THE BEST GIRL
I often see social media posts from friends and strangers saying their dog is the best. That’s nice, I’m sure they believe that, but they are wrong. My Yoshi girl was the best.
Yoshi was a brown miniature Shar-Pei with wrinkles upon wrinkles. Unlike the full size Shar-Peis, she never lost any of her wrinkles. As a puppy, she had a huge head and a tiny wrinkled body. She looked like a tiny hippo!
From the moment I got her, I didn’t want to be away from her. Of course, I had a full time job that I had to go to during the day, but I rushed home as soon as I could to spend time with her. I terrorized everyone I worked with showing them pictures of her. Like a proud new mom showing off every single thing a baby does, I showed off everything Yoshi did. She was so darn cute, ya’ll!
Every morning when I left for work, I gave her a treat. In the evenings around 8pm, I gave her a treat. She was so smart, she learned to tell time. Every night around 8pm, she came to me and stared at me with eyes wide in anticipation. Sometimes she would sit and stare, other times she’d stand and stare. But, she’d stare at me until I gave her a treat. In fact, the picture with this blog is of her doing just that. It was 8pm and she was ready for her treat.
Yoshi really had my mom, her “Nana”, trained. Yoshi loved peanut butter and she’d go to Nana every 5 minutes and beg her for peanut butter. Of course, Nana gave Yoshi what she wanted. And, she knew what aggravated my dad. She would constantly sit in his spot. If, when at my parents’ house, my dad got out of his chair, she jumped up in his chair and curled up. He would get so angry because he didn’t want his “butt to smell like a dog.” But, she did it every single time.
Don’t even think about getting in her spot though. She had a favorite place on the couch to curl up and sleep. If someone sat in that spot, she’d sit and stare until they moved. Her stare down would start a few feet away. She’d inch closer and closer over time until her nose would be inches from the person’s legs, still sitting and staring at them.
Yoshi wasn’t a lap dog, but she always laid close enough to touch me. If we sat on couch, at least one paw was touching me at all times. She loved her morning loves from me, and allowed me to love on her at other times of the day, but only for so long. She wanted love and attention on her terms and in her time. She was not shy about walking away when she had enough. And, she could say no to anyone at any time. She didn’t let strangers pet her, but she’d walk up to them and sniff them. She was better than most humans about setting boundaries and sticking to them!
She was my constant companion. When life was devastatingly hard, she was there. When I didn’t think I could go on another day, she was there. When my world was turned upside down, she was there. She never judged me, never condemned me, and never changed her mind about me. Regardless of the chaos around me, she would “hug” me each morning and when I returned home from work by burying her head in my chest when I sat on the floor to pet and love on her. She’d sometimes move her head to my shoulder to be cradled in my arms. This would last a few minutes. And then, at 8pm, she’d beg for treats.
She loved me fiercely. She trusted me. A vet once told me he was shocked at how he was able to work on her as he did, with me standing and holding her, that it was a sign of how much she trusted me. He had not encountered many Shar-Peis that were so mild mannered in that stressful environment. And, she did trust me, including to the very end as I held her when she took her last breath.
If you’ve read my book, Equal Protection Under God, you’ve read about her, and the decision I had to make about her life. She fought hard the last few years of her life through illnesses until it was evident she couldn’t fight any longer, and I had to make an incredibly tough decision. Many of us paw parents are faced with that decision and we do what is most honoring to the love and devotion our furbabies showed us through the years, even when that decision is extremely hard on us.
So, today, on this 5 year anniversary of her crossing the Rainbow Bridge, I write this tribute to my girl. My Yoshi girl. She is forever missed and forever loved.
For more pictures of Yoshi, including her puppy pictures, check out my IG page at tanyadhendrix
Yoshi
July 3, 2002 - April 14, 2017