On Valentine's Day in 2011, my daughter, Jazz, and I drove out to WV and picked up an amazing little rescued LhasaPoo puppy. We could never have guessed that he would be such a gift to us. He started coming with me to the office fairly early on and quickly became a quirky, playful, gentle gift to my clients as well. 

He did his jobs so very well. (Click here to read more.)

On November 22, 2024, we surrounded him with love and many of his favorite things to offer him one final goodbye. I'm grateful that he left us secure in the understanding that we knew just how special he was, and that we love him, deeply.

There are a few of his quirks I was never able to record. I will never forget:

• The way he would politely tap clients’ feet to let them know he had brought them a toy, 

• The way he would pile up toy after toy until a client noticed that really he thought they needed to play,

• The way he would “play soccer” and roll the ball with his nose, 

• The way he wouldn’t eat anything that either wasn’t a critter or didn’t come from one, (except for peanut butter.) He would question and spit out even filet mignon, confident for almost 14 years that one of those days, we would certainly poison him.

• How he would plant himself at the glass doors at Thrive, waiting intently for me to come back whenever I stepped out, 

• His inexplicable love of benches,

• How crazy excited he would get whenever I offered him a sweater or shirt to wear, or put his collar back on him after a bath. (You would think he was Dobby the House Elf, receiving a sock that meant he was free. Except that I think for Dante, it meant he belonged.)

• The hilarious way he would occasionally “talk” when he felt left out of a conversation, (“NAAARGH!”)

• How poetic he looked in the air when he took those bold leaps off of darn near any elevated surface,

• The way rabbits would cross right in front of him without a care. (Perhaps he truly was one of Queen Charlotte’s “deformed bunnies.”)

• The way he politely scraped at empty water bowls and flipped them upside down when I didn’t respond in a timely manner,

• Editing his insanely loud snores out of clients’ hypnotherapy recordings.

• The way he would usher clients back to the treatment room (even when they weren’t our clients!) 

My quirky, wonderful, loving boi. I fully expect that he will self-appoint himself Rainbow Bridge Ambassador and take to ushering newbies across.

I'd love it if you would share some of your thoughts and memories of Dante in the comment section of the YouTube video, linked here and below. I'm so grateful that he was able to touch so many lives.