Sweetheart lived up to her name. May she rest in peace.

Unexpected sad news: Jesse’s dog Sweetheart was lost to us today. Jesse called me when I was still downtown writing, telling me he had taken the dog to the vet & was told that she had a kidney problem that might or might not be helped by medicine, that could have had a better prognosis had it been addressed earlier. She in fact had earlier vet appointments at a different vets two or three months ago, & given antibiotics for what we understood was a recurrent bladder infection. She’d also suffered in the past year or so from hip dysplasia, which has made getting up difficult for her.

In any case, Jesse made a tough call, & had her put to sleep this afternoon. His girlfriend Gina was with him, of which I’m glad. He was pretty torn up about it.

Sweetheart was a mutt with a preponderance of Rottie who we adopted on Jesse’s behalf from Animal Control in August 2009. I don’t have any pics of her when she was a puppy, but I spent lots of time tonight going through other photos & adding to the set I already had on Flickr, & showing them to Jesse & Gina, & all of us sharing memories of a dog who lived up to her name — in spite of the name my cat Vai gave to her: Evil Dog from Hell.

I lost Vai on October 13.  Now Sweetheart’s gone too.

We’ll miss you, Sweetheart. Rest in peace.

Some of my favorite photos of her (captions below photos):

On Homer Spit, Homer, AK, summer 2003.

This young moose, perhaps two or three years old, wandered around our back yard all morning (see other piks in my Anchorage moose set), then came up alongside the house through the carport, & finally to the front of the house, where Sweetheart finally got to see it. Amazingly, she didn’t bark once, just stared fascinated with her nose to the window, until the moose moved onto our front porch, and Sweetheart went to the other side of the door — unable to see the moose, but still fascinated. This was the supreme “Gotcha” moment, with her head cocked to the side, listening intently for whatever that moose might be up to. 18 Jan 2004.

Jesse & Sweetheart resting up after a hike up Powerline Pass, Chugach State Park, Alaska. 13 Jun 2004.

Jesse & Sweetheart, Homer Spit, Homer, Alaska. 3 Jul 2005.

In our backyard, March 2006.

With Ptery (then Rozz) in the Ft. Richardson woods, April 2006.

With our friend Chris on a hike on the Kenai Peninsula, May 2006.

Point Woronzof, Anchorage, August 2006.

“It’s, y’know, a little crowded back here with this bike.” August 2006.

Snowplow! December 2006.

Getting a bath. August 2007.

Holding paws with Jesse, November 2007.  She used to love getting up on her haunches and having her paws held like this — she could sit there for long minutes, just blissing out.

Holding paws with our friend Marcia, January 2008.

Playing dress-up, February 2008.

In the back of my car, September 2009.

Rolling in the snow, March 2010.

Here’s the full slideshow: