My husband, Ginger, is not an early riser. In fact, by the time she gets up, Nutmeg (me) has usually finished working out, done laundry, and gone to the grocery store. To be really clear, there are two things he’s going to be up early for; alpine skiing (never cross-country) and flying. Yesterday he started with an early morning phone call to say that Skoki, our 14.5 year old black lab, was not doing well. Ginger shot out of bed and attempted to set a land speed record by driving to Canmore to see her dog. She wasn’t doing well, although a visit to the vet seemed to lift her energy a bit, it wasn’t for long.
Our black Labrador retriever, Skoki, was born in Leduc, just outside of Edmonton. Ginger convinced Nutmeg to go for a walk on a snowy Saturday 14 years ago. Nutmeg was pretty sure of two things; you don’t drive to Edmonton “just for fun” and no sane dog lover is going to “just look” at pups. The long and short, naturally, was that Skoki made the trip back south on Highway Two to Calgary. He started in the back seat of our car, that lasted about 5 minutes, before he started crying. Nutmeg quickly succumbed to her motherly pressure and Skoki sat in the front seat on Nutmeg’s lap for the rest of the trip to her new home, and she was very proud of herself for taking the first point in our long relationship.
From the start, Skoki was what one might describe as a bit headstrong. In the early days, walks were determined by the will of an energetic little creature, who was quite clear that he did not want to walk on an icy sidewalk. This was a selective hearing dog from day one. However, if food was involved, she had excellent ears. Over the years, Skoki has been a faithful companion on dog walks, runs and hikes in the mountains. Most of all, she loved people, although she was quite careful with the delivery of affection from them.
Ginger has been absent from school for the past 10 months and returned home just two weeks ago. Skoki was on call the whole time, making sure her mistress (Nutmeg), her dog companion (Jade) and the house were safe and sound. He knew that his time was short and that his master was already home forever, he realized because the piles of his things had begun to accumulate. In his special way, Skoki said goodbye to his best friends yesterday. Earlier this morning, it was clear that he was not going to regain his strength nor his lovely courage. Nutmeg took her for a walk to see the views of the mountains in Canmore and then she said goodbye to her forever. We will miss our good friend, but we know that she is somewhere nearby, pretending to ignore us.
Animals are wonderful beings. They are cunning, sensitive, carefree and individuals. It’s amazing and wonderful how pets can truly become trusted members of the family and companions. For over 14 years, our relationship with Skoki went from marveling at and enjoying the cubs’ antics to deep respect and love for each other. Every morning it would be clear that she had missed us and watched over us the night before. My husband was not lucky enough to grow up with dogs. His family had cats, which are certainly unique personalities, though often they are individuals first and foremost. Skoki was a Labrador with personality, an independent streak and a reserved love for her master, she was truly my husband’s best friend. She will be missed.