Cassidy.

Our wonderful dog Cassidy died last night. She was 12 year old.

When I first met Kelly, she had this obnoxiously exuberant puppy named Cassidy, who loved to sit in your lap and tilt her head back and lick your nose. And she loved to play tuggy - she'd pull against ANY dog, no matter how big. The sight of this 32 lb whippet-looking mutt holding her own against an 80 lb lab was just hilarious!

Before I met Cassidy, Kelly told me that Cassidy talked back. I thought "Yeah, sure, the cute hippie girl thinks her dog talks to her". But then I met Cassidy and sure enough, if you scolded her, she'd act contrite for a minute, then give a little "huff!", or maybe a "Yowyowyow!" while looking at you out of the corner of her eye.

She always had that attitude about her. She met a pit bull once that was trained for dogfighting, and was barking hysterically, literally foaming at the mouth, at her from the other side of the fence. Charlie, the smart dog, stepped back from the fence and kept his distance, but not Cassidy. She went up to within a foot fo the fence and started barking right back! It was impossible not to think she was saying something like "Oh, heck no!, you ain't talkin to ME like that, ya mangy mutt! If I wasn't on the other side of this fence I'd whoop your butt!"

But the best thing about her was that she loved everyone, and in turn assumed that everyone loved her, too. I've never met a dog that could make people fall in love with her like she could. Even non-dog people would eventually warm up to her to the point that they would let her crawl into their laps, and be happy that she was there.

She was wonderful with Jack, even when he wasn't so wonderful with her. He could crawl on her, lay on her, and while she might occasionally look worried, she never got upset with him.

When Finn arrived on the scene a little over a year ago, Cassidy had a new playmate. And she was amazingly tolerant with the obnoxious puppy. But she was always careful to make sure he knew his place.

Cassidy had been slowing down the past year, but was still playful up until about 3 days ago, when she stumbled and couldn't get back up. I thought she might die that night, so I carried her into the bedroom so she could be with us. But the next day, she was looking good, walking on her own again, and wagging her tail. Then yesterday she stumbled again, and didn't get up again all day. We took her to the vet, and she seemed better for an hour or so, then collapsed again. X-rays showed that her pericardium was filled with fluid, probably as a result of a growth on her heart. Her condition worsened dramatically in the time it took to get the x-rays, and it became clear that she would not survive the night. So we had to say good by.

I'm going to miss her so much...

I hope that she's up in Heaven playing bite-your-face with Charlie, and getting treats from Great Grandpa.