In Memory of The Life of Riley

What can one say about the dog who stole our hearts? We lost our girl Riley much too soon on March 9, 2019 after a short but valiant fight with malignant melanoma of the toe. It has been such a painful loss that it taken us 6 months to write this memorial. Riley was a fighter and still had her outgoing, comical personality to nearly the last day when we had to say goodbye. At the end, although due to the cancer she could not walk very well, she still had the drive to chase a squirrel around the tree in the front yard and look and wait for our neighbor, Jerry, who brought her treats each morning. She had him trained so well! She was the happy neighborhood greeter, waiting at the end of our driveway saying hello to everyone who passed, wagging her tail and carrying her stuffed animals, “baby” or “beary” in her mouth. If a dog can smile, Riley was always smiling.  Her unconditional love made you feel so important! Riley was the best dog ever; she was pure love and joy. She was silly, intelligent and funny and sweet. She could be stubborn – she did things on her own terms and knew how to live her best life. These words make her sound almost human, and sometimes it seemed that she was. She was too smart for our own good and at times the sounds she made sounded like she was trying to have a conversation. She loved treats and her toys and was so proud when she brought in the newspaper and the mail. She knew when she was being bad, escaping through the electronic fence. The life of Riley ended far too soon, but we are so grateful to have had her in our lives for 9 wonderful, sweet, funny years. More than anything she was our family, our loyal friend, our baby-est girl, and she has been missed more than we can say.