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.