Au revoir, Canela!

I learned last week that our family dog, Canela, had passed away last month (judging by the speed with which these type of news get to me, you'd think we'd gone back to pre-email days).  Canela was a mix of Dalmatian and callejero (street dog), so she was kinda cute.  Aside from a pet tarantula, Emma, that I had to free into the wild a couple of days after I got her (my family refused to have her in the house, and/or to feed her while I was away in my frequent business trips), I have never had a pet, and neither have my brothers.  My family has never been into house animals.  In fact, Canela was not our pet, she was my grandma's, who lives in an apartment behind my mom's house. 

So Canela would not receive the usual pet treatment with us.  I'm ashamed to admit that we were a little mean to her, but nothing cruel, really (I mean, we're still human).  However, Canela was kept in total isolation from other animal life. And so it was that my brothers and I taught her to smile, in exchange for petting her a bit.  Now, have you ever seen a dog show you his/her teeth? Not exactly an enticing sight, but Canela had been programmed to think that "smiling" was a good thing. So whenever we had visitors, they would completely freak out by the statement that she wouldn't bite.

I even have a picture of her "smiling".  I'll look it up and post it.  I'll miss that freak dog.