Goodbye to the goodest dog

I lost my Molly this past week.

I tried to write a little about how she passed, but in addition to losing her, I'm also finding myself quite sad about losing two beloved veterinarians I really trust who have since retired. Molly's passing was a completely different experience than it has been for my many other animals when their final day arrived. But I try to remember she was a joyous little dog, who loved the roadtrips to animal welfare conferences and manning the Petfinder booth, camping trips and twice-daily walks on our beautiful country road. She loved playing with cats and kittens. it was probably Molly's love of hiking and camping that got me thinking about my future plan to travel and aid animals via fundraising and video, with her and Wiki with me, so that Molly would have some exciting final years.

I always tell people, when they ask when they should let an animal go, to see if they still enjoy the things they most loved. So, while waiting for the results of bloodwork from her vet visit, I took Molly to a new trail on some nearby farmland. Nice and flat, but with a little stream to explore. You could tell she wanted to like it. She trotted the first few feet, but then dropped to a walk. For the record, Molly NEVER walks. She always trots. She didn't sniff. She stopped dead if she had to push through grass or a weed. She was uninterested by the stream. Then she just looked at me. She wanted to go back.

So back we went, and I knew that was my last adventure walk with Molly. The next day, she died while waiting for late-afternoon veterinary appointment.

I got Molly after Mark left. She was supposedly a little neglected adult dog, sadly tied in a back yard, who frequently escaped to look for love. A neighbor contacted my friend and fellow rescuer Debra, who knew I was looking for a dog. While I always expected to adopt on from a shelter on one of my Petfinder trips, I agreed to take a look. From the neighbor's yard, Molly looked like an older adult little blonde Pomeranian mix, with tear-stained eyes.

In fact, when I knocked on the door, it turned out Molly was a well-loved but way-too-active 7 month puppy owned by a couple who loved her. They had two active little boys, and a labrador they'd adopted from the shelter and nursed through parvo. Molly was "tied in the back yard" because she should dig under AND climb over their sturdy chainlink fence. The mother was pregnant and about to have yet another little boy. Molly ran around like a happy demon while we talked. Turned out they realized Molly was just too active for an apartment with another dog, two small boys, and a baby, and were happy to have a Petfinder employee and rescue person knock on the door like an unasked-for solution. After a quick drive around the village to be sure Molly liked trucks and didn't get carsick, they handed over her veterinary papers and Molly came home with me. Turns out I was Molly's third home.

Molly unfortunately didn't have the best puppyhood with me. I was still upset over Mark leaving, so having a puppy tick-tick-ticking around on my heels meant she got yelled at far more than she should have, for things that were just normal puppy behavior. But once I finally grieved out, Molly came with me on roadtrips for Petfinder, and the last three years we shared a lot of camping adventures. My mom loved her, so she came along on most of my family visits, and my sister Linda also welcomed her. So Molly and I had a lot of fun, active times together.

When I first got her, I had dreams that she'd go everywhere with me. But too often the truck or car air conditioning was broken, or I was tied up taking care of the house and farm, and chasing cats. We didn't have the "joined at the hip" life I'd really dreamed about, and that she would have thrived with. Molly had a good life with me, but she could have had a far better life with someone else. She wanted to be a kid's best friend, not a cat lady's sidekick, even though she loved me and had fun with me. I guess that's true for many of us -- whether four-legged or two-legged.

As time goes on, I'll tuck photos I find into this post, but here are some videos being the bouncy sweet dog she always was, so I have one place to visit her, always.

Miss you, Molly. Love you. 

Molly playing fetch, getting ambushed by a kitten in the curtains (with a cameo by three-legged Cricket)

Molly diving into the deep snow one winter, chasing imagined mice and bunnies

Molly enjoying a stream