Winnipesaukee Forum - Holly C 2014

The all too brief but very meaningful life of Holly C came to an end on April 3, 2019, following a brave and dignified battle with lymphoma.

Born May 23, 2014 to a long line of outstanding German Shepherds, Holly joined our family in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire at the age of ten weeks. As a puppy, she spent many hours at the Wolfeboro Dog Park, regardless of the weather, playing with her favorite soccer ball and her friends Elle, Grady, Sunshine, Nala, Maizie, Safira,Winnie, Wrigley, Francis, and Marla. During the summer, she would come home wet and muddy. In the winter, her Dad would come home frozen.

She enjoyed late night rides to the Post Office, protecting her home from passers-by and alerting all that the UPS man was in the neighborhood. She was very serious about her part-time job of monitoring the neighbors’ homes for signs of suspicious activity – despite the fact that the neighbors were unaware that she was on their payroll. When we asked her breeder if she was likely to be a barker, he said she would bark if someone came into the yard. We didn’t realize that she would define the yard as anything north of Manchester.

Holly had two favorite games. One was called “sun,” and involved chasing the reflection of the sun from her Dad’s watch. The second was catch. Unlike most dogs, Holly did not play “fetch;” she learned to throw a ball with remarkable accuracy. Countless hours were spent tossing a ball across the kitchen floor. It was not unusual to be standing over the kitchen sink and feel the bump of a ball on the ankle, and turn to look at the thrower on the other side of the room waiting for a return throw.

Holly had a remarkable ability to communicate; her family often said that she spoke as effectively as many people they had met. With a look from her big, expressive brown eyes and a nod of her head, she was able to get her message across as clearly as one would with the spoken or written word. She was a remarkably well behaved dog; with the exception of a youthful indiscretion involving a leg of the coffee table and the occasional nap on the good couch, her conduct was exemplary. Being a naturally regimented German Shepherd, right to the end she maintained an average seven second response time to the window to bark at whoever opened the garage door. She had a loud, ferocious bark, which belied the fact that she did not have a mean bone in her body; she was gentle, shy, timid, and loving.

More than anything, she was devoted to her family, and loved us deeply and unconditionally. If someone was home, she was seldom more than a few feet away. On more than one occasion, while packing for a trip, we found that she had placed one of her toys in our suitcase. She was the third dog to grace our lives. All were wonderful pets, but Holly was exceptional. Before her, we would have questioned the expense of chemotherapy to spend just a few more months with a dog. We would have questioned why anyone would want an eighty pound dog crowding them out of their bed. And we certainly would have ridiculed people who would write an obituary for a dog – not to mention commission a portrait. She obviously changed all of that – proof of her impact on us.

On Holly’s behalf, we would like to thank the staff of Winter Harbor Veterinary Hospital for caring for her, and Dr. Kelvin Kow and his staff at Port City Veterinary Referral Hospital for giving us a few precious additional months with her. That time was bittersweet, as we knew that our outwardly healthy dog would soon be gone, but it provided us with a special opportunity to appreciate her, to enjoy our time with her, and to make her final days as full and happy as we could. We would be remiss if we did not thank the staff at the Lakes Region Pet Resort, where Holly enjoyed her vacations as much as her family enjoyed ours.

If a dog’s mission in life is to provide a human family with loyalty, devotion, and unconditional love, Holly accomplished hers well beyond all reasonable expectations. Her life was far too short, and we will grieve her untimely loss for a long time. But words cannot adequately express how grateful we are that we were able to spend these four years with her, how much we enjoyed our time with her, and how much we learned from her. She reflected all the good qualities and values that we, as humans, should strive for.

Thank you, Holly, for being part of our lives, and for being the best dog anyone could ask for. Rest in peace, little girl.