Soozi Went on Ahead

We have heavy hearts these past few days. Our dear sweet Soozi was bitten by a large poisonous snake and did not survive. It was a regular day with our early morning walk followed by quiet time on their beds outside the kitchen door while M and I ate breakfast. Mid-morning, I let Pinta off her collar and they dashed off down the property probably chasing the monkeys that are eating our coconuts. They were around and about for most of the day. We allowed them to run freely and often we wouldn't see them for an hour or so. I was gambling with the Universe that our "laissez faire" approach to allowing them to live a hound dog's life would bring them back safely. I thought that my bet was paying off until last Thursday when I was brutally reminded that the House always wins.

Our neighbor and friend Lilo who knows our dogs well was moving cattle up the neighborhood road when he heard Pinta baying. He suspected something was wrong and walked up into the pasture. He found Soozi laying on her side with Pinta howling next to her. He saw blood oozing from Soozi's hind leg. Lilo's lived in this neighborhood all his life and knows a snake bite when he sees it. Our other neighbor Roy had his phone and called us. I ran up the road while M got the car. Her eyes were bright when I arrived but she was in great pain. Roy carried her to the car and I sat with her in the back seat, stroking her and reassuring her. Pinta was behind our seat in the storage area. She spent most of the trip with her front paws over the back of our seat trying to get up beside me. It's an hour to the vet and we had called ahead. They were ready to receive Soozi and came out to carefully carry her from the car. The vet gave her an antibiotic IV and injections. We didn't know how long it had been since she was bitten and she was very swollen. The poison was too much for her, it shut down her kidneys and she died.

We brought her home on Friday morning and now she's at rest in a shady area near her brother, Salty. Pinta and Soozi were Yin and Yang, their personalities and energies complementing and feeding off each other. They hunted in the forest, wrestled in the hammock and jockeyed for a place on the rug next to M's side of the bed. Their lively interactions were endlessly amusing.

Soozi was our sentinel taking seriously her assignment of surveilling the property. She was always joyous when M and I returned home. With little yips of joy, she'd run to me with her tail wagging so furiously that her slim body waved like an ocean swell and her front paws stretching forward ready to jump up in greeting. Pinta is on a long leash all the time now.

We walk her 4-5 times a day so that she can express her endless energy. When we are walking, her tail tick tocks back and forth with bright eagerness and she sniffs the ground and the breeze with concentration. Though when we are home, she sleeps most of the time. And she happily eats her meals and accepts treats. It's hard to know what she feels.

M and I feel Soozi's absence. As M said, Soozi was a good teacher. She showed us what unconditional love is . It’s very quiet here without Soozi’s vibrant energy. My little alarm clock is silent now.