My sophomore year I had to take public speaking. (Horrible) Our last speech was a special occasion themed speech. I figured doing a fake wedding toast would be hard, so instead of a toast, I went for a eulogy. Although he wasn't gone yet, I presented the following for Snooky.
"Remember when you were a little kid and Christmas was the best day of the year? And remember there was always that one present that you seemed to ask for every year and never got? But then one year, your parents would give in and buy it for you and it was the best Christmas ever! Well, it was Christmas morning, the year 1995. My family had opened all of our presents and then my dad snuck downstairs telling my sisters and me to wait for him to come back. From the basement, he brought up a little ball of wrapping paper that had a big red bow on top. He put it between all of us and told us all to be very careful. My oldest sister gently ripped the top open and out popped the tiny little head of our new puppy. Mom and dad had finally caved and bought us the best present ever!
We were all very excited and quickly attempted finding a name for our puppy, but that proved to be harder than expected. I was only four at the time, but I had a green sweatshirt that I loved wearing because it had Snoopy on it, you know, Charlie Brown’s dog. As much as I loved that sweatshirt, I could not for the life of me actually say “SnooPy” and it always came out “SnooKy.” Needless to say, this made for the perfect name for our new puppy. Life would never be the same at our household. Snooky was a good little dog; perfect for three little girls. We grew up with him and we all created individual bonds with him. Although Snooky may have passed, he will always be a part of our lives. In this hard time, I would like to take the chance to remember all that Snooky was to me and share some of the joy he brought to my life; our special bond, his loyalty, and his fight to never give up.
Snooky was a great little dog. The perfect size for three little girls to carry around and play fetch with. He was never very aggressive, and yet, he was always very protective. It was a particularly good thing he was never very aggressive though. Snooky and I had a strong bond from the start. I basically named him because of my lack of ability to pronounce “p” sounds, and by the time my family got him, I was the only one of my sisters and me not going to school yet. My sisters would leave me at home having to play by myself, until Snooky came along. I loved playing with dolls and my stuffed animals when I was little, and unfortunately for him, Snook took the brunt of it. I loved dressing him in my little doll clothes and lining him up with my stuffed animals to read to them. 
Somehow, even once I started school, I ended up having many different school transfers, some including a home schooling transition. My sisters never home schooled, but it gave Snooky and I some extra play time. Even in his older years while I was in high school, Snooky would sit with me while I did my school online. He was always one to cuddle and I loved that he would sleep outside my door, even though I was no longer at home.
This is one way in particular that Snooky showed his loyalty to my family. Especially in his last days; my mom would swear that he only kept living because he was waiting for all my sisters to come home. It is hard to imagine from his point of view. Three little girls who played endlessly with him and wore him out every day, and eventually, we all grew up and moved away from home. But Snooky would always be excited when we would come home again. Mom said he was never that excited when it was just her and dad at home. Snook knew us, and we knew he loved us. He may have been a little dog, but he was definitely Clifford on the inside whenever he felt we needed protection. My sisters and I would call him mom’s little spy because if we were still hanging out with our friends, or especially our boyfriends, after everyone went to bed, he would always creep back down stairs and walk around a little bit to stare at us before returning to bed. I guess he just wanted to make sure that any guy we chose was approved by him.
We all built memories with Snooky. We all loved him, just as much as he loved us. It was always comforting to hear the jingle of his collar as he would come trotting to the front door whenever we would get home. It will not be the same now. It started a few years, his little cough. We took him to the vet and they put him on some meds saying he had congestive heart failure. We did not really notice a change once he started the meds and since my sister’s boyfriend’s dad was a vet, we decided to try taking Snooky to him. He quickly changed his meds and said that Snooky would have died within days if he stayed on the meds our first vet gave us. Luckily, Snooky made it through and kept living. It wasn’t until about a year after we really started to notice that Snook was having trouble seeing and hearing. He also developed a little bit of a limp right after getting up after he napped, but he never seemed to really be falling apart. After some regular vet check-ups, we were told that Snooky was not only at the highest, most dangerous level of congestive heart failure, but that he also was going blind, had arthritis and was developing some melanoma spots on his skin. We weren’t really a family that would pay for chemo for our dog, so we just kept giving him his heart meds and said we wouldn’t put him down as long as he was happy.
He would still recognize us, after we got close enough that he could see us, and he still managed to get around the house on his own. We don’t know how he did it, but he fought like no other dog we know. Even our vet said he was something of a miracle. For being such a little dog, he sure didn’t want to miss any of life.
You know, there’s that saying that dog is man’s best friend. Snooky definitely helped my family understand the truth of that statement. He shared the manly bond with my dad as they were the only men in the house and Snooky was left to hold the fort down when dad was away for work. He bonded with mom as she took care of him most diligently and kept her company after we all moved away. And my sisters and I, well, we may have formed different bonds with him, but he still caught all our tears and was there whenever we needed company or someone to talk to. He lived a good long life. From Tennessee to Colorado, road trips all over the country and even some to Canada. He was there for the hard times growing up and made us always feel welcomed home even if we had just left for the grocery store. I am sorry none of you got to meet him, but I am sure he would have been happy to meet all of you. Snooky was a great dog that will never be forgotten, and will always be seen as a part of my family. We will never love a dog as much as we loved him. May he rest in peace."
