Diva

Diva came to live with us 2-1/2 years ago. She had lost her owner of 11-1/2 years and was understandably distraught, especially since nine months earlier her pack of four Scotties had been broken up due to the owner’s illness. We had adopted one of that pack, Diva’s 9-year-old daughter Deedle, who was adjusting but still anxious. When we learned Diva was available we jumped at the opportunity to reunite them. They very quickly re-acclimated to each other and became inseparable. They coordinated everything they did – lying in the same position side by side sometimes, mirror images nose-to-nose at others. They “marched” together through the house with near-military precision.

 

Diva was very bright, disproving the adage about not teaching an old dog new tricks. She threw herself into new games with gusto. She’d retrieve a plastic canister, rolling it with her nose. She would tease me by stopping short where I could not quite reach it and wait for her treat. I’d say “bring it” and she’d nudge it a bit. I’d repeat and she’d nudge it a little less. By the third or fourth time, she was just delicately touching without moving it and looking at me for her treat. She added her own mischievous twists to every game we played, sometimes teasing Deedle by reversing direction when they were running through the play tunnels.

 

The photo is the first time Diva commandeered my chair when I left for something. Deedle had been doing it regularly and Diva was still a relative newcomer, learning the ways of her new household. She was sitting there when I returned looking proud as a peacock. After that, there were always two dogs in my chair when I returned.

 

Nothing lasts forever, and Diva’s age and Cushings disease finally caught up with her. It was a wonderful couple of years, all too short but great for all four of us.