April 4th was six years since Dahlia arrived in my life. She left me August 29 of last year, but her presence lives on, in my heart. To help get through the emotions of the day, I did what I do whenever my heart is broken I wrote……..

I could hear my mom crying and telling me how much she loved me and thanking me for choosing her to be my momma…….I didn’t know why she was crying, I was so happy, I was at peace. My soul left my body and I was free of pain. I could run, I was young again, and I could dance once more!

I arrived at a beautiful place, full of flowers, green grass, a river, rainbows and so many other animals. My feline brother Angel approached me, “what’s up?” he asked as gave a nod of his head.

“Where am I?” I asked, “I have never seen such beauty in my life.”

“You’re at the bridge,” Angel told me. “This is where we get to stay while we wait for momma to join us when she’s older and leaves her physical form.”

“What about Flipflop and Sixx? Will they join us too?”

“Yes, they will, long before momma does, and she’ll have other siblings for us no doubt, in the future, that’ll join us too. Come on, I’ll show you around and introduce you to Dupont, our big brother. You’re going to love him!”

I followed Angel, who seemed to enjoy pretending he was a jungle cat in the long grass, I had to stop a few times and roll……..I love to roll and never in my life had I felt such soft grass.

We came to a dog, about my size, but much furrier, he looked a lot like my younger brother, Flipflop, with his tri-coloured fur. “You must be Dahlia,” he said, before Angel could introduce us. “I’m Dupont, I know momma used to tell you stories about me, and I know all about you, as I watch over momma and I have seen your time with her.”

“Why is she so sad?” I asked my big brother, “doesn’t she know how happy and free I am?”

Dupont gave a sigh, “yes, she knows. But she loves us, so it makes her sad that we’re not living with her anymore. She knows she’ll see us again, one day, but we are her heart. And when we leave, we take the part of her heart that was us, and that hurts.”

Dupont put his paw around my neck, “do not worry, she will be ok, she will miss us and talk to us every day, but she will get stronger and learn to live with the part of her heart that is missing. Now come on, little sister, there are so many friends I want you to meet.”

I followed Dupont to the river, where there were some lab mixes laying on a blanket, conversing about their brother, Prince, who had recently joined them.  “Lab pups,” Dupont announced, “my sister has arrived, this is Dahlia. Dahlia this is Chloe and Hope.”

As the girls and I were making one another’s acquaintance, a beautiful King Shepherd walked over to Dupont.  “Jasmine,” he exclaimed, “I was waiting for you!! I wanted you to meet my sister, Dahlia, she’s just arrived!”

“Oh Dahlia,” Jasmine sniffed my nose, “It’s so good to meet you!  I just know we’ll be the best of friends.” Jasmine then lowered her voice and said, “Chloe is awesome, but Hope is a bit…….well she’s Hope. But she’s our sister so we put up with her. You must meet my brother Prince, he’s just transitioned a few weeks ago and I’m sure you two will have a lot to discuss. He’s running around right now, enjoying his pain-free form, we’ll catch him later.”

“Ok,” I said and then sheepishly asked, “is there music here, by any chance? I love to dance; it was one of my favourite things.”

Hope jumped up and exclaimed, “YES, we have music, your momma and I would bust a move back in the day, I love to dance!”

Out of no-where, music started playing, it was wonderful, I quickly broke into my best moves, momma would call my dance moves “the Dahlia”. I don’t mean to brag or anything but I’m a pretty good dancer.  Hope started moving to the beat with me and I knew in that moment, Jasmine was wrong, this lab pup was a-ok and I was going to love being her friend.

The music kept playing and Hope shared with me how my mom would twirl her, and they would dance as partners. I told her that, because of me having bad back legs, my momma couldn’t twirl me, but we would dance together, and momma would chant “do the Dahlia” to me as we boogied.

“Oh Dahlia,” Hope said excitedly, “you are the best friend I have been looking for! NO one else will dance with me!”

“Hope,” I told her with a lick to her cheek, “I can tell we will be best friends for eternity.”  And then my nose caught a whiff of a new dog who joined us. “Whoa! Who is that?”

“Oh,” Hope answered me. “That is Prince, he is my brother. He was a foster like you, but my mom and dad decided to adopt him too.”

I straightened my poster to present myself to Prince, I love meeting new boys!!  Prince approached me, I wagged my tail and lifted my two front paws, “Hi,” I said excitedly, “I’m Dahlia, Dupont’s sister, I just got here. I hear from Jasmine, you just arrived yourself. It’s so nice to meet you.” And then I twirled in circles for Prince to see how beautiful I am.

Prince didn’t seem impressed with me, but I didn’t care. I know how beautiful I am and there are plenty of other dogs to show off to.

“Don’t mind him,” Hope told me, “unless you’re a tennis ball, he won’t notice you!”

I looked at my new surroundings, and my new pack.  All these dogs and cats my momma had shared stories about. Dupont and Jasmine, sitting side by side, Chloe hanging with this human man, who I found out was her grandpa. Prince chasing balls that magically appeared from no where, and Hope, my new best friend, talking to me about all the fun we will have.

I took one last look down at Earth to see my mom and Flipflop, they are both so sad. I will visit them, I tell myself, momma may not know I’m there, but I will keep an eye on them with Dupont.

I wish momma could see us, how happy and free we all are.  I wish her heart wouldn’t hurt so much, but I know she will miss us forever until the day, she sees us all again.

From top left to right: Dahlia, Buddy, Angel, Sabre, Dupont, Chloe, Hope, Jasmine, and Prince.

My Benjamin Button of dogs was aging, nothing was helping Dahlia with her mobility issues. It was getting harder for her to get up and move, her breathing would become laboured. I knew with my whole heart my sweet girl was tired and ready to move on.

I emailed my vet, and shared with them that I couldn’t call, I couldn’t say the words out loud, but I knew I had to do right by Dahlia and let her go.  We made the appointment for August 29^th, that gave me one more week with the most special lady.

There were so many times during that week that I wanted to cancel the appointment. I wanted to keep her with us longer, but I knew that would be nothing but selfish of me. I knew Dahlia was left 6 years ago to die alone in a ditch, alone.  I would hold on to this thought, reminding myself I had the power to let her go how she deserved to go, how every dog deserves to go. I had the power to let her go with dignity and love. I knew, despite my heart breaking and continuing to break every day, she deserved this. My tears and sadness were mine alone, because Dahlia would be free.

Dahlia and I had a lot of conversations in her time with me, but there was none as magical as the one we shared on our last Friday evening.  She came over and sat in front of me, I got down on the floor in front of her so I could be closer to her.  She laid down between my legs and we connected. It’s hard to find the words. I felt like she heard all I had to say, that she wanted to comfort me and assure me that she was ready. We held “hands” for a while, then she laid her head on my lap and slept on me. Amazingly, Flipflop didn’t come and try to get attention, he understood and respected the moment.

Dahlia’s life deserved to be celebrated, she was a fighter, and she was loved. On our last day Auntie Janet and the Doodles planned to come over and Auntie Janet was going to make Dahlia a steak dinner.

Janet was dog sitting a litter of pups at Zoe’s Doodles that weekend, but despite having 9 puppies and 4 adult dogs in her care that weekend, Janet baked a dog cake for Dahlia, knowing how much Dahlia loved her cakes.

I also had a handful of people who wanted to come say their farewells to Dahlia. It was a beautiful warm Sunday afternoon, so I took a blanket out and Dahlia went to one of her favourite spots and we laid out on the grass.  Friends came to see her, human and canine.  They brought treats and snacks and even had a whole deboned chicken, just for Dahlia!  She loved every moment of it.  And as sad as we all were, it meant so much to me to see this girl surrounded by so much love.

On our way back into our lobby, we ran into more people and Dahlia laid down and we spent another hour in our lobby with people coming to say their farewells to this beautiful soul they had all come to love.  And that evening her pack showed up and she had her celebration with her pack.

I was woken up early by Dahlia on August 29^th, she knew she was going to be freed from her pain and she wanted to spend her last few hours with me.  We went outside, for what I thought would be 5 minutes……but it wasn’t.  She went to another one of her favourite spots and laid down. She closed her eyes and felt the wind on her, I cuddled her until she didn’t want me near her, and then let her be.  Laying close by, wanting to stop time so I could stay there forever with her.

As the time passed on, we had a few people come by to say a final farewell as they saw us outside. Her Auntie Margaret FaceTimed her from Ontario to see her one last time. Eventually (2 hours later) Dahlia got up and wanted to go for a walk.  She hadn’t wanted to walk in a long time, so I let her walk with me. We didn’t get too far but we were both happy to have one last walk together. It was while we were walking I saw a Dragonfly and I asked Dahlia to please let me know she was ok, somehow, some way, to come back and connect with me.

Dahlia passed peacefully in my arms and her Auntie Janet close by. Both of us telling her how amazing she is and how loved she will always be. Like in life, Dahlia went like a diva, I had her two favourite toys to go with her, and she laid her head on her toys, closed her eyes, and went to sleep. She looked like the angel she is.

Since Dahlia’s transition Dragonflies come to Flipflop and I all the time. Janet and her dogs are visited by them too.  And we both know it is my sweet Dahlia, telling us she is good, she is free, and she is dancing!

Well, it is my second last post for my Celebrating Dahlia miniseries. 😊 I have loved looking back at my years with her and reflecting on the wonderful time she and I had together.

I miss Dahlia so much, I always will. I still shed tears over her, I know I will for quite some time, but I also smile. I smile because this stubborn, beautiful, demanding, amazing soul came into my life.

Today, I dedicate this celebration of Dahlia to the lessons she taught me.

Lesson 1: Dance like no one is watching.

No one loved to dance like Dahlia did! And she would not care who or what was in her way, when the mood struck, she would get her tail and head going until her whole body was moving, then she would start lifting her paws off the floor, one at a time. And of course, not only her dance was awesome, it was second to the beautiful smile of joy that was on her face.

Lesson 2: Never let your past define you.

This needs no explanation, if you know of Dahlia, you know of her horrible beginnings but that did not deter her from becoming the most lovable, friendly girl around. Sometimes too friendly, with her flirtatious ways!

Lesson 3: There is ALWAYS time to make new friends.

Dahlia loved to say hello and make friends with everyone she came by. Her aura and lovely demeanour drew people to her. She loved to get to know dogs in the neighbourhood and receive pets from any human around. At times she did not give them a choice, she would sit on their feet and lean on their legs if they were not giving her enough attention or if I was trying to get her to move along.

Lesson 4: You are never too old to learn.

Coming to me as a senior dog, with no previous experience of being cared for, loved, or trained. Dahlia was an A+ student in teaching an old dog “new” tricks. My first realization that Dahlia needed to be trained was when we went to Auntie Janet’s place for a visit. Having Flipflop and Miss Ellie since they were pups, Janet and I knew we could leave food out and not worry about dogs helping themselves. Well, two seconds into our arrival at Janet’s and Dahlia had cleared off ½ a plate of cheese!!

It was then I realized, I had a senior dog, but she never had a proper home, where she was inside with people and around food.

Much to my surprise, Dahlia was a quick study and soon fell into the same behaviour as her pack. She learned to play ball, loved toys, play with other dogs (as best she could), and to not help herself to human food, even when at her level.

Lesson 5:  Let your inner diva shine

One of the things that made Dahlia so special is once she knew she was safe and felt secure, she was never afraid letting her inner diva shine.

Dahlia was demanding, stubborn, knew what she wanted, and expected me to give it her, often! She and I would often have battles of our will. I could usually win with the right treat, but sometimes she was not having it and nothing I did would get her to do what I wanted to do. And she would be SO proud of herself!

Dahlia has so much beauty, inside and out, and the best part was she knew it! She loved getting told she was pretty and was not afraid to demand the attention she felt she deserved.

The past two years of her life, I often said “it’s pure stubbornness that is keeping her going.”

Lesson 6: Don’t worry, be happy

Dahlia was always happy, no matter what! When I would have to correct her, unlike most dogs who would some way show their remorse, she did not. She would smile and dance and completely ignore me!

It got to the point, where I actually didn’t bother correcting her, as if I raised my voice, Flipflop would show remorse (even when he wasn’t the one getting in trouble) and Dahlia would look at me with a big smile, as if to say, “yell all you want lady, I know you will never hurt me so I don’t care!”

Lesson 7: Senior dog adoption

The most important lesson I learned from Dahlia, is the joy from giving a senior dog a loving home to live out their final years. Dahlia brought so much joy to my life, and I like to think I brought some to hers too!

When the day came where I said “see you later” to my beloved Catahoula from Florida, I laid down beside her and as she was getting ready to take her final breaths, I thanked her for all she has given me.

I am grateful every day for all Dahlia has given me and taught me.  I recognize my words do not do her justice. Dahlia was a beacon a sunlight to everyone she met, and I made her a promise that when ever I adopt, I would only adopt seniors to honour her and all she brought to my life.

There are many things that made Dahlia so special. Most of all, it was her ability to forget her past and take full advantage of her second lease on life. And take full advantage she did!

Dahlia learned to trust and love, and decided it was her job to spread love to everyone she met. And she sure did! Everyone in my building knew her and loved running into her. She would happily visit with any of them. Many times, if I was out with just Flipflop, people who I didn’t know would stop me on the street, and ask me where my older dog was. They were always so relieved when I would say, “she’s at home, she just can’t walk as far as he [Flipflop] can.” Sadly, now when I get asked that question, the answer is not as joyous and I am given condolences and told how much they loved her.

There wasn’t a dog she didn’t want to say hello to. She loved meeting all dogs, of all ages. For an older dog, she was so patient with puppies and would let any pup jump and crawl on her. And although she never really did get the concept of how to play, she would excitedly jump and twirl in circles when meeting up with her friends.

When she gained the strength back in her legs and was able to run and play, it was one of the happiest moments of my life. I could rewatch the videos I’ve taken of her running and playing forever. She was so happy, and loved being included in Flipflop’s shenanigans. Even in the past few months, when her body started remembering its age, she would still love to see Flipflop and her pack play, she’d either come to me for protection from being knocked over. Or she’d join the craziness, by laying herself on the ground close to them, wagging her tail as they wrestled all around her, with me screaming “watch out for Dahlia” every two minutes.

Her loving nickname from Auntie Janet “Florida Floozy” was earned, when we discovered how Dahlia had a thing for intact male dogs. She would stand up as tall as she could and wiggle her back end and twirl around to present herself. But my girl was forever a lady, so if the male dog got too frisky, she would promptly put him in his place and sit down, so innocently!

Dahlia loved coming places with me, she would get so excited to go somewhere, just her and I. In Ontario, she would come to work with me. She would happily insist on walking through the office when we arrived to say hello to everyone. Once everyone said their hellos, Dahlia would contently lay down in my office and sleep for the day. Throughout the day people would come in for a “Dahlia break” and she would happily receive their love and affection.

In BC, she loved to go to the dog beach, she loved wading in the water and saying hi to the dogs as they came and went. This summer, she couldn’t spend as much time in the water, but she loved finding a large tree in the grassy area to lay under, on a blanket of course! And as usual, was happy as could be to have a dog or person come by to see her. I made sure she got to the beach a few times this summer to enjoy her time.

And for those who knew Dahlia best, they would say what they loved the most is her dancing! Dahlia loved to dance, in fact I got a bandana made for her that said “Will dance for food” as the first time I witnessed her dance was early on in my fostering days with her and I was getting food for her. As time went all, I learned that Dahlia loved dancing. When my girl friends and I would get together for drinks, it was inevitable that music would come on and dancing would commence at some point during the night, and Dahlia always joined us!

Dahlia would wag her tail and head at the same time, lifting one front paw and then the other, doing her dance, which I started calling “The Dahlia” dance. Friends back home would send me videos of their dogs doing “the Dahlia” and even the humans got into it! It was so fun, and my girl danced a lot, with a huge smile on her face.

Dahlia fostered 10 dogs, with Flipflop, Sixx, Angel and I. She herself was foster #4, but never left! She was such a good foster sister, although she wasn’t as engaged as Flipflop with the dogs, she was an amazing calming source for them all.

I miss Dahlia, I will every day for the rest of my life, but when the music plays, I know in my heart she is dancing with me and wearing her beautiful smile.

This my first of a series of blogs to celebrate the life of Dahlia. I hope you enjoy reading our journey together and reliving our best memories. Joan XO

I tried to find the words, but they never came. I had no words, for one of the few times in my life, to write a tribute to Dahlia.

It stunned me. I am so full of love for Dahlia and emotions from losing her, and yet when I would go to write a tribute to her, no words would come to articulate what I was feeling.

And then last night I realized why I struggled with writing a tribute to her. Dahlia is not to be mourned. Dahlia is to be celebrated. Nothing in this girl’s life broke her spirit and she doesn’t wish for her passing to break mine.

Dahlia had one of the worse lives imaginable to a dog, until 6 years ago, when her owners decided she was no longer of use to them and left her with head trauma and broken bones to die alone and scared in a ditch.

A call to a rescue offering to “shoot the dog, if they didn’t to try and save her” changed everything, for both Dahlia and me.

Five hours of surgery, and van ride from Miami, Florida to Mississauga, Ontario, was the beginning of this nameless dog’s life. Dahlia was the name given to her by her rescuer, and the woman who became a dear friend of mine.  She asked me to foster Dahlia, as she was a special needs dog and Sherri felt I was the person who could help her.

And so began my journey with Dahlia.  It wasn’t easy for either of us at first. She was a nervous wreck and would pee constantly out of fear. I was ready to give up on her, but I didn’t. 

We found a forever home for her, she left my place, only to have diarrhea all night and be promptly returned to me by her adopter.

She then escaped her collar on a walk with me, disappearing for 3-1/2 hours, only to show up on my doorstep, waiting for someone to let her in. And that was when I realized this stubborn girl would spend her whole life finding her way back to me.

Adoption papers were signed, and Dahlia wharfed into this loving, carefree, playful dog. 

Fliplfop and Miss Ellie spent countless hours teaching her to play, trust us humans and hot to be a dog.  To her dying day, she really never did get the concept of play, but she would happily twirl in circles when near playful dogs.  Or lay down in the middle of one of Flipflop’s wrestling sessions with another dog, wagging her tail, feeling like she was included. And she was.

Her pack loved her so much. Flipflop, Miss Ellie and Hazel adored the oldest member of their pack. Never excluding her, even when she got too sore to play. Hazel would make sure she always gave Dahlia a few kisses on every visit.  Flipflop would constantly check on Dahlia any time they were separated and were reunited.

Flipflop grieves for his sister, as I do.  But this isn’t about our grief, this is about the amazing life of an amazing lady, Dahlia.

Well, it has been over 4 years since I met Lady Dahlia and started fostering her.  Many have read her stories, and why I ended up adopting her.

Short recap:  Dahlia slipped out of her collar on a walk, and was missing for 3-1/2 hours, only for me to find her waiting outside my apartment to be let back in!   I realized this sweet senior dog would spend her life looking for me, and I could not let her go.

Four years later, she is still a blessing in my life, enjoying the benefits of living out west.

It is not uncommon here for dogs to be off leash.  I live in a dog-friendly town and a very dog-friendly community, which has its pros and cons (which I will save for another blog).  So today was no different than many other days, Flipflop and Dahlia were off leash walking with me.

We were taking our usual route.   Less than 5 minutes down the road from where I live is an abandoned dirt road, only used now and then by construction trucks.  The north side of the road is a large open field, on the south side are more mountains and lots of great hiking trails.  Some days, we take the trails but most days, when Dahlia is with us, we stick to the road.

Today I decided to mix it up slightly and we went to the field.  Flipflop ran and played while Dahlia decided to lay down and rest. Not uncommon for her, so I continued to keep an eye on Flipflop.  He started making his way quickly across the field, which leads to the Trans Canada Highway, so I called him back.  He came and then proceeded to run again, I called him back and leashed him.  Since he was listening to me, I decided I would still let him go see what he was interested in, leashed, so I could make sure he was safe.

Not so surprisingly, he wanted to go to some deceased animal bones and some form of wildlife feces.  I turned him back and unleashed him to go back to his sister. When we returned to the long grassy area where I left Dahlia waiting, she was nowhere to be found.

Flipflop did not seem to know where she was either.

I quickly got out my phone and called my neighbour, whose two-year-old Doodle named Oreo can make Dahlia jump through hoops at the sight of him. While explaining to Dawn that I needed her to bring Oreo out as Dahlia was somewhere in this field, I could not see her and sadly, as she is deaf, she can no longer hear me calling out to her.

Just as Dawn said she would be right out, I saw this lone dog, walking a kilometre down the road!  She was doing our long morning walk on her own, looking for Flipflop and I!  She had gotten confused when I left her in the field, and she thought we were on the road so went searching for us!  My heart broke, my poor sweet girl.  I screwed up and left her alone and she wanted us near her.

I quickly told Flipflop to go get his sister, a command he has come to know and usually goes to her.  But today he decided it was more fun to run beside me as I made my way up the hill, struggling with the limits of my cardio!  I kept calling Dahlia’s name, knowing she could not hear me, but hoping for a miracle.  I knew she was safe, but I was worried a truck would come unexpectedly and she would not hear it. The construction workers are great, they are always going slow and watching for dogs, but Dahlia always needs me to guide her off the road when a truck is coming.

In what was likely five minutes, but felt like two hours, we caught up with Dahlia, as soon as Flipflop ran to her, she turned around and saw me.  Just like the first time she went missing, as soon as she saw me, she came running to me.  I gave her lots of treats and an apology for her thinking I would ever leave her and not come back!

This was not the first time I have left Dahlia to rest for a few minutes while I took Flipflop on a short adventure, but it will 100%, definitely be the last!