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.