Snickers, the castaway puppy, had fun life with Las Vegas owner

A decade ago, Snickers just might have been the world’s most famous cocker spaniel.

In the first nine months of his life, he had survived a shipwreck only to be left on an island — a four-legged castaway.

The scrawny puppy fended for himself on tiny Fanning Island, part of the tiny nation of Kiribati, in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 miles south of Hawaii.

The catamaran sailboat of his previous owners had drifted onto a reef and run aground. They hitched a ride out of there on a cargo vessel but had to leave behind Snickers and Gulliver, their blue-and-gold macaw. While an islander kept the macaw in good care, Snickers was left on his own.

“They’re all special, but this little guy was unique,” said Jack Joslin, the then-Summerlin resident who rescued him in 2008. “His story is just so different from any other dog that you come across. There is no replacing him.”

After a decade of adventure, Snickers was put to sleep Monday after suffering from congestive heart failure. His ashes were returned to Joslin on Thursday. He placed them on the shelf in his recreational vehicle, next to the remains of five other dogs.

“In a sense, his journey continues,” Joslin said.

A long way home

In 2008, Snickers traveled thousands of miles, via cruise ship, plane and car, to his new home with Joslin.

At the time, Joslin, who already had Missy, a 12-year-old mixed-breed dog, and Henry, a 19-year-old parrot, had read about the dog on the website of a sailing newspaper, Latitude 38.

His border collie, 16-year-old Tucker, had died just days before Joslin became aware of the abandoned animals.

“I was kind of blue at the time,” he said. “I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve got to do something. This is heartbreaking.’”

Joslin orchestrated a long-distance adoption of the two animals, but the parrot couldn’t make it because of its status as an exotic bird. Snickers did, though, after receiving help from the Kiribati government, which strictly forbids the importation of any animals into the country, Norwegian Cruise Line, Hawaiian Airlines and the Hawaiian Humane Society.

Wearing a badge labeled “castaway,” Snickers boarded the Pride of Aloha on April 9, 2008, for an eight-day trip to the United States. It docked in Honolulu, and then he was flown to Los Angeles. Once there, the sister of Laureli Lunn, who had cared for him while he was in Hawaii before his flight, drove the puppy to Las Vegas, where he would finally be home.

The undernourished Snickers was just 8 pounds when he met Joslin. Early on, Joslin called him “Curly,” or “Bud,” because of his beautiful, curly ears. And the pooch reminded him of Curly from “The Three Stooges.”

Leader of the pack

The cocker spaniel quickly gained weight and soon became the alpha male of the pack.

“He thought he owned me; I was his property,” Joslin said. “Snickers was almost like a feral dog, being on his own for four months. He had to fend for himself. That was part of the reason he was so independent.”

Over time, he mellowed, Joslin said. He sat on his new owner’s lap for a pet and a scratch. He growled when it came time for baths but would sit nicely for grooming. He enjoyed long walks.

Joslin and his pack left Summerlin in 2012 to travel and live out of his recreational vehicle. It was Joslin and the four dogs: Snickers, Ginger, Shorty and Maisy.

They went on long walks together, hiked and explored the western United States, spending time in Colorado, Nevada and Arizona.

But in recent weeks, Snickers’ normally athletic and nimble body had started developing a fat underbelly. He had trouble getting up the stairs to the RV. He refused to go outside.

He had developed congestive heart failure, and a tumor had grown adjacent to his aorta, his veterinarian said. When his breathing became labored from the fluids in his abdomen, Joslin knew it was time for him to go.

First, he took him to a photographer for portraits.

He sat still, posing, his big brown eyes looking at the camera.

“You’ll get to see Maddie and BJ again soon,” Joslin told him, referring to the two dogs that had died over their years together. “You’ll be all right without me. The pack will miss you, but they will adjust, too, over time.”

About 10 a.m. Monday, Joslin took Snickers to be put down. When the cocker spaniel closed his eyes, Joslin stayed by his side.

Joslin cleaned Snickers’ paws to make a print of them.

And clipped some of his curly fur.

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @brianarerick on Twitter.