Memories Of Jasmine: The Treasure Keeper

From early puppyhood, her entire life Jasmine had a soft spot for abandoned things or things she figured should be safely put away, rather than left out in the open

She felt very strongly about taking care of them.

In her mind, that meant they needed to be buried.



I remember vividly her first winter. We had a lot of snow. And she had treasures buried all over the hill where we went for our walks.

Gloves, hats, scarfs, socks (I actually never figured out how one can loose a sock in the winter). Once she even found and attempted to bury a whole parka, but sadly, that attempt was unsuccessful.


Not only she had things buried all over the place, she always remembered where every one of them was.

Don't worry, little toy, I'll take care of you
She would check on them periodically. Sometimes she would deem the hiding place no longer any good, which meant digging out the item and relocating it.

She never forgot a single one of them.

It could be months since we went to a particular trail the last time, she'd know where all her treasures were exactly, didn't even have to search for them.

That first winter, one of her treasures was a long scarf.

Routinely, she would dig it up, we'd play with it, and than she would put it away again. We did that day after day.


Not only Jasmine was a guardian of abandoned things, she was also extremely meticulous about it.

First, there was the selection of a proper spot. She could wonder around for half an hour or longer, before she'd find the right place. She might have even started burying it and realized the spot didn't meet the criteria after all, and the search continued.

This will be a good spot for you.
Once the right spot was identified, it was imperative that the item was buried just right. 

She put so much work into that! You wouldn't believe how good she was!

One time, she was burying a glove in a field, right in front of me. I stood there, watching her to bury it right in front of my feet. When she was done, I swear that if I didn't know she did it right in front of my feet, I could never tell! It was sheer perfection.

All done. I'll come check on you tomorrow.
Jasmine wouldn't have settled for anything less.

When she was finished, she would bite off a top part of one of the longer grasses or twigs. Then we were all done and could continue with the walk.

***
Related articles:
Memories Of Jasmine: Best Buddies 
Memories Of Jasmine: The Lost Forest 
Treatments Jasmine Benefited From The Most 
Memories Of Jasmine: Remix 4 
Memories Of Jasmine: Remix 3
Making The Last Decision
Memories Of Jasmine: Remix 2
Memories Of Jasmine: Remix 1
Jasmine's Last Happy Days Before The Final Crisis
The Last Act Of Love: Run Free, Jasmine
Pain, Reaction To Narcotics Or Something Else? Please Pray For Jasmine
It Just Keeps Piling Up 
I Always Thought That A UTI Would Scream It's Presence
Taking A Break From Orthopedic Issues To Deal With Inappetence, Diarrhea And Listlessness That Come And Go 
Positive Update, Though Little Clarity
Jasmine's Neck Setback Update  
Jasmine's Neck Setback  
Elbow Problem Or Root Signature? 
Back To Where We Were Last May?
Jasmine's Disc Injury: Spanking New Ramp  
Jasmine's Disc Injury: The Parole Hearing
Jasmine's Disc Injury: Mom, Why Can't I Go For A Walk?
Jasmine's Disc Injury(?) Day Three 
Jasmine's Disc Injury(?) Day Two 
A Time Bomb Ought To Go Off At Some Point, I Guess: Jasmine's Neck
OK, I Am A Sucker: We're Going Through With The SLIT 
Jasmine's Episodes: Back To The Allergies Dilemma 
This Is What Jasmine's Episode Looks Like
Gotta Try Everything Once (Or Twice): On The Quest To Figure Out Jasmine's Episodes 
Thundershirt vs. Jasmine's Episodes
Jasmine's Mysterious Swelling And Another Experience With VetLiveThe Diagnosis Is In: Jasmine Has An Interdigital Cyst
Jasmine's Mysterious Swelling And Interdigital Cyst Update  
Is Crawling Under Things Some Kind Of Secret Physical Therapy?  
Is There No Place Safe? Jasmine's Acupuncture Session
Senior Sensory Systems Function: Zero Defects  
It Looks Like A Keeper: Jasmine's New Integrative Vet 
Jasmine's Acute Lameness
Jasmine Doesn't Like "Doing Time"
Our Of Jail Free Pass
When It's Looks Too Good To Be True … The Lameness Returns
The Day Of The Treatment
First Time For Everything: A Healing Crisis(?)  
From Zero To Sixty In Four Days: Stem Cells At Work
The Calm After The Storm 
If It Was Easy, It Wouldn't Be Jasmine
Practicing What I Preach: Jasmine's Semi Annual Wellness Exam  
No Skimping On Oral Care 
I'm Still Standing! (Happy Birthday, Jasmine)
How Dogs Think (Well, Jasmine Anyway)
Jasmine is Vet-Stem's poster child!
Rant About Quality Of Life Versus Quantity, And Differential Diagnoses
Jasmine Is Headed For Her Next Stem Cell Treatment
Jasmine's Stem Cells Are In
Arthritis? What Arthritis? 
Guess Who Is An Ever-Ready Bunny And Really Liking The Bit Of Snow We Got? 
Don't Knock It Until You Tried It: Animal Chiropractic 
Jasmine's Fur Analysis
Back At Chiropractic Care 
Our Own Emergency Vet Horror (Part I)
Our Own Emergency Vet Horror (Part II) 
How The Oddysey Started: Jasmine's ACL Injury
Meet Jasmine

Comments

  1. LOVE this story. It reminds me of our dear Tino. He loved to bury things too - but he did it with his stuffed toys (except for one incident with dad's wallet). But he would do the same thing, carry it around, looking for just the right spot. He wasn't that good with the burying as he only used his nose, but he had things buried all over our yard. He and Jasmine would have been good buds!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :-) Glad you found the wallet!

      Jasmine was so good at burying things. She would dig a hole, then move the material on top of the treasure, even pat it down with her nose ... such a perfectionist :-)

      Delete
  2. Oh, that's so sweet. I love the different quirky things pups do. So cute that she would find just the right spot.

    I've never had a dog that would really bury something, but both our angel beagle and our angel shepherd/collie mix would "pretend" bury stuff (rawhides, a pancake once!) in the sofa or the bed. It always cracked me up to watch them pushing imaginary dirt over their treasures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :-)

      Yeah, she was very particular. About where she'd deposit her essence too. Always had to be just the right spot for everything :-)

      Delete
  3. What a sweet story. Jasmine truly was special <3 Gretel is what I would call a "treasure loser". Ha, ha. She will take her kong outside to pee because she can't bear to let it go but them forget it when she comes back inside...leaving me to have to go out and get it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jessica, she certainly was special in every way.

      Treasure losers was the biped's job in our house :-) Jasmine never forgot a thing in her life. She must have had a GPS map in her head, containing every thing she every buried.

      Delete

Post a Comment