Even when you know it is coming it isn’t easy losing a pet. Jasmine was almost 15 and in failing health for a few years, but still had her good days; enjoyed a head scratch and never said no to a steak dinner. She was a typical Dalmatian in that she was stubborn, neurotic, needy and had separation anxiety, but those were just her more annoying qualities. She was also a loyal and true companion and helped me raise a son. We got Jasmine at 4 months old after a co-worker accidentally had a litter of puppies. We picked her out and fell in love. Aaron named her after Princess Jasmine from Aladdin on the ride home that first day and we started calling her Jazz for short.
What will I remember about Jasmine? That she slept in Aaron’s bed practically every night until he moved away from home, that she was a master at stealing food and opening the trash cans, that she was our Halloween mascot for many, many years and ate more than her fair share of Halloween candy. She was a great running partner and really good when I’d take her a for a bike ride. Though it took two years of obedience training to get there.
She would tow Aaron around the block when he wore his roller blades and walked with me to school to pick him up in the afternoons. She once stole an entire bone-in ham off the kitchen counter and devoured it in 10 minutes. She called my cell phone, dialing it with her butt (if you can believe that, really she did!) and woke me up in the middle of the night thinking the house was being burglarized as a result. For some reason known only to her she chewed the hands and feet off all of Aaron’s action figures. For years he had Star Trek and X-Men amputees. She was a bed hog; even on camping trips, she slept on (or in) the sleeping bag. Her favorite food? Any. Her favorite activity? Eating any food, followed by sleeping next to Aaron and having her head and belly rubbed.
We will miss you Jazz, I hope doggie heaven is filled with endless bowls of steak, grass fields full of BBQ’s and soft beds.