With great sadness and breaking hearts we sent our big fuzzy Yuki dog to heaven yesterday. Yuki had a good long life and she filled our lives with smiles and laughter as well as lots of Yuki fur. We miss her so very much.
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| Our Yuki dog. |
Unlike Yuki's brother
Carbon and her little kitty-sister
China, who found us, we chose Yuki from the Humane Society. She was slated to go to a Husky rescue facility, but the paperwork was able to be changed and a week after expressing our interest, we got the call that we could take her home with us. She was about 9 months old—skinny, in need of a flea bath and not used to regular puppy food. It did not take her long to settle in and be part of our family. No doubt, it was
meant to be.
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| Yuki amid the white irises. Right: "What are you doing in the bathtub, Yuki?" |
"Yuki" in Japanese means "snow," and "luck." The "snow" name suited her because of her coloring. The "luck" part was all ours. Yuki had big blue eyes, a fuzzy tail and was about 50 pounds of dog and 30 pounds of white and grey soft, thick fur. A gorgeous dog—the kind you love to hug! When on walks, occasionally by-passers even asked if she was a wolf!
A report card from a sleep-over at The Ark one time said, "Yuki is a good dog and curious about everything!" That's our Yuki dog. We frequently found single socks, dish towels, a washcloth, or a streaming roll of toilet paper in various places around the house. A couple times, we found her in the bathtub.
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| Yuki the snow dog. |
With all that fur, Yuki loved the snow and stayed outside in her yard most of her early years with us. She survived the 2011 tornado that barged through our neighborhood—while in her yard. The fence got crushed from a fallen tree limb but our fuzzy dog survived the havoc of that storm in her sturdy dog house. She was fearless, and thankfully God looked out for our dog that day.
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| Larry and Yuki in the backyard snow. |
Some time after Carbon went to the
Rainbow Bridge, Yuki decided she wanted to be an inside dog and hang out with "her people." With that, she kept China and our shared kitty, Lucy, company inside. Yuki pretty much ran the house and would sleep at the foot of the bed, or in the living room but she especially liked the kitchen and hallway cool ceramic floors.
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| Yuki. |
Yuki was a happy dog... and strong-willed. She could con a dog cookie or a piece of bread from you by doing her Yuki dance. She liked belly rubs and playing chase with her Larry. Because of her white fur, she didn't show her 12-1/2 years of age. Over the last year she developed the typical "senior dog maladies" like arthritis and did well with water therapy at RIVER. She was actually quite a good swimmer and took well to the water, especially for a Husky. She was a real trooper and knew that we and the water therapy were helping her. It was likely a tumor that caused her to lose weight and diminish her always-good appetite. I am grateful for her long happy life and that we were able to share it with her.
I will always love you, my big fuzzy Yuki dog, and I miss you. Rest well, my good doggie. I know you are reunited with Carbon and China at the
Rainbow Bridge and we will meet you all there... sometime in our future.
