In loving memory of Sparky (2011 – 2026)

✎ What funny habit did they have? When he was really excited, he would tap dance on his front two paws. It almost looked like he was trying to play the drums.

I've had several dogs growing up in life with my family, but Sparky was the first dog that was my own. He came to me suddenly one day, a small dog, scared and relinquished at the vet clinic I work at. He was abused by the man in the last house he lived in. Despite his sad start in life, I knew that he was going to be mine. He got me through the hard and sad times in my life. He was a goofy little dog, stubborn in his own way and his clumsy personality always brightened me and my families mood. As he aged, he stopped greeting me at the door like he usually did. I tried not to let it get to me. But this last year, he slowly stopped getting up and being able to walk. Then he stopped eating. The hardest decision in my life was to put him to rest. To this day, I still hope I did the right thing. As of this last week, I just adopted another dog that reminds me a lot of Sparky. It's bittersweet to see the same clumsiness in them.