Shopy Steiff … July 15th, 1997 - Nov 16th, 2010

This is Shopy, our monkey girl.

Yes, for those who have to ask, she is a Golden Retriever (sic!).

 

When she finally left us, Shopsy was 13 years and 4 months old. For a large breed like her, she is like into her 90s in human age. Despite her senior age, she keep up with her activities until the last moment. OK, so we are on Glucosamine; we have stopped running in the park; and we need a helping hand to get up the stairs. But we still love to bounce around; going for daily walks etc.

And fwiw, she managed to out live her doggie peers : Molson, Emma, Angie :-(

Memorable Shopsy Moments

  • Paw cleaning: I call this her mommy instinct. As a female, part of her ‘job’ is to keep the kids cleaned. So I think that's why she is such a diligent cleaner. Something when she is really getting into it, she will sing while cleaning herself!
  • Toy stealing: When Kwinter was around, this was one of her favorite pass-time. Forget about the fact that each of them have the same toy, Shopsy will put her toy down and walk over to Kwinter and take his! (And of course, Kwinter will just look up and give us his sad helpless look).
  • Chasing rabbits: We have a family of wild rabbits in our neighbourhood. These rabbits are not scared of people (or dogs) at all. So they will sit there is the backyard until Shopsy comes really close to them before they start moving. And despite Shopsy's agility, she came very close many times to the rabbits many times; but never close enough. As they say ‘close but no cigar’
  • The fight over clipping nails Ever since she was a little girl, we had problems trying to clip her nails. Partly is due to the fact that her nails are dark and therefore hard to see the quick. And partly is due to he furry fuzzy paws. But mostly is due to the fact that she does not like people clipping her nails. So it usually turn into a two person job to do her nails (one to hold her down, the other to do it quickly). Very recently, I caught her sleeping at night … so I decided to sneak a quick clip of one of her dewclaw. Well, I did sneak the clip in. But as soon as the clipper clicked, she stood up and do her tail wagging, I don't like what just happened pose. Good luck if I had to do another one at that point!
  • Being the living alarm clock: I would not say this is her favorite activity. But when she was younger, we can always count on Shopsy waking us up in the morning. Regardless of the day of week, she will call us sometime around 6am to let her out of her crate. So, we figured that he needed to get out and do her business; or get fed. But then a few years ago, we changed our routine and leave the crate door open. And from that point on, stopped her daily calling … go figure!