Grace, our Hobo

by Debi Greene
(Oakville ON Canada)

We met Susie in 2011 (later named Grace)when we went to see Dr. Carol Graham. We introduced Grace to our 4 year old Pyr, Max. She was about 8 months old when we took her home to see if she would be a good fit for our family. She had a wry mouth and she was just a “little Pyr”. She got along well with Max and we decided to adopt her and make her part of our family.
We changed her name to Grace because my husband said that it was by the grace of God that we rescued her or was it her who rescued us? We enrolled her in obedience training and made sure to socialize her. Not long after Grace joined our family, Max got sick and died. Grace was alone and she was a very loving girl, especially with men. She loved to be close to my husband as long as he was touching her.
We decided to add another Pyr to our family. We brought Phyllis home and then a year later we added Jackson to our family. All three were close in age and they all got along. They became their own pack.
Grace was a sweet girl. She was generally very healthy. She had a few teeth removed over her lifetime after breaking them from sneezing. She had a few quirks, like covering up her food using a towel and her nose to cover it. We always wondered if that came from never knowing where her next meal was coming from? An odd quirk was she liked to sleep with her head underneath furniture. She could spot a bug across the room and jump up and chase it. She liked to chase squirrels, birds and the occasional possum. Being a rescue and surviving on her own we nicknamed her Hobo, (like the TV show, The Littlest Hobo and later loving changed to Hoba). Hoba was a good jumper. She loved to jump on to our retaining wall and run back and forth. Once on the back wall she would place her front paws on the fence of our neighbour and peer in their yard. She did like to bark but our neighbours did not appreciate it. We used a spray bottle and would spray near her and she usually stopped barking. She loved her walks with the pack and protecting them all. She was very alert to her surroundings. She was a great watch dog. She liked her bedtime. She slept on our bed with us to start but later would settle on their own Queen sized bed, also in our room.
It was sad to watch her get older and not be able to jump on the back wall, or jump on the bed and eventually unable to climb the stairs to bed. She started to sleep on her own and she started getting weak. As we all do, she began aging and it was hard to watch our sweet girl become an old dog. We tried to keep her comfortable and she was always loved. On September 24 2024 at the age of 14 we said goodbye to our sweet Grace, our Hobo. Find Jackson, Hoba and both of you run free sweet girl. You were so loved, thanks for being a good girl. One day we will see each other again at the Rainbow Bridge.