In November of my 5th grade year my parents called us out to the backyard. Sitting by them was this skinny, shy, beautiful, one year old pup. The kids who rescued her named her Cricket, after the cricket in Mulan. My first, and only dog. She was the funniest, smartest, happiest, coolest, most fun, nosy, presumptuous dog ever. She was fast. I loved the way she wound bound through the snow like a dear. Her shy, scared, quiet ways didn't last long with our family and she soon became loud and almost always got what she wanted (because we always gave in). She sat on the couch, took up whatever bed she slept in, and begged with the biggest, saddest eyes. She was so obedient. "Do you wanna bath?" Made her stop in her tracks and her ears would go down. She obeyed my dad the best, unless someone else had a treat. She was my mom's shadow and was clearly in distress if she didn't know where my mom was.
When we first got her and my room was upstairs she slept at the foot of my bed every night. In the morning she would nip at our heels to herd us into the kitchen. When I moved to a downstairs bedroom I always kept my door open a crack for her to come in, usually in the morning to wake me up with slobbery kisses.
We would hide under the covers and she would sniff, dig, and tug the blanket off of us until our face was free and she would lick us like we'd been gone for weeks.
Cricket was so smart. We didn't really have to train her, she usually had it down after the second try. She knew all the typical tricks, plus she would shut the back door after coming in from outside.
On excursions to southern Utah we would come across herds of cattle in the road, she would whine until we let her out and she would herd them off the path with a doggy smile.
She was so patient through all we put her through. Many costumes, many blankets over her head, down slides, and up ladders (she was the first dog I'd seen to climb a ladder) and withholding her from Debbie.
She was so much fun. She loved boating with us. She kneeboarded, went on the wave runner, couldn't keep her out of the water, and she was always the first on the tube even before it was blown up.
We couldn't go anywhere without that dog. Even when we tried she would find a way out, or jump the 6ft fence. We were lucky she never got hit by a car. She would bound down the canal road looking for us, or stroll to the laundromat searching for Debbie. She always knew where to go which made it easy to find her, but there were several times she gave us a good scare.
She was in my senior pictures, wedding pictures, and every family picture, because she is family. I've never known a dog with more of a human personality, with just the right amount of pup. The bratty sister I never had :)
She got really fat for a few years, but the last couple years she slimmed down to skinnier than when we got her. Always in good health though. Recently she started to decline, and hasn't quite been her spritey self- she tried though. We knew she would pass soon, but it's still hard to lose the pup that grew up with us. She passed away peacefully last night. She would've been 18 yrs old in November. A good long life for such an awesome dog.
We'll miss you little Cricketa.
