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| Name: |
Scherzo
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Age: |
Deceased, 11-1/2 years old
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| Gender: |
Male |
Breed: |
Dalmatian |
| Home: |
Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada |
This
is Scherzo. When he passed away just last month, his face was just
as beautiful as you see in this picture (taken about age three). And his
spots were tastefully arranged -- not just random spots. As a matter of
fact, part of the reason for his name is because if you drew musical
staff-lines on his side and played the notes indicated thereon, it would
sound like a Canadian 20th century musical composition! A "scherzo" is
an orchestral movement, usually like a quick dance, with an element of a
joke. Fitted him to a 'T.' He was lively and quick right to the end.
And he had a sense of humour that could always make us laugh.
Scherzo was always very independent-minded, but at the same time he was
anxious to please. He was also perhaps the most affectionate dog we
have ever had the privilege of knowing. He loved to be with us on the
waterbed, and usually managed to be taking up more than half the space.
He would crawl down under the covers and remain there for an hour or
more on cold mornings. If you stroked his smooth coat, it was always
pleasant. And he enjoyed it immensely, murmuring contentedly as you did
so.
He also loved to be warm in every situation. He would sit beside the
wood-stove and whine for a fire to be put on. When it was, he would
climb up on the couch and go to sleep, groaning contentedly as he did
so. One time, we were kind of ignoring his pleas for a fire for a long
time. So he finally went to the wood-box, pulled out a chunk of wood,
and dropped it on our daughter's toes, like "Here - you need one of
these!" She got the hint, and started the fire.
He needed first one, then the other cruciate ligament in his back legs
repaired. The recuperation time is about four months, during which he
wasn't to be allowed to run (imagine that with a Dalmatian!), and was
always on a leash, even on our extensive farm. He always loved his
privacy when doing his business, so this was a really ignominious
situation for him. But at the end, when we could simply put him out, he
stood there looking as if to say "Don't you have to watch me do this?"
A few years ago we had a black lab, Rondo (who died about 3-1/2 years
ago) who was completely fixated on her ball. So Scherzo would sometimes
steal it -- he wasn't the least bit interested -- hanging it out of the
side of his mouth like "Nyah! nyah! nyah!" and scampering around in
front of her. Recently, with our present black lab, Theo, he would do
the same thing, and poor Theo, who is even more OCD about his ball, is
even more frustrated with the stolen game-ball!
Please enjoy seeing and reading about our wonderful Scherzo. We had
11-1/2 wonderful years with him, and miss him a lot.
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