She loved to smooch. The second we picked her up, she was snuggled up to my chest, giving me smooches all over my face. The whole way home, she was smooching me. I loved it. I loved it until the end. I loved to snuggle that puppy. I didn't want to put her down. She was so good at smooches, too. I used to play the Kissing Game with her... where I would smooch her, and try to pull away before she could smooch me. I would have the upper hand at first, but she would soon tire of losing and would end up with her paws on me, holding me down as she showered me with puppy kisses. She was so good at the Kissing Game. She would invariably shove her tongue right up my nostril, ouch! It was so cute how vigorous her kisses were. She also loved dancing with mommy (which consisted of mommy dancing and puppy trying to jump on mommy). I'd hold her paws and waltz with her... always totally cute.

She had more personality than most people. She had the most expressive face; you knew exactly what she was thinking and trying to tell you, all the time. Whether it was the way her eyebrows would knit (those adorable "angry eyebrows", I called them... boy, I'm going to miss those!) or her eyes would shift towards what she wanted, or the way her curly ears would perk up at "you wanna go out?" or "you wanna go home?"

Home was definitely where the puppy's heart was. She loved to go places with mommy, but she loved to go home. She would sprint out to the car as if she might be left and then leap into her seat, eager for her seatbelt to be put on. She loved car rides and loved her special puppy sunglasses (more for the attention they brought her than for the comfort level...). She was so good in the car, too... especially in the car with her cousin Benny, who makes so much noise (panting, grunting) but Hermione would look at me with those sweet eyes as if to say, "see, mommy, I'm totally quiet!" Once home, she would be an absolute angel on the leash right back to the apartment and in the door. She loved to snuggle with mommy on the couch, the bed, the floor, wherever mommy was, the puppy would crawl onto mommy and make a nest. It was like mommy was comfy no matter what, anywhere... Hermione always would relax up against me when I held her. But when she lay on me, she would dig those bony elbows into my ribs but it's okay, I loved it. I loved to feel her head on my shoulder. Sometimes she would sleep like that in bed, especially when it got cold... if she wasn't already under the blankets! Regardless, snuggling with the puppy would put you to sleep right away... daddy said it was the Magic Puppy Fur. He used that as an excuse for sleeping the day away so many times, but it was a totally legitimate excuse!!

When daddy came into the picture, Hermione was, horrors, displaced from her rightful spot on the bed, HER pillows! So she slept on daddy's head. Daddy hated it at first, but grew to love it. She also liked to use daddy's ankle as a pillow. She also liked to sit in daddy's computer chair while hanging out with mommy in the computer room. More because it was sneaky, her being in daddy's spot! She didn't like having to sit in the back seat, either, especially because the back seat didn't have a seat warmer for the lil puppy tushy. When she used to sit in the front seat, she would be totally cranky until the seat warmer kicked on. So spoiled! But it was a good way to make her sleepy in the car.

The puppy was a great lover of food. She loved everything except lettuce and bananas... except those banana cookies! Well, all puppy cookies were wonderful. "Cookie?" and "chicken?" were always met with a chorus of barking and yelping. She would scarf those down and nibble your fingers afterwards like they would suddenly change into additional food. She loved food so much, she would even take her medications by hand! Such a wonderful puppy. When I was single, I used to stop at McDonalds for dinner some nights... and I'd get her a 4-piece McNuggets. She loved those things. In time, she began to think that every time we went to a drive-thru, it meant she would be getting food! Even at the bank! I stopped giving her the McNuggets when I found out how bad they were for her, though...

Hermione was an absolute angel. She may have not been the friendliest to new people, but once she got to know you, she would snuggle up to you and be your best friend. She came to work with me almost every day (when she wasn't hanging out at home with daddy!), and she had her own chair behind my desk where she could keep an eye on me and everything else going on in the back office. She would greet everyone who came to the door (and sometimes people who just came -near- the door!) with barking, to alert me to their presence. Everyone always wanted to know how Hermione was doing and to say hi to her! She always came out with me to get the mail. She would race back into the building afterward and 'demand' a few of her favorite cookies... then she'd perch herself on her chair. She was so good sitting on chairs... she just loved to sit next to mommy, is what it was. You could have her sit next to you at the dinner table and she'd be a perfect angel.

She was so good on the leash, and so smart... if for some reason she got tangled, I could say, "fix your leg!" and she would fix herself. If I were carrying packages and needed her to switch sides, I could say, "other side!" and she would go. She was so perfect. Even off the leash... she didn't like to pee while on it if not on a walk, so if we were just letting her out and back in, despite the apartment complex insisting all dogs be on leashes at all times, Hermione wasn't on one frequently. She would scurry outside as we said, "hurry, quick pips!" and would squat and pee, looking over her shoulder at us to be sure we were watching and approving how quickly she pips'd for us. She was such a cutie and a gem.

She had some favorite toys, like her little squeaky bunny... she loved to grab it as soon as we got home (whether or not she had stayed home without us!) and run at us, grunting and tail wagging. SO CUTE. She made the best little snorty noises, like a little piggy. I am convinced she thought she was talking. She also loved this one board puzzle toy... we would put treats in it for her and she had to figure out how to get them out. She loved this thing! It made a very distinctive noise as the panels clacked closed, and that seemed to signal TREAT TIME! to the puppy.

She had a squirrel costume for Halloween... she loved to wear it because of the attention she got. Massive huge attention. She looked freaking adorable in it, and she would prance around in it all day long whenever we had it on her. She'd even leave the little hat on! She also had little puppy coats for cold weather... one for cold and one for snow... and little boots. She didn't get to wear the boots, though. She loved the coats, and was so good allowing us to put them on her. There was no dog better than my dog.

She was so sweet, so adorable, and so delicious! I would joke to her that she was so delicious I was going to eat her right up! And then I would pretend to eat an ear, or a paw, and gently gnaw on it... and only then would she get upset, like, "mommy, don't EAT me, I need that!" So cute! She also loved when we blew raspberries on her tummy. If she so much as heard the raspberry noise or the long intake of breath that preceded one, she would roll onto her back, legs pulled up so we could get to her tummy. She would wriggle and squirm and make huffing noises while we blew raspberries on her little pink tummy... she just loved the attention.

She wouldn't ever just wag her tail, she would wag her whole body; that little round tushy wriggling at the same time as the tail. She would wag her tail all the time... when she was spoken to, blown a kiss, told she was loved, even just looked at... and even as she walked, practically prancing as she went up the walk to the apartment, so proud of herself. She had plenty to be proud of; she was a gorgeous, beautiful baby and she knew how cute she was. We would joke that she had attended cute school and had graduated with the highest honors! That little tush, she loved to rub it on my antique chair, up and down up and down, and if you caught her eye, she would stop, mid rub, like you caught her doing something naughty. Then she'd go back to rubbing, slowly. She loved to have the base of her tail scratched, too, and little shoulder rubs! She'd plant that tush down on your foot if she wanted your attention... if I were eating dinner, she'd be between my feet, rubbing the puppy butt on me to make sure I knew she was there, in case I wanted to get rid of any excess food. And if we went into the bathroom... sitting on the toilet... the puppy would run right in and if she didn't plant herself between our feet for scritches, she would jump right up with paws on the lap for kisses! I think to her, the toilet meant that we were a captive audience for a while!

Hermione left a lasting impression on everyone she met. That sweet face, the soulful eyes, the freckles on the nose, the always-wagging tail, the voracious appetite. She loved her mommy and daddy very much, and we love her. We have holes in our hearts just the shape of that little Cavalier and those holes will never be filled - but that's okay. Those places in our hearts are reserved especially for her. There will never be another Hermione, and we wouldn't want there to be.

Hermione, we love you, our darling angel. We miss you so much.