Saying Goodbye to Ria

I had to say goodbye to my beautiful Samoyed bitch Ria. For a dozen years she has been a constant source of joy, whether in the show ring which was her favorite place or visiting all the children at obedience class.

Ria was special. She made me look so good in the ring. I didn’t have to do anything; she could and did show herself. One judge asked me if I didn’t feel redundant since she was quite capable of winning with no help from anyone. Her signature biscuit ears were always on alert and her movement was flawless. She knew the ring so well that I could have shown .her off lead and not missed a step.

A number of years ago she was injured with a terrible blow to the head from, what we think but couldn’t prove, was a slingshot. She ended up having both her eyes removed. However, nothing changed for her. She stayed the same Ria, beloved by the other dogs and bossing them around. The only difference came when someone tried to stare her down and discovered that didn’t work since she couldn’t see. She would blithely walk up and steal a bone right out of their mouth. Right up to the last, if you said to her “show dog”, she’d trot to a perfect stack in front of you, staring at bait that only she could see and hold the pose till released.

She was my inspiration, my shadow, my loving friend and I will miss her.