The Worlds Greatest Trail Dog Is Gone

I really don't think Smokie thought the Jackrabbit squad looked very impressive back then.

Here we are rolling in the grass having fun.

For roughly 14 years a mut from the pound was the best family pet and trail runner a bike rider could ever ask for. A few years back Smokie J could run at 15 mph for 10 miles then turn around and do it all over again the next day. Smokie never went off trail. Ever. She was all business. She had a bad habit of biting your feet if you tried to pass her, she was the lead dog if she was on the trail. That is how I will remember her. She was hairy black and bossy, but a beautiful mix of Malamute and who knows what else. She loved me, and in the end I held her and cried when she went limp in my arms and breathed her last breath here. She could no longer walk, I carried her to the vet with tears in my eyes. She was warm and still smelled very sweet, I couldn't ever understand that about her. This was a big 90lb dog and she always smelled good and was great to lie with and scratch and pet. I will miss her terribly. I sobbed over her and placed her head on her now still paws as I had seen her lie thousands of times. There was a big wet spot where my tears had pooled in the fur on her head. I told her she was a good dog one last time and left that shitty place where she was. They can have her damn ashes. I had the worlds greated trail dog for 14 years.