Two years ago we were chosen by a lovely family to take in their precious pup when their lifestyle and her were no longer compatible.

Within a few weeks we had broken her of the “no dogs on the furniture” rule from her previous life and she took to the couch and the bed very quickly.  She was a fast learner.

After a few months, she fell wholely and completely in love with her new people.  She would lay upside-down in your lap, gazing lovingly into your eyes.

As we got to know her, we found she was toy crazy!  Squeaky toys, balls, expensive plush “indestructible” dinosaurs were desqueaked, chased and shredded into teeny-tiny pieces.  Yet she never once, so much as looked at toys that weren’t hers.

And despite her destructive nature with the toys, she was the one that when you picked her up with for a cuddle, the googly-woogly eyes were on you.  She was the softest, quietest girl.  I’d often look around for her and she’d be sitting quietly a few feet away watching my every move.

When we moved to Australia, about 1 year after she came to be with us, of course she came too – this was the ultimate retirement/holiday for an aging doglet.  Summer was hot and sticky so she got a short, back and sides like her smooth coated sister.  All the better for swimming!

Unlike every other dachshund we have known, this one… swim crazy!  Our new home in Australia came with a pool, and she took to boogie-boarding in the pool like a champ.  From the boogie-board she moved onto diving.

One hint of the swimwear coming out and she was bounding around with excitement waiting for someone, anyone, to go in the pool.

Her water crazy didn’t stop at the pool, she was equally fond of swimming at the gorgeous Gold Coast beaches.   She loved our adventures exploring our new home.  One hint of an outing in the car to somewhere new, and she was flying down the hallway to the garage.

She was quite possibly the smartest dachshund we have ever been blessed with.  She learnt new words very fast.  Her first family were bilingual and she knew a number of commands in Africaan’s.  Unfortunately our grasp of the language wasn’t as good as hers.  New words learnt in the last year included “swim” and “carrot”.  I’m sure she understood more that we gave her credit for.  We constantly underestimated her intelligence.

Upon moving into the new house, she knew how to open the slider door to the bathroom on first morning she was here.  She also worked out that if “Grandma” didn’t open the laundry door, she could go out to the deck and go the long way around.

Thursday before last, my brother’s family arrived from New Zealand.  She was delighted to see her human “cousins” aged 13, 10 & 7.  She adored having someone to play with again.

The next day was a full day out with the Kiwi cuzzies.  Walks, walks and more walks.  It was super awesome!

Last saturday, the doglets stayed at home as they were exhausted after their busy day on Friday.  We got home had cuddles for a bit and then the doglets had their meals.  Everything was completely normal.

I took them out to the garden for a wee, then came back to the kitchen.  She was back by my feet a few minutes later after doing her business, awaiting any scraps that might be in the offing.

She had a seizure or possibly a heart attack on the kitchen floor.  She came around within a couple of minutes and we bundled her into the car to go to the emergency vet.  She didn’t survive the journey.

The vet tried CPR but to no avail.

My precious baby was gone.

My love, my heart.

RIP my precious.

May the pool gate in heaven always be open and the supply of squeaky toys infinite.