one fourth her age.
She spent her retirement living life to the fullest - happy, active as
ever and in total denial of the ever approaching calendar years. She
found new joy in a black sheltie puppy named Jayda, and lived a
near-perfect life, surrounded by the love and adoration of 3 cats, 2
shelties and 1 person who, as always, would move the earth, moon and
stars for her.
How unfair that suddenly, after a day spent playing, eating with gusto
and generally not acting her age, that this proud, vibrant dog - who
was so full of life and found such joy in movement - would be felled
in an heartbeat by an illness that left her prisoner in a body that
would no longer do her bidding.
I
let her know that if she wanted to fight then I was, as always, with her
every step of the way, but if not, I would not make her stay. She rallied briefly
but then, like a caged wild bird, began to pine away.
On July 21, 2006, amidst an ocean of tears, I let her beautiful spirit fly
free...
As she left, she took the piece of my heart that she had been holding
for nearly 15 years and handed it gently to her special friend Jayda
for safekeeping...
She wasn't always perfect ... but she was magnificent!
