On (or about) the 13th anniversary of the day I first met her in 2010, it's a fitting day to finally write her tribute.
But first, some flashback. The first dog tribute I wrote was for my second dog. I had adopted Lily when she was 5 and Network was 2. It was my first time dealing with losing a dog, having to make "that" decision, the trade-off where I consider quality of life and risk of a horrible ending if I wait too long. I wrote Lily's story immediately, or it wrote itself, in my head over a few days, (while sitting in jury duty), such that it came out fully formed when I finally sat down to write Lily Danced. And just like that I was able to move on.
History shows that I've waited longer and longer to write these tributes with each successive dog. Life is more busy and I'm more accustomed to the routine. I've also been lucky that they've all gone the distance and I've had plenty of time to prepare, so I didn't require the therapy of writing to move on.
So what to write about my precious girl?
For starters, she was so darn easy. Sunny and Star together were a dream, from early 2010 until late summer 2013, when Xander crashed onto the scene.
Network and Lily, my first "pair", once I moved past solo dog household, were large and tough, and my firsts, so I had to learn a lot and make some mistakes. Perhaps the universe rewarded me with an easy pair for the next phase. Good thing, as those were the years of many moves, masters degree and CPA exams. Without counting, I think Star gets the award for Most Moves, starting 3 months after I got her. Well, I couldn't resist counting - 6 moves in 7 years. And this is what she looked like on moving day - first with Sunny in 2010 and then with Xander in 2014.
Sunny and Star played well together, but it was so gentle and quiet, not the typical noisy bear fighting I sometimes get with the 2 boys, Xander and Tuc. Even if there were teeth, they were so laid back about it that they just laid on the ground and played mouthies.
She was soooo athletic! Before we started agility, she would jump up on a friend's retaining wall, just pop straight up from a stand still. I used to say she could jump over a Volkswagen without a running start. She was my first agility dog and a good one for me to learn the sport with. We did have a few frustrating months of the zoomies when the combination of new job/last semester/last CPA exam stress was the highest, but darn if that didn't stop the exact same day that I finished the semester. It was fairly smooth agility sailing with her after that, except she always seemed to have a little performance anxiety - instead of working on Start Line Stay, we had to work on Start Line Go. She got to Masters level in AKC and then Xander started and since I had to learn a completely new style of handling for him, I let her take a break for a while, tried again once, and then decided she was happier being an agility support sister to the next generation.
She was my bestest traveling buddy. Any time I was able to leave the boys behind and take her on a girl's road trip was a real treat for both of us. We went to Santa Fe alone together in 2015, red rock areas of Utah (Zion and Cedar Breaks perhaps) with one friend probably 2016 and to AKC Nationals (the low stress way, as non-competitors) in 2019 with another friend and her BC.
Oh, our first big trip just her and me was back to Colorado in 2013 to pick up Xander. Speaking of which, she was infinitely patient with him the many times he felt he needed to lay on top of her or steal the best seat in the house from her. The laying on top started about 15 minutes after we picked him up and continued nonstop for the 2 days driving back to Washington, taking turns using each other as pillows.
She was photogenic and patriotic and the perfect compact size, fitting into a Sheltie sized dog bed in the camper.
She was great therapy dog material, but we never pursued it. I don't recall ever even considering it until now. It probably would have been a good thing to do with her, if we hadn't already had a full dance card in those years. When I took her on our solo trips she might have been a little bit of that to me. She just had a way of sitting quietly with a person. Here she is with Dad, and I'll look again later for one of the many pictures I'm sure I have of her sitting next to Mom and just hanging her head in her endearing way, totally relaxed.
Finally, she was just so darn beautiful to me - front and back. I loved those strong sexy hips, that perfect body, that adorable face, and I loved taking pictures of her anywhere and everywhere.
The sad part of the story is that when they cannot make eye contact anymore, they seem so different to me. She had bad, untreatable cataracts for the last couple years of her life and I didn't feel as connected to her. Other than that, she never ever had any medical issues. Oh, a little scratch on her eye one time and one scary but isolated seizure maybe 2 years before the end.
Okay, she did have that little coprophagia issue, but we were in apartments the first 4 years so I didn't even learn about it until later. I also hold her responsible for training Xander how to do it. But she was also not obsessed with anything like the ball crazy ones I've had and was never demanding in any way. I don't think she ever got into anything or destroyed anything either.
While each has been my favorite in their own way, she was surely my overall favorite (don't tell Xander). Just a perfect girlie, never demanding, so easy going. If only I could find another just like her. And doesn't that just say it all.
Miss Star, Most Precious Girly 2008ish to Aug 26, 2022. Adopted Feb 2010.
