My beloved puppy Osa Girl passed away today so I though it appropriate to take some time to reflect on the great dog she was and some wonderful memories I had with her.
My freshmen year of college (August 2003) my roommates and I decided we wanted a dog to help protect us and the house. So my roommate Lisa and I went to the Humane Society to find one. We were not wanting a puppy because they were just too much work for a bunch of college girls. So we took a few older dogs out to play with. Osa turned out to be the only dog who wanted anything to do with us. She played with us and responded to us when we called her. Plus she was the only dog in the whole place that was potty trained. It was love at first sight. We were told she was a 5 year old Rottweiler Labrador Mix. Not sure if she had just turned five or had been five but I always used August as her birthday.
We brought her home and it did not take her long at all to settle in. She quickly clung to my side and could often be found at my feet or the foot of the shower when I was showering. She went everywhere with me. She loved going on walks and being hugged. In her youthful days she even enjoyed going on runs with me. She never was into fetch and kind of looked at you like you were crazy if you even tried to play fetch with her. She had a killer instinct when it came to cats and she killed at least 10 cats in our old neighborhood (sad I know, but there was a colony of stray cats so there were so many around us). She once jumped out of the car window because she saw a cat and had to chase after it. Another time a cat decided our backyard was a good place to have her litter of kittens, needless to say none of the kittens made it out of the yard. What can I say? I know it is sad but it really was part of her doggie instinct. She actually escaped many times from our backyard in our college house as she was chasing after cats. Good thing for tags. I had multiple random calls from neighbors saying, ‘I have your dog.’ Thankfully she made it back safely after all of those excursions.
At the pound they told us that the reason the owners gave her up was that she was an Alpha dog. I did not see this come into play until she started getting around other female dogs. She was not to be messed with around them. I had to break up a few fights. She rarely ever started them but always wanted to finish them. However, over time she mellowed out a lot and quite enjoyed being around other dogs and going to the dog park.
We often took her to the mountains with us and I never saw her more happy and spry than when she was running through the snow. Just this past New Year’s she even did this. It always seemed to make her forget she was getting old and instead feel like a spring chicken. Poor thing always paid for it the next few days but she didn’t seem to mind.
She had some quirky things about her. She was stubborn as all get up and would not listen if Austin asked her to do something, but would if I asked her to do something. She still had her dewclaws and they were long and would scratch you if you weren’t careful. She had halitosis since the day I got her. Her kisses were always sweet but always smelly. She had a ball. I know this sounds weird but it is true. It was a growth of some kind that got larger over time. It hung almost in the exact same spot as a male dog’s male parts hang. I had a doctor look at it once who said it was a growth that did not need to be removed, only if I wanted it to be removed for aesthetic reasons. Weird I know. Her tail was broken. It was like that since the day I got her. The last two inches of her tail had broken at some point in time before I got her and had healed at an almost 90 degree angle. She was full of character and quirks!
One of my favorite moments with Osa was the day we brought James home. There are so many dogs that react poorly or not at all to babies coming home. Charlie wanted nothing to do with James, but not Osa. She came right over and licked his face as if to say ‘hello Baby James, welcome, I love you already.’ She was very patient with James letting him play with her tags and pet her even if it wasn’t so gentle. In the past few months she didn’t have as much patience with him but James seemed to understand and left her be.
She was an old girl and I never expected her to live for so long. She seriously always looked as if she was smiling and was the most loyal dog I have ever known. She has been getting older and slower lately and I knew her time was coming soon. I prayed that I would not have to put her down, and that prayer was answered. She took a turn for the worse yesterday and passed away today naturally. Thankfully she did not suffer long at all.
I had 10 wonderful years with her and she was so good to me. Thank you Osi Bear for all the wonderful memories. I love you girl!
Put on Love 