Rogue Holtum

On January 24, 2025, Rogue, a smart, scrappy and very stubborn little 13 year old Chihuahua-Poodle mix, told us she was tired of resisting her chronic heart failure that she successfully had been living with for over 2 years, and so she passed on peacefully. She was adopted as a puppy in Arizona where she lived happily with her human family and canine sibling, Brooklyn, an Australian Labradoodle, for most of her life before moving to Minnesota. Here, Rogue discovered that the cooler weather was her ally in helping her deal with her slowly worsening condition, allowing her to again start enjoying long, rambling and often hilly, walks (always on her terms!) at least several times a week. While snow was a new experience for her initially, she literally just took it in stride. Never in a hurry, she loved to smell everything, whether an interesting spot on the trail, or a scent coming to her in the wind from a distance. She tried to chase the squirrels, but they always seemed to be on the other side of a tree. She seemed to instinctively adapt her activities to however she was feeling in a given week or a given day. On several occasions, Rogue quickly rallied back on her own when her condition had taken a turn for the worse; our vet called her "Super Dog". Rogue was also atypical from most dogs. Of the dozens of brands of dog treats we tried, she only liked two. Even then, she would only take a treat from a family member; gifts from others were ignored. Flavored chew bones had a better record with Rogue, but were subject to sudden change at any time. She disliked any car travel regardless of the distance. She liked other dogs, but was mostly indifferent to them after the initial greeting – the same went for people as well. But she rarely missed an opportunity to try to boss around any dog larger than her, never bothering with the dogs her own size. She was very affectionate but never really liked sitting in laps or being held, though she did appreciate being carried home whenever she felt the rare need to bail out of a particularly epic walk. She loved shoulder rub sessions - sitting and swaying slightly, her eyes partly closed with a dreamy smile, and often rolled on her side to get tummy rubs as well.

Rogue is survived by her human mom, dad and big sister.

We really miss you, Rogue. But we know how happy you must be to finally feel good all the time without all those pills, and to be free to do anything you please. Love you always!