Cinnamon was a good one - a charismatic American Staffordshire Terrier who figured out how to do all sorts of things. She learned tricks and tasks very quickly, and I don't know how she did it, but she taught the other dogs. She was a hunter of local wildlife that got into our large back yard next to the creek and after several years of my spraying enzymes on skunked dogs, she mastered killing skunks without getting skunked, and the other two followed suit. Now that she's gone, I hope that 1) no more skunks get killed but if they do 2) the other dogs still know how to do it without getting sprayed.

She arrived as an injured stray big pup on Mother's Day 2005. I got a companion for her in September of that year, and the third one arrived in 2012 after my friend was injured and couldn't care for him. The other dogs were each more fond of Cinnamon than they were of the other, but today they are here together and we're rebuilding a pack dynamic with daily walks and taking time to reinforce skills. On Monday before I took Cinnamon to the vet we all went on a short walk across the road to their favorite destination, the woods. The two healthy ones rooted around and explored, Cinnamon walked slowly and smelled things, then she and I went to the vet.

She arrived here after living stray in those woods, and departed after a walk there - if my lovely girl wants to haunt me, she'll probably use the woods as her base. But she had a good life and a good death, so I think it will be only memories that accompany me.