Sundance Memorial Page – A Celebration of an Amazing Life
June 30, 2006 – February 7, 2022
Sundance’s Memorial Video
NOTE:
Updated 3/3/2022 with voiceover narration to make it more interesting and require less reading.
After a long life (for a dog) of at least 15 years and 7 months*, Sundance, who loved hiking in the mountains more than anything else took his final hike on February 7th. As a red heeler/yellow lab mix he loved herding and retrieving the thrown tennis ball or stick, nipping at the grandkids behind while playing basketball, laying on your lap, agility courses and swimming. The Labrador retriever in him gave him webbed paws and a love for the water. The only thing we won’t miss about him is his aggressive shedding due to his thick heeler coat. I expect to find fur in nooks and crannies, beds and blankets, and places I never imagined fur could get into for quite some time into the future. In that respect, he’ll be with us for many years to come.
*According to the vet, Sundance was at least 1 year old when he was adopted so we just used his adoption date as his 1st birthday. He might have been a little older.
Hiking Off-Leash in the Wilderness
Like going to Disneyland for dogs, Sundance loved off-leash hiking in the mountains. We started hiking because as a heeler, a herding dog, he was super hyper and needed a lot of exercise. We built an agility course but that wasn’t enough so we took off for the mountains. We hiked as high as Gobblers Knob up above Alexander Basin in Millcreek Canyon (over 10K feet). Even his last year when he turned 15, we hiked almost 1,100 miles in 12 months. He met many other dogs; Daisy, Huey and Louie, Tubby, Alvin (a white cocker with a wild haircut), 3 Sussex spaniels, a Hovawart named Hunky, four labs that all lived in the same house and many many others.
Sundance was a rescue dog. He was found wandering the streets of Duchesne, UT begging and was taken to the animal shelter. Pet Samaritan found him and facilitated his adoption. Being a Red Heeler/Yellow Lab mix, I fancied that his mother was likely a heeler working dog on one of the cattle ranches in the Duchesne area and his father the mischievous family lab who got her into trouble. Sundance was working-dog driven heeler and eager-to-please lab. Either I was super lucky to have found him, or I’m extremely good at raising dogs.
His best friend and hiking buddy
For almost 10 years of his life, Sundance’s best friend was a black Cocker Spaniel named Snuffi (short for Snuffaluffagus if you know who that is). Snuffi was an escape artist often jumping our fence at home. Sundance was smart enough to know the fence was there for a reason and never even tried, though he could have easily cleared the 42 inch high structure.
I didn’t realize how powerful of a nose the Cocker Spaniel has. Snuffi would often follow that nose, so focused on chasing that scent that she never even heard you calling her to come back. As a result she got lost 3 or 4 times every year up in the mountains. Sundance, being part herding dog, wanted to find her and bring her back. We put a bell on her which Sundance could hear way further off than I could and he would often go find Snuffi and bring her back. Twice he got lost with her since she wouldn’t turn when he tried to turn her by tugging on one of those huge cocker ears. One early morning in the Alexander Basin we saw two bull moose on the other side of the basin. Snuffi took off running towards them and I gave the command to Sundance to bring her back, all the time yelling for Snuffi. About 150 yards off as I was still yelling and Snuffi was about to follow the moose into the trees, hearing me yell Sundance turned around and looked at me. I signaled to him to keep going and they both disappeared into the forest. Several hours later, traipsing up and down the mountain they were finally found still together. Both times they were lost together they were found, still together.
He leaves behind his new best friend, Sherbet
Snuffi died just over 3 yrs earlier. Sherbet, while not a replacement quickly became Sundance’s BFF. As you can see in this picture they quickly became inseparable and Sherbet, while young and smaller, could keep up with her “big brother” while hiking.
After almost 3 full years of off-leash hiking, Sherbet has never gotten lost like Snuffi did several times every single year. Sherbet uses her hiking experience to find other dogs to chase and that she can roughhouse with. It is the hiking now where she meets so many other dogs that is helping her cope with the loss of Sundance.
Sundance’s First Hiking Partner
Lady was a 10 yr old cocker spaniel mix. She had seizures since birth so when Sundance and I first started to hike together, we left Lady home. After a few weeks we decided to try taking her with us. For the first few weeks she wouldn’t drink from the stream or from the water dish we brought along so we didn’t feel comfortable hiking as far as we would like, fearing she would get dehydrated. It took several weeks but we finally got her to drink from the stream for the first time, and then the water dish. Finally we could hike further. She never had a seizure while hiking nor in the car on the way to the canyon.
Sundance and Lady never really bonded. Due to the medications she had to take for her seizures, she was somewhat aloof. She died less than two years after Sundance’s adoption, likely from damage from years of anti-seizure medicine successful in only partially controlling her seizures. When Snuffi was subsequently rehomed with us, an extraordinary bond immediately began to build between Sundance and her.
Snuffi’s’ Video
This video chronicles the her first year in Utah after being rehomed from a family in Malad, ID. Sundance was already totally immersed in off-leash hiking, mostly in Millcreek Canyon, part of the Wasatch Cache National Forest. Much of that wilderness experience is depicted in this video along with her very close relationship with Sundance. We lost her just over 3 years ago but we’ll never forget her sweet spirit. She loved everyone. She did, however, belong to a cult; the cult of “everyone on earth is put here just to pet me”.
Sherbet’s 1st Birthday Video
If you love cocker spaniels or just want to watch another dog video, here is Sherbet’s first birthday video. She was the first dog brought into our home as a puppy (8 weeks)since 1991. Before Sherbet, we had adopted or rehomed three dogs since our last puppy, including Sundance. Of course, Sundance is in this video too. Watch him teach Sherbet to swim when she was just seven months old. Actually, she just immediately follows him into the water without a second thought. Enjoy!
Comments and/or Questions Encouraged
To me it is not clear.
It’s not clear what’s not clear. It’s just a story about a dog’s life as he hiked the mountains of Utah for almost 15 years, gave much to his human owner and loved the other dogs in his home.