Saying Goodbye to Suzy

Today we said goodbye to our beautiful Suzy. She entered our lives fifteen years ago, a frolicking ball of black and white fur. She was the runt of a litter of eleven multi-mix pups, Border Collie being the most obvious hint at the amalgam.

 

From the beginning, Suzy displayed superior vocalizing skills with which she could express a wide range of emotions from hysterical excitement to mournful empathy. She always cried when we returned home whether we had been gone three hours or ten minutes.                    

 

Suzy loved hiking, camping, car rides and spotting squirrels. She travelled with us all over Canada and the United States in various vehicles and with children of changing ages.

 

She adored Eric, a standard poodle, who welcomed her as a pup and was her constant companion until four years ago. In her maturity, she tolerated the youthful canine antics of Juno and Obi, occasionally disciplining them with a warning growl. Sometimes she would rub noses with our old cat, Bleu, as if to check up on her well-being or exchange a secret message.

 

For some time, extreme arthritis necessitated the use of a wooden ramp from our back deck to the dog run and a portable aluminum one for the motor home. Ever the stoic, Suzy bore her infirmities without complaint.

 

Slow moving and hard of hearing in the last years, Suzy never lost her zest for life. Loyal, loving and endearing to the very end, she brought joy and solace to our lives.