Saying Goodbye to Ali
12:30 Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023
Sudden death, even with a girl who would have turned 14 in a couple weeks, is the most devastating way to lose a pet. Ali was still doing hour long walks, still doing her little dance at meal time, still jumping up on the couch and flipping around to tell me she wanted attention now! Everything seemed fine even this morning and then suddenly at lunch time she became unstable on her feet, went down, started having trouble breathing, vomited and was gone within minutes. I will likely never know for sure what happened but my vet said the mostly likely cause was a rupture spleen. All I know was that I was not ready to lose this girl. I was convinced that she would be with me for at least a couple more years.
Sudden death, even with a girl who would have turned 14 in a couple weeks, is the most devastating way to lose a pet. Ali was still doing hour long walks, still doing her little dance at meal time, still jumping up on the couch and flipping around to tell me she wanted attention now! Everything seemed fine even this morning and then suddenly at lunch time she became unstable on her feet, went down, started having trouble breathing, vomited and was gone within minutes. I will likely never know for sure what happened but my vet said the mostly likely cause was a rupture spleen. All I know was that I was not ready to lose this girl. I was convinced that she would be with me for at least a couple more years.
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Ali was a Pippin x Ceilidh daughter from my Mary Poppin’s litter. I wasn’t planning on keeping a pup from this breeding. I had planned to place a pup with a friend on co-ownership. However, there was just something about this little girl that captured my heart early on so she ended up staying with me. Ali’s registered name was Chimini’s A Spoonful of Sugar and she spent her life living up to that name. Everyone who knew Ali, always talked about how sweet she was. She was so gentle, so kind and loving, a wonderful SJA Therapy Dog, a nice little obedience dog and a great mother, grand mother and great grand mother to all the pups who ran around the house over the years. She was always well behavioured and gentle wherever I took her. |
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But there was a mischievous side to Ali. Pre Ali, Pippin, who loved stuffie toys, could enjoy his toys anywhere, all the time. Post Ali, he could only have his toys when I was around to help protect them from becoming Ali’s victims. Her chewing habit didn’t get better with age and stuffie toys were not her only victims. Tissue, toilet paper, t-shirts and even underwear were all fair game in Ali’s mind. She was the sweetest girl ever, but she was also my Scallywag who was always just too darn cute to get mad at.
As far as accomplishments go, the show ring wasn’t for Ali but she did finish with two Best of Breeds over a Group placing special and then last year at 13 years of age we brought her back out to show her in Veterans at the South Shore show where she went Best Veteran in Show. The judges could not get over how well she was still moving at her age.
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Where she did really shine was as a SJA Therapy Dog, in harness and to my surprise at 12/13 years of age, as a Trick Dog. Her sweet temperament made her idea as a Therapy dog for seniors but she was also great when we saw the University students during exam time.
In harness she was the quiet girl who just got down to work when she started in the team. When I decided to put her upfront she was a bit of a reluctant leader at first, just lacking in confidence. But paired with her father, Pippin, she gained confidence and the two of them became our best two leaders ever. Everyone just loved Ali’s bunny hops when getting the team started. When running, Ali was the steering, Pippin the power and JumpNJive behind them was the never give up, lets get going part of the team. Ali also became my little Trick Dog star at 12/13 years of age. I thought she might get her Novice and Immediate titles but Ali surprised me with just how good she was at leaning tricks and she ended up getting her Trick Dog Expert title. We had so much fun together learning tricks. I often called Ali my little Cheese Girl due to her love of cheese. Most of the trick dog training I did with Ali was using cheese as the reward and that might well be why we got so far. She would do anything for cheese. The Championship title did became a real challenge for us due to the distance requirements but that didn’t stop Ali and I from continuing to have fun trying and off course there was always the cheese reward for trying. |
Ali is now reunited with her dad Pippin and grandma Jive over the Rainbow Bridge. Hopefully I will join them one day and go for a run with them again and Ali and I can continue to work on her Heavenly Trick Dog Champion title. Never assume you have more time with your dog, treat every minute you have with them as if it might be the last because you just never know. Good bye for now sweet girl. Love you always!
