Goodbye Sweet Molly

It's hard to say goodbye to a friend and especially one with sparkling brown eyes, a wavy, silken coat that begs to be touched, a stubby tail that never stops wiggling, boundless energy and a loving, generous heart.  It was with great sorrow that today I learned that sweet Molly, my brother’s family’s beloved Brittany spaniel, has succumbed to kidney failure and other age-related issues.  She is buried at the farm where she enjoyed so many years of happiness with her family and her dog cousins.  

I have known Molly since she joined Allan and Jefflyn’s family in 2005 as a bright-eyed, wiggly pup.  Along with Lucky Dog, Nickie and Feathers she made up the original Bagley Pack that roamed our farm from one end to the other, in pursuit of squirrels, bunnies, deer and the occasional skunk.  

My first pictures of Molly are from 2006, when she joined Lucky Dog, Nickie and Feathers, racing across the pastures with mad abandon,

and swimming in the stock tanks

or cooling off in the water troughs,

or the dog swimming pool at our house.

Molly was a hunting dog.  She searched tirelessly for game, either on command or just on her own if no hunters were present.  

One of my favorite memories is of the time when she plunged into the button willows on our tank dam and emerged with a racing pigeon that had tired and taken shelter there.  When I asked, she dutifully surrendered the pigeon, which was only a little the worse for wear.  It was subsequently returned to its owner, presumably to race again another day.

Molly loved her time with our dogs.  We always knew when Allan and Jef arrived at the farm, because the first thing Molly did when she exited the car was to race up the hill to see if her dog cousins were there.  She also loved to share meals with them.  (Everyone knows that someone else’s dinner is always better than one’s own!).  Many mornings I stumbled into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, only to find Molly on the front porch, smiling happily and wagging her whole back end in anticipation of breakfast. 

Her internal clock kept good time, and she was usually on hand for dog supper.  And when it was beggar lice season, she wore a t-shirt like her cousins to keep off the burrs.

Molly was a perpetual motion machine.  In the early years, she and Nickie would run for hours, seemingly never tiring, in search of something to chase…and hopefully catch.  After we lost Feathers, Lucky Dog and Nickie, Molly became the Pack matriarch.  She was never the most assertive dog, but she happily played tug-the-stick with Kota or ran the pasture with Rue.  Even in her last years, she still had more stamina than any of the other dogs, and never lost her zest for life.

Molly helped to indoctrinate Kota and Rue, as well as Clover and Zeva, my nieces’ family dogs, into proper Pack behavior.  We always laughed because Molly, like Nickie and Feathers, learned from Lucky Dog that the proper way to pee was to lift one’s leg.  Here, Molly demonstrates to Clover how it should be done.  This behavior has been passed down from dog to dog and is a part of how Bagley dogs and their cousins mark their territory. 

We will miss our Molly.  She has been as much a part of my life as my own dogs, and just as special.  I love the piece that someone sent to me when I lost my Nickie:

And it came to me that every time I lose a dog, they take a piece of my heart with them, and every new dog who comes into my life gifts with a piece of their heart.  If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog and I will become as generous and loving as they are.  

I don't know the author, but I do know that when we lost Molly, she took a piece of my heart with her. 

Rest in Peace my sweet Molly.  I know I will feel your spirit, as I do the presence of Lucky Dog, Feathers and Nickie, when I walk those pastures you loved so much.