Last week was one of the hardest I have ever had to live through. The funny, naughty, charming, cuddly, and stubborn little dog that shared my life for just over 15 years has left my side. I am left immensely grateful for the years we shared and incredibly sad that our time together is over.
In general, I don’t think I am a very sentimental person. I wouldn’t even consider myself dog crazy, although I am sure that many of my friends would disagree. And the fact that I lived with three of them until recently might also be conflicting evidence. But in general, I don’t go up to strangers dogs or cuddle anyone I come across. I love that they exist, but crazy about them? I am a biologist and way to scientific for that.
But thinking about the extroverted little guy I think I am dog crazy after all. I don’t know wether heaven exists. But if it does, I’m sure that dogs are allowed. And I like to imagine Snickers livening things up a little right now.
For some people he was just a little black mutt, or even, „just a dog“. But for his friends he was something special.
Comparing him with other animals isn’t easy. If you said he was as stubborn as a donkey that would be unkind to the donkey. He didn’t have the heart of a lion either, it was as big as a blue whales, if not bigger. He was nosier than any monkey I’ve met and his energy levels where higher than any Duracell bunny. Probably in line with a radioactive bouncy ball.
For most of my adult life he was a perfect family member and a great role model when it came to enjoying life and creativity. Sometimes he was also a really, really big pain when we had different opinions. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me that he fell into a magic potion of positive energy and joy as a puppy. I wish I’d been there for it.
But sadly, I didn’t meet him until he arrived at the rescue centre as a hyperactive, barking ball of energy. I don’t know much about his past. I was told that a homeless person in poland got given him as a present. To stop him from constantly running into the streets he tied him up and Snickers thanked him by barking constantly. A lady rescued him from there and he ended up in foster care, where he destroyed the windows that were now the barrier to his freedom. That’s how he ended up at the rescue centre where I met him during volunteering.
Against all odds he managed to reach the ripe old age of sixteen. Along the way he was responsible for many of my wrinkles (both laughter- and worry) and most of my grey hair. He was very easy to motivate and well trained. He passed various tests and loved learning new tricks, but he also had many of his own ideas, that I didn’t share. Together we were a hopefully likeable but sometimes chaotic team. Since I was lucky enough to be self-employed, we travelled a lot together. When I was abroad for work, he stayed with friends and family and used any opportunity to develop his ideas and have adventures.
The last few days I’ve spent thinking about what he would list as his most successful missions (I would like to mention that these things generally don’t happen with my other dogs, so it is not just down to me being an irresponsible dog owner 😉 And thankfully no one was really harmed through any of his activities.
– stealing the Ball at Hamburg Rugby Club and using his quick reflexes to escape a whole Rugby Team. Luckily only during training..
– successfully pretended that he wasn’t at all interested in a huge gaggle of geese in Munichs English Garden. Then snuck away behind me and ran straight through them, barking and jumping along the way without actually trying to catch them, chasing them all up into the air and thereby making us the focus of attraction for the whole park on a Saturday afternoon. Then returning to me looking incredibly pleased with himself and furiously wagging his tail.
– being so pushy enough during agility competitions that I ran fast enough so that we actually managed to win a few awards
– Also achieving the record number of jumps thrown during an agility competitions because he really didn’t care wether they stayed up or flew all over the place and he really didn’t have time to bother with lifting his feet.
– Being noticed for the highest levels of motivation, speed and noise level with the lowest possible amount of concentration during nose work
– Refusing to go swimming in the sea during our surf camp in France (for humans) and generally any sea but climbing onto the surf board without a problem
– being the furthest ahead when going hiking. Generally always being first
– barking at swans from the (not so great) safety of our kajak
– trying to enter the neighbours canoe a few weeks ago at age 16 from the safety of our canoe because we weren’t paddling fast enough, even with his encouraging barking. Annoyingly the people on the other boat didn’t adapt to his wishes and the distance was too far. He hadn’t planned on going swimming.
– Encouraging me to do trick training with him resulting in a constant supply of treats. In actual fact the only way to encourage him to eat in his last days was to ask him to bark, which was almost guaranteed to get him into a good enough mood to take some treats.
– Barking so much when he was left alone that the neighbours were concerened enough about us that they called the polive to break down the door. The only thing was that he wasn’t alone. My house mate just had very effective noise cancelling headphones and was in another room. Since he didn’t appreciate that he decided to change it..
– On average he really didn’t bark quite as much as it may seem now, that would have been quite stressful..
– Another time he got a lift from the police after deciding that a friends fence was irrelevant to him and he was more interested in exploring the neighbourhood.
– Racing along with the polo ponies during training. That was one of the things that was actually allowed.
– Refusing carrots most of the time, unless they were offered to the horses or other animals. Then he of course urgently wanted them.
– Sitting on the coachman’s seat during our waggon holiday and letting the wind blow into his face. He always wanted to be up high.
– Always making his own choice. For one of his birthdays, I bought him a very expensive free range organic steak. He sniffed it, turned around and started eating bunny poo. Cookie followed his example.
– On my 28th birthday he managed to steal not 1 but 4 sausages from the BBQ right under the nose of the person who was meant to be watching out for him.
– making friends with our own cats while keeping other cats away from the property
– After winning a race at a dog festival one year and winning a sack of food he decided to escape his two little friends the next year and run straight to the treat stand instead. The poor girls turned up crying to tell me they had lost him. Next time they took Cookie
– Marching onto the stage at one of my brothers performances after he had given him to someone to look after backstage. Snickers prefered the limelight.
– Surving an emergeny operation against all odds when he was completely paralysed age 10
– Fighting large doses of Laxatives after that operation successfully until the first time we carried him outside and he could properly do his business.
– Have a friend who loved him so much that she slept (or rather didn’t sleep) next to him in the clinics dog kennels so that he wouldn’t be alone after the operation.
– not just learning to move and walk again with the help of his moch loved physios but also being able to hike 30 km 2 years later age 12. (ok, maybe he was a little tired the next day).
– always looking after new arrivals in the family and making sure that they’d follow his stupid ideas. Although he was a little dissapointed in the newest arrival Taco, who is far to well behaved for his liking.
– Sharing his food bowl with anyone. Other than the horses..
– Surviving a major skin transplant to his face and neck when he was twelve. Although he did reject most of the transplant, which gave him his pirate look
– Excitedly storming into any vets practice, even after all his treatments, only to be incredibly dissapointed if we weren’t there for physio
– Racing around was generally one his favourite activities
– But he also loved cuddling. He was the only one who could quieten down a releative with dementia by just lying on his bed and staying there for hours without moving. Generally he made it onto many beds and couches that weren’t meant to have dogs on or in them. And I only shared a very small number of them 😉
– Getting treats at the old people’s home was also one of his favourite past times, I’m sure he would have loved to do that a lot more often than I let him.
– His biggest achievement wasn’t just finding many friends for himself but also being responsible for some of my best friendships
– Managing to get his best friend Maike to do whatever he wanted. Driving 1000 km just to pick him up for a holiday wasn’t even considered an obstacle. I’m sure jumping through fire wouldn’t have been either if he had asked. He was allowed to do anything he wanted when he was there, as long as he enjoyed himself.
– He organised his last week in such a way that he ended up in his favourite place with the people who had been most important to him in the last 15 years. When he got sick and a tumour was discovered he was on holiday with Maike at the north sea, where he had spent many happy times. I travelled up to see him with an injured back and he spent the last week with all of us and his doggie friends. He choose to only eat delicacies and constantly changed his mind on what that was. Generally when we had just been out to buy his new favourite in big supply.
– He spent his last day high on all kinds of medicine, still barking at the other dogs and managing to steal a toy a couple of times. The vet came to his basket at exactly the right time, when he got so tired that even the best medicine could no longer help him.
If I as a human manage to spread just a portion of joy and happiness as this little mutt, I will be very happy with my achievements.
I wish to thank all our amazing friends who have been a part of our lives and all Snickers Ups and Downs and genius and stupid ideas during the last fifteen years