Remembering Beautiful Vida

Second Summer

Second Summer

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Vida crossed the rainbow bridge Thursday 5. October in south-eastern Norway after a short battle with cancer. Vida was a German Shepherd dog born on 22. March 2004.

Vida is survived by her younger adopted sister, Noomi (also a German Shepherd), and human companion, Mikkel, together with whom she shared a wonderful life filled with forest walks, shopping trips to Sweden, massage sessions, dog treats and everything else a dog might desire.
Vida_2017-grayscale_400x600.png
Vida (22. March 2004 - 5. October 2017)

A POEM FOR THE GRIEVING ...

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die...

--Mary Frye
 
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Vida, you are beautiful.

My heartfelt condolences to Mikkel and Noomi. May sharing your grief with each other bring you some measure of comfort.
 
Thank you so much. <3

My sweet Vida. I will love her forever. She was such a beautiful dog with a special soul.

I got Vida February 2006. She was almost two years then. She moved right in here, and soon learned the sweet things about life. Like sleeping in the couch, and I had to buy a bigger bed so all the dogs fit in. Or to be correct, some space for me too.

She started her life as a security guard dog here, but after a back injury she was retired from that. So we practiced tracking and obedience, and she loved it so much. At the age of five, we started with the Nordic Working Dog program (only Norway and Sweden have that program in the world). And she did a great job, and we excelled to highest class. A knee injury retired her from that, but we practiced it as long as she wanted. One day she didn't care about it anymore, and it was of cause fine.

She has been to camping trips both in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. And she loved it. Sleeping in the tent on the air madrass. I had to buy a doble sized one of cause so she could sleep on it too.

And walks. A lot of walks. Both long ones that took the entire day, but lately only short walks due to age. 13,5 years is a good age for a GSD. We swam in the summer, and in younger age, went skiing in the winter. Last fall we rented a cabin in the mountains so the dogs could have a good time there.

She started to struggle with her back six years ago. But we kept her body good with chiropractor visits and massages. Without those treatments, she hadn't had such a long life. But this time I couldn't save her.

There is so much to tell about Vida, even though I allready told so much about her.

Noomi and me are left behind now. Missing her very much. She took a part of my heart and soul with her, that will be missing until the day we meet again.
 
Vida's treat rules:
- if you are going out of the house, I need a treat
- if you use more than 1 minutes to get out of the house after the treat, it's annulled and I need a new one
- if Noomi have to clean her ears, I need a treat
- I need a treat after breakfast Saturday and Sunday since it's weekend
- if you have treats in the pocket on walks, I can come and get one whenever I want
- if my dinner is served much earlier than yours, I need a treat when you eat
- always bring presents if you are away for a day or more
- when I want a treat, you know it's not possible to say no. I will win, just surrender!
 
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Mikkel said:
Vida's treat rules:
- if you are going out of the house, I need a treat
- if you use more than 1 minutes to get out of the house after the treat, it's annulled and I need a new one
- if Noomi have to clean her ears, I need a treat
- I need a treat after breakfast Saturday and Sunday since it's weekend
- if you have treats in the pocket on walks, I can come and get one whenever I want
- if my dinner is served much earlier than yours, I need a treat when you eat
- always bring presents if you are away for a day or more
- when I want a treat, you know it's not possible to say no. I will win, just surrender!
Click to expand...
Haha, this is awesome. :)
 
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Vida wasn't allowed to sleep in the couch or bed where she was before she came to me. But here they are of cause allowed to do it. Both Bogar and Nirm sat in the couch, and she wanted too of cause. So she first put one leg up and waited to see what happened. When no one told her to go down, she put another leg and waited. Then the third, and then she found out she was allowed to sleep there. So she moved up in both the couch and the bed. Best position in bed, was sleeping on my arm, half way on her back with legs on top of me and her head against my head.

Vida was very protecive to her pack. But she was never harder against other dogs than she had to to get them away from my other dogs. A small dog will only get a light push to get a way, a bigger dog would be pushed away much harder if they tried to attack one of the other dogs. She never started a fight. She even saved me for getting attacked once. :)

I'm so happy for being able to be a part of her life. That I was the chosen one to be her best friend.
 
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Mikkel said:
I'm so happy for being able to be a part of her life. That I was the chosen one to be her best friend.
Click to expand...

You were both very, very lucky to find each other.

It's easy to see her beautiful soul, just from the photograph above.

She took a part of my heart and soul with her, that will be missing until the day we meet again.
Click to expand...

This I understand, so much.
 
Vida and I had one night with "man and Beast vs nature". And went tenting in the forrest. Vida even carried her own back pack with some of out food. Took the Metro to the forrest, and walked quite a while before putting up our tent buy a lake.

The night was so terrible cold, even though this was in the summer. So Vida demanded to share my sleeping bag. No one slept at all.

So I checked when the Metro started again in the morning, and we was waiting at it when it came. Happy to be home again.

We both loved tenting after this, but in a bit better conditions. :p
 
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