February 5, 2011

Farewell, beautiful Spring

Spring as a pup.
Spring enjoys my parents' porch, shortly after we got her.

When Tracey and I first met Spring, at Blue Jay Kennels outside of Corning, she was happy to see us. She'd apparently been picked up on East 2nd Street, and was a thin but pretty little dog who we later found had survived a bout with parvovirus. She immediately showed personality, grabbing a biscuit there, jumping on a table to eat pizza at our apartment, and running down the shoulder of Route 54 as we frantically chased her near Keuka Lake.

Black and white dog guarding the house.
Spring keeping an eye on the neighborhood.

She fit happily into the new house, where she had windows for watching the road and a dog door to go out any time she liked. For a long time, we joked that we had adopted a cat, as she was pretty shy. She was never fond of other dogs, though she got along well with our other dog, Sprocket, who's since moved to Rochester with Tracey. She mostly got along with Angelika's more recent cats, though usually not on the first floor of the house, which Spring considered quite definitely hers, especially near the food dish.

Spring rests at the top of the stairs.
Spring rests at the top of the stairs.

She marveled at our weather, welcomed Sungiva and Konrad home, and enjoyed a quiet retirement, staying beautiful if grayer, barking at pedestrians and finally exploring more of our yard last summer.

Spring enjoys some snow.
Spring enjoys some snow, just before the new year.

Spring left us this morning, after a hard week of renal failure and not wanting to eat any longer. I'm sure she's running somewhere now, through the grass, snow, and forests she loved to fly through, always in search of something fun to sniff and see. Running away, as usual, but always beautiful.

I've posted a short gallery of pictures if you'd like to see more of this wonderful dog. I'll always miss her.

Posted by simon at February 5, 2011 10:08 PM in
Note on photos

5 Comments

KAZ said:

So sorry!

Veronika said:

Liebe SASK, ich wünsche Spring einen schönen Hundehimmel! Ich hoffe, Sungiva ist nicht zu traurig.
LG Veronika

Taxpayer1301 said:

Touching. Thanks, Simon, for reminding us all how much we love our pets.

Mike Lane said:


A dog is an unquestioning friend. Its companionship, courage, and devotion supports our own humanity. That is why it is so very hard to lose them.

CindyA said:

So sorry for the loss of your beautiful companion! I was especially interested in the photos of Spring because she is the spitting image of my Molly. The one above on this page entitled 'Spring Keeping an Eye on the Neighborhood' could easily be mistaken for Molly. She is at least 10 yrs old and starting to wind down and I am already missing her even though she is still here. I hope you will find comfort in the memories you have of your precious Spring.