Farewell to Ariela

 

(Photo taken June 2, 2020)

Ariela was my beautiful dog, security guard, hiking buddy, and companion. She will surely be missed.

 

 

She  loved to accompany me on hikes for nearly thirteen years. When she got old, she would lose her balance and topple over, but she would get right back up and keep walking. I called her plucky. The vet called her tough. It wasn't that many months ago that she hiked Chimney Rock with me, and did better than me. She was a canine inspiration to me!

Surveying her domain

Protecting her charge

Things I Think of When I Think of Ariela

A family getting rid of all its puppies except one in the woods at Steinhatchee

Me sleeping in my van with a six-week old puppy in the yard of friends

A little puppy almost drowning when set afloat on styrofoam in the river

Her meeting the adult LaFiera

As a little one, a pic of her sniffing Paul's empty shoe, which was bigger than she was

A young Ariela sitting on my lap as I played Scrabble with friends

Going with me to Chimney Rock and having to be carried, so some guy asks me to carry him, too.

Cleaning/licking out pans at Aunt Vicki's behest

When I came back to pick her up after she was spayed, her excitement at seeing me knowing no bounds

A lady hiker she unfriended: "Ariela, what have I DONE?!?"

Going toe to toe with a snake that had invaded her space outside the guest room window

Her penchant for grapefruit

Catching her chowing down on a cake sitting on the kitchen counter

Hearing more than once from strangers, "Your dog is so pretty;" "She is well-behaved."

Lying in my car in the church yard at night during WMC, guarding the ladies inside

Her warily socializing with the new black, half-grown black Lab

My cousin Mark trying to overcome her disdain for (some) men, speaking to her in a falsetto

A wire separator in my car to keep Ariela and Sapphire apart and from helping me drive

A child in a school group looking at her and saying, "Is he a dog?" [No, he's an elephant, honey.]

Sapphire and Ariela chasing each other around and around their yard

The vet telling me that the natural cure I was giving her for heartworm wouldn't work. It did.

Hiking the woods with her male buddies Chase and Snowball, and of course Sapphire

Her large, cushy bed under the house

Hearing her snoring from my bedroom

Spoiling her in her golden months: tuna or chicken or beef to eat; breakfast in bed; only hikes she liked

Due to her dementia, not recognizing Grace or me, which was hard

Her still being able to walk and walk in old age, but...

Me chasing her across the street when she leaped up the tall curb to go to the neighbors' front door

Stroking her in the back of my car as she drifted peacefully into doggie heaven

Conquering Chimney Rock

 

I made it to the top! No dog with me this time. Ariela came with me last time I hiked it by myself.