RIP Snuggles

She was the first dog either my wife and I ever owned, and probably the last (given all of our travel).  But she was awesome.  In the picture above, she is in her favorite spot, able to interact with the family at near-eye-level.

She lived nearly 13 years and survived two previous bouts with death -- an attack by a coyote and a disease that caused her to waste away to barely 7 pounds (in her youth we used to call her the world's largest Maltese as she tipped the scales in the high teens).  She was named by my (then) 8-year-old daughter and my son and I spent her lifetime trying to find names to call her that did not involve yelling SNUGGLES! all over the neighborhood.  Usually, we defaulted to "Snuggs".  As you can see, she was not really the showdog Ferrari-style Maltese -- more the all weather 4x4 model.

I feel guilty as she probably bonded with me the least, but she spent her final hours in my arms (as the rest of the family was out of town).  We will miss her.