Adventures with CharliIn late November 2014, Charli was 8-10 years old when Nancy McCaochans son flew her to Oakland County Michigan from the Bay Area to spend a month with his mom and her friend Lynn Medow while he was on vacation. Charli had been abandoned among warehouses when Nancys son found her in a state of extreme ill health. In Michigan she had 10 teeth pulled, a severe gum and sinus infection healed, and her reproductive organs removed. After this, when she was relaxed, her tongue hung out the right side of her mouth. Her coloring was striking: chestnut brown, feathered ears, rings around her eyes that made her look like a raccoon, furrowed brow, white patches on her chest and lower legs. This coloration and the loose tongue gave her a goofy, endearing look. Once, in the parking lot of a coin laundry, a teenaged girl asked to take her picture to post on Snapchat because of the way she looked. She was wary of people and aggressive toward other dogs, but she trusted Nancys son in the way a solitary pack animal has learned to trust another being with whom its safe.During the month Charli stayed with Lynn and Nancy that early winter, Charli became settled into life with 2 mamas. She was so happy and comfortable that her 2 mamas decided to keep her. Unlike most dogs, Charli did not like treats, was not playful, and refused to eat unless Nancy sat beside her on the floor. It took several months (maybe years?) for Lynn to teach her to fetch her baby, a fuzzy yellow stuffed animal and then to play tug of war with it once she returned it to the thrower.Over time (and as she aged) Charli became less reactive to strangers and gatherings of people in small spaces (parties at Lynns). It was not until she lost her sight, however, that she allowed other dogs to come within 40 feet of her. Big or small, she defended her people and her territory ferociously. Lynn had spinal surgery in December 2014 and was pretty much in bed for the first 2 months of 2015. Charli was her recovery dog,When Nancy moved in October 2015, she proposed a shared custody arrangement. Since Nancy taught on Sundays, Charli spent weekends with Lynn and weekdays with Nancy. When she was with Lynn, Charli took long walks, often without a leash. She regularly went to grandmas (Lynns stepmothers) for dinner where she was fed by hand from the table. Lynn took her along on many of numerous errands and social visits that filled her life. Charli was also a favorite of Lynns daughter, Emily, who called her Bobo and who would sneak her in & out of her apartment building in Ann Arbor in a large Ikea bag (no dogs allowed) so she could dog sit.When she was with Nancy, Charli sat in meditation, went for short, leashed walks around the subdivisions or at Cranbrook Educational Center or along the West Bloomfield Nature Trail. Nancy also took her on long road trips to southern Ohio, Pittsburgh, or Atlanta where Charli was sometimes welcomed by a herd of small dogsher cousins, dogs of varying breeds that belong to Nancys 3 daughters. Although not comfortable in packs, Charli was quick to learn how to be unobtrusive when visiting another canines territory. Nancy often slept in her mummy bag during these visits and Charli usually snuggled in next to her legs or abdomen.During her last few months, she grew ever more lethargic, balking at even the shortest of walks. But she very much enjoyed lying in the sun or sniffing the varied scents along the nature trail or at one of the lakes near West Bloomfield. It was Nancys habit to take her to Dodge #4 Park on Cass Lake for the sunset. At such times Charli became alert and energetic, following scents along a path or stubbornly refusing to move from one she found particularly interesting.In late May 2022, Charli suffered from an extreme bout of pancreatitis. Although she got better, she began to decline energetically until during the 2nd week of October when she could barely stand to eat or drink. Her spirit left her body for good at 1:15 pm on October 16. By all estimates she was 17. And by all estimates the last 8 years of that life were happy.One of Lynns stepsisters described Charli very well: She was a big presence in a little body. She brought love and joy to many and was deeply loved in return.