Polly

Polly was a Miniatur Schnauzer that apparently craved freedom.
I got her for my sixteenth birthday after we had lost our Min-Pin/Beagle, Abbie, to a nasty car accident.
Polly was all black with just a hint of silver on her chest and back toes. We never got her the standard Schnauzer cut, but simply shaved her crazy curly hair every few months. She loved to get muddy, play around, roll in the grass, and, oddly enough, run around like a wild beast in the rain.
It was adorable to watch.
She loved popcorn. She'd hear the popcorn popping in the microwave from nearly anywhere in the house and come running to the doorway of the kitchen where she would sit patiently and wait for her popcorn
Polly developed a disorder in her pancreas and we could no longer give her table scraps or change her diet because she would vomit and her heart rate would slow to dangerous lows. When given a consistent diet though, she was her normal little Tasmanian Devil self. ...but no more popcorn for Polly.
She understood that I am a photographer. Whenever I had my camera out she would stand up and poke my legs with her front paws, waiting for me to take her picture. She even somehow learned that my cell phone was also a camera phone. I would be trying to dial a number and she would be expecting me to take her picture.
She snored, farted green clouds of doom, kicked me in her sleep, had a shrill bark and could be generally annoying in those ways you take for granted, but she was a good dog. She was learning to be a very well behaved dog.
But she craved freedom...so she dug a hole and disappeared into the woods behind the house.
Polly was two years old, our little New Year's baby born on January 1st of 2005.