Dolly was a spayed female Tibetan Mastiff we rescued at the age of two years. She was small for her breed. She came to us scarred from dog bites, with an ear infection, itchy inflamed feet and severe allergies. The allergies eventually were controlled by daily antihistamine and regular immunotherapy injections, but the antihistamine made Dolly sleepy much of the time. She never was truly healthy, but she never complained. One would be hard-pressed to find a dog more affectionate. Her goal in life must have been to see how many people could fall in love with her. She may have set a record in her seven years on this earth.

One of Dolly’s favorite things to do was to raid candy dishes. She held that anything in a dish at dog height was free for the taking. She had a good nose for finding things. She once found a bag of moldy gourds that had been misplaced at her grandparents’ house. Dolly was multifaceted. She was an obedience school graduate, but also spent part of her life helping her Great Pyrenees siblings protect sheep. Dolly was very loyal to her dogs and sheep. She would never let a strange dog endanger her charges. Dolly was as strong as she was tender and as stubborn as she was giving. I only wish we could go back in time and have her be healthy. She was called to the bridge by liver failure. It seems I blinked my eyes and she was gone. She is dearly missed.