* Zinnia (6/7/97 - 7/19/11)

Iruska Zinnia, Class A racer of considerable note, dam to 43 offspring, and heart of my hearts, went to the bridge last evening, July 19th, 2011.

Zinnia introduced herself to me, grinning through a chain-link fence, in the summer of 2004. I was allowed to claim her as my own in the Fall of 2005, and she remained by my side since that moment.

A photographic essay (best viewed as slideshow) compiled in happier times will serve as a fitting obituary for this girl who often seemed more human than canine. I am incapable of writing more.

I am privileged to have spent this time with the very finest of greyt companions.