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There are a lot of reasons for one wanting to improve their outdoor living space. For me, one of the big reasons was wanting to give my dog, Zelda, a fun place to romp around. We spent plenty of our lives together living in condos, town homes, and basement apartments. So when I finally had the chance to give her a yard befitting of a playful corgi, I jumped on it immediately.
I don’t have children, so Zelda was my baby. She was my partner in crime. She was this goofy little fluff ball full of personality, as is typical of corgis. She was content doing whatever mom wanted to do, and that was really appreciated during those hard times when energy only permitted watching my favorite comedy shows from the comfort of my couch. With Zelda nestled snugly behind my legs.
Life was getting easier as I got older. Living circumstance changed in ways that I could finally start living life with Zelda in such a way that she deserved. And the first step was to give her grass. She really didn’t ask for much.
Zelda passed away unexpectedly on March 23, 2018, two weeks shy of her 8th birthday. Way too young. As I write this, I’m still in shock, raw from grief, and reeling from how we got to this point. A few weeks ago, I noticed that Zelda seemed to be bothered from an apparent ear infection as she was walking funny and shaking her head. I wasn’t wrong. She had a minor ear infection. But the real problem that we didn’t know at the time was that she had a large mass in her brain. And it grew very large, very quickly. We learned about the mass 3 days ago. We played ball with her that morning. By Friday morning, she couldn’t walk. And it was apparent that the best thing I could do for her was the ultimate kindness.
You don’t realize how much these little creatures are apart of you until they’re gone. As I’m coming to terms with life without Zelda, I’m realizing how many plans I made with her in mind. She was a major part of my daily routines in ways I didn’t even think about until now. It’s been comforting filling those realizations with some of my favorite memories. It fuels that eternal gratefulness I have that this funny little corgi found her way into my life.
Zelda was an avid collector of socks and underpants. She stored her collection under the bed where mom and dad couldn’t reach. She also recently began collecting dad’s folf discs. Probably for an added pop of color.
Zelda LOVED food! It amused me to no end how much she craved vegetables, her favorites being bell peppers and sweet potatoes. But the ultimate food was cheese. It was a point of pride that Zelda was a skinny pup since corgis are so prone to gorging themselves. I once took her to the vet because I thought she was bloating. But it turns out she snuck into her food supply and ate herself fat.
Zelda loved being a leader and in charge even though she lacked the confidence to independently commit to the role. On hikes, she always had to be head of the pack, even though her ears were twisted around so that she could hear mom was still behind her.
Zelda was a protector. Always perched by a window making sure evil doers kept on walking by. Because there might be trouble in this house if they tried anything.
Zelda was incredibly smart. Most of the tricks she knew she learned as a pup in under 10 minutes (Zelda Bang video here!). When Nick and I moved in together, he mentioned one time that it would be hilarious if she knew how to fist bump. 10 minutes later, she could “bump it” no problem!
Zelda once had an admirer. His name was Cooper. And much to his mom’s chagrin, he couldn’t concentrate on doing agility training when Zelda was around. Zelda did not return his affections. 🙂
Zelda wasn’t really a fan of other dogs. In an attempt to socialize her as a puppy, I enrolled her in a puppy training class. She spent most of class hiding under obstacles with a dachshund/chihuahua pup named Sadie because the other puppies were too big and rambunctious. So Sadie’s mom and I setup their own playdates. Zelda could tolerate big dogs that didn’t really care that she was there. She liked sniffing around Zeus, a gentle mastiff who was very tolerant of her sass. She “welcomed” Sophie into her space, but only when there wasn’t food to fight over. She loved going on walks with Toby and Maya, although I’m sure the presence of the two was optional to her enjoyment.
But Zelda loved her people. She was never comfortable until all her humans were in the house and accounted for. She hated kisses but was so tolerant of mommy when all I wanted to do was smoosh her face with mine. Well, to a point. 😊 Zelda was crate trained but learned fairly quickly how to manipulate dad to let her up on the bed at night. Which was ok by me because I loved cracking my eyes open to a loving corgi who was so excited to have her human finally awake. She was my shadow, always in the thick of whatever I was doing. And it may be me projecting, but she seemed genuinely curious about what I was up to. Like a good mom, I kept her in the loop. The “come with me” command meant that the world needed to watch out because Zelda and I were about to get shit done!
Words cannot describe the hole left in my heart by her passing. She was my baby. And as tragic as this whole ordeal is, I can be proud that I could give her then ending she deserves.
I love you, Zelda. I miss you so much!