Oh Yeah, You Blend

One week ago we lost Tish. Fourteen years and nine months to the day since I held her as she entered this world. Last Sunday, we held her as she left it.

Tish was born in our very first litter. I knew I wanted to keep a girl with a tail, and she was one of only two who fit that description. The other girl was prettiter, significantly. But Tish…Tish had something about her. I just really liked her. I couldn’t imagine her leaving. So she stayed.

Tish loved everyone and everything from the very start. For all that she was an excitable, over-aroused, barky little weirdo, she was also the sweetest, kindest, most generous, and friendliest little dog. She loved everyone and everything. She loved men, women, ESPECIALLY children (she would turn inside out with joy around children, I always half wanted to see if she could be a therapy dog, but she was SO excitable). She loved big dogs, little dogs, male dogs, female dogs, puppies, old dogs. She just loved, that was her calling.

Tish loved Bert when he visited that summer:

Tish loved to lie in the sun, we called her Suntish.

She loved to be outside on the deck.

She had shark teeth.

She didn’t love agility trials, but she tried her best for me anyway. Eventually I respected the fact that she was saying “no thank you” to trials, and retired her.

She especially loved when we had visitors, and she’d sit and wait for whoever it was to get up in the morning.

She loved her family.

We installed a storm door with a dog door in the spring, and she loved it. She could indulge her inner Gladys Kravitz

Tish loved Jim.

A couple of months ago, Tish developed a corneal ulcer in her right eye. It was bad, as deep as it can be. Her eye was at risk for rupture. We stayed up all night giving eye drops. We went to the eye doctor so. Many. Times. And Tish withstood the eye drops. So many eye drops. And the cone. And the brief encounter with the OptiVizor. And Jim and I did it, We saved her eye. She got cleared to lose the cone and that was wondrous. And she was an absolute trooper through the whole thing, she handled it with grace. Jim had been saying for a long time that Tish was having the best time of her life as an old lady. She was a high quality old lady.

Looking back I really do think that while she’d probably rather NOT have had the ulcer, it did mean she was the center of attention for the whole summer. And I am selfishly glad for that now. I spent more time with her, more of my time was about her.

Monday September 9th Dr Mineo the ophthalmologist said she was doing great, come back in a few months for a recheck. We were thrilled. But I also had a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. Tish had been stumbling over the last week or two. It had come on gradually but it was definitely getting worse.

Her appetite, which had been great for an old dog with failing kidneys, had gradually disappeared.

I ran bloodwork that Monday. Her kidney values were overall a titch worse but really pretty stable. But her proBNP, which indicates stretch on the myocardium, which can indicate possible heart failure, was through the roof. And of course doc was going away the end of that week.

So I took her back to work on Wednesday. The heart murmur she’d had was gone. Sometimes that happens because it happens, and sometimes that happens because the chordae tendinae, the cords that anchor the heart valves, have detatched, which can be catastrophic. But she had no cardiac symptoms whatsoever except the wobbliness. She wasn’t pale or shocky, her x-rays were normal. We didn’t know what was wrong, but something was wrong.

We decided to give her an appetite stimulant. Saturday morning before I left for agility I gave her a dose. She ate a whole jar of baby food for me. Jim offered her food throughout the day, and while she did eat some that morning, her appetite waned again and by the time I got home she was looking terrible. She did manage to get up to greet me (before Trulli knocked her over by mistake), but as the evening wore on, she started fading away.

Jim stayed up with her that night. He said she got up and marched around a couple of times, then he found her beside the little donut bed she loved, so he put her back into it, and by the time I got up Sunday morning it was clear that she was on her way out. Peacefully (natural death isn’t always peaceful, but sometimes it really is just drifting away). Jim and Tish had always had a special bond, and I know she knew he was with her.

I picked her up, bed and all, grabbed a blanket for her, and took her outside. I put her, cozy in her bed, on the deck, facing the sunrise. We sat there with her for a long time, the other dogs in and out, sniffing, snoozing, more or less a normal Sunday morning.

I hope she could smell her beloved outside (Tish would have lived outside if we’d let her). I hope she could see and feel the sunshine one last time. Her beloved Jim was with her, I was with her. Her dog family was with her, and each came to say goodbye in turn, as they often will.

Then she really was gone.

I will miss cuddling with her while napping on the couch. No dog will ever be as good at that as Tish was. I will miss how happy and welcoming she was to every person and every dog who ever came here. She would be so excited about vistors she would SHOUT about it (Tish loved the shouting).

She stayed with Zap and Sherry when Jim came with me to the first Agility Invitational Nina was invited to. She attended their wedding. When she came home her voice was gone, and I asked them just how much barking had gone on, and they said “oh not much”. Like liars. Heh heh.

Tish barked. A lot. Tish was anxious. Very. Tish was irritating sometimes. Tish was frustrating sometimes. But Tish was also the sweetest. The kindest. The happiest. All of the time. She could find a way to get along with everyone and everything. She was an agent of peace. A very loud agent of peace.

There is a Tish-shaped hole here now. We miss you our little fish.

If there’s something after, I hope you have found Rakki and Nina, and are barking your fool head off.

Good friends and good people helped us through more than I can say.

Tish (Alkemi Alpina LS OA OAJ NF CL2 CL3-S), January 15, 2010 – September 15, 2024

I am so sad to say that we lost another of the Alkemi A litter today. The very first puppy born in the very first Alkemi litter. Right after he was born and I was telling Jim his markings (so we could tell them apart later), I looked at his chest and said he had a white stripe, and Jim said then his litter name would have to be Jack (after Jack White from The White Stripes).

So he was Jack.

Little did we know he’d keep that name for the next almost fourteen years. Jack had a wonderful family who gave him a great life with adventures big and small, they took amazing care of him, and they loved and respected him enough to say goodbye when the time came, he will be missed, and he was loved. I am so sorry for their loss

Rest easy Jack, you were a good boy.

Jack (Alkemi Ascari LS) – 1/15/10-11/6/23

Austin (Alkemi Austin Healey ST) – 1/15/10 – 2/19/23

Austin was born upside down (with dogs back feet first or front feet first doesn’t matter, as long as they’re belly-down. Belly up can be a problem. Austin was belly up. It wasn’t the easiest thing to get him out safely, and this was my first litter, but eventually we got him out and nursing. Jim decided his litter name should be Immelmann, after the aerobatics maneuver.

He was the only stub-tailed boy in the litter, and one of only two stub tails (Demi was the other).

A fellow agility competitor had approached me about a puppy. Her name was Lisa, and she’d been very successful with her Basset hounds in agility. More importantly, I knew she took excellent care of her dogs, and I knew he’d have a good home.

She took wonderful care of Austin, and Austin took care of Lisa too, through many life changing events. He ate things he shouldn’t and needed emergency surgery, Lisa made sure he got it. Austin was her constant companion, along with one of her Bassets named Hobbes, who was Austin’s BFF. He played agility, he raised puppies, he traveled, he got up to no good with Hobbes, and most importantly: he was part of a family.

Even at the very end, Lisa (and her husband Chuck, who also loved Austin) did everything she could for him, including surgery because while he was 13, he was a very young and vigorous 13, and they thought if he had a chance, they should give it to him. And at first he looked like he was pulling through. But then he was gone.

Lisa and Chuck: you did everything for Austin, he knew so much love, and ahd so much fun in his life. They’re never here long enough, but to have lived a good life with love is everything.

Rest easy Austin, you were a Very Good Boy.

12 and a half years ago, my first litter was born. Among those seven puppies was a little stub-tailed girl. A few months earlier a nice man I saw at agility trials had asked about possibly getting a puppy. He played agility with his Australian Shepherd, who was getting older, and he was looking for his next dog.

That man was Ron, and that puppy was Demi (Alkemi Adrenaline Murtaya ST AXP AJP). All my puppies are special, but the Ninababies have an extra special place in my heart.

In September 2020, Demi collapsed after chasing a squirrel. Ron got her to the vet, where she was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy. A diet change and medications helped a lot and she did well until February of this year.

Ron and his wife Linda lost Demi in late February. She was just over 12 years old.

Ron says “She was my joyful companion, playmate, social butterfly, agility team mate, food tester and more. She was not my whole life, but she sure made my life whole. She will be missed”.

Ron and Linda gave her an amazing life, she played agility, she traveled, she found a deer carcass and brought it back to Ron piece by piece, showing a true Vallhund sense of humor. She was loved.

Rest well Demi, you will be missed.

Ten years ago a young couple contacted me, interested in a puppy from my very first Vallhund litter. They were newly married, had just bought a house, and this would be their first dog. As it happened I had a male puppy available after his initial home had fallen through, but this puppy was very special, if he’d been female, I’d have kept him. I’d already turned down two other prospective homes for him. I wanted to be sure that he found the right home. So the first thing I said to this couple was that if they wanted to meet me, they could drive all the way to an agility trial I was at in Farmington. Even though they lived quite close to me. Because I’m a jerk.

So they did.

They were very nice, polite, funny, intelligent. I liked them. My dogs liked them. But I was a nervous nelly about my precious puppy and I still wasn’t sure.

So I told them they needed to get this book and that book and read them. Because I’m a jerk.

They did that too.

Eventually I decided that they’d jumped though enough hoops, and they just might be a good enough home for my special little Triangle Boy, last born in his litter, and one of those special puppies who stole my heart and whom I so wished had been female. They were thrilled and Triangle Boy became Riley, AKA Alkemi Aston Martin LS.

What a jerk I was for doubting what a great home they’d give him. In fact, they were such an awesome home that when they tentatively asked about a puppy from my next litter, three years later, I told them they were in the class of “PLEASE take another puppy”. Their Vallhunds are truly a part of their family. They played agility (Riley earned his NA and OAJ titles, and he ran fast and crazy like his mother Nina). They shared pictures on Instagram of the fun their dogs had, the awesome lives they led, their Sunday Funday walkies. They are excellent owners and truly love their dogs.

Last year Riley had a growth on his hind leg. We took the growth off (they come to the vet clinic I work at), the pathologist suspected it was an apocrine clear cell ductular carcinoma, but the margins were decent and no further treatment was recommended, just monitoring. Then in February of this year, Riley had a rash on his belly, and his people needed to shampoo his tummy a couple of times a week. So it just so happened that because they were giving him these belly rubs so regularly, they found a lump. The lump seemed ominous so we decided it should be removed. During the surgery it became apparent that it was this was a nasty-looking tumor with tendrils everywhere and we found weird little skin masses near it and we just knew it was something bad. The first pathology report said it was likely a clear cell carcinoma, but they recommended additional testing. Additional testing didn’t shed any more light so they recommended additional additional testing. It was a rare and unusual tumor and even after three rounds of testing and several different experts weighing in, the pathologists still weren’t 100% certain.

Given how weird the diagnosis was turning out to be, and how diffuse the mass was, we recommended they see an oncologist, ideally one at a facility which had advanced surgical and radiation therapy options. So, being the awesome owners they are, they made an appointment at Guelph, and also at Cornell, and were hopeful that either would be able to move them up the list and see them sooner. I reached out to a friend who’s a vet at Cornell, and he said he’d speak to the oncology department to see if they could move him up.

And then COVID happened, and both appointments were cancelled. So they went to a local oncologist without advanced radiation options. This doctor wasn’t very hopeful but started him on chemotherapy. Then he went lame, and we found the cancer had spread to his bones, it was in three out of four of his legs. The oncologist basically said there wasn’t anything else that could be done for him.

We started pamidronate infusions, which can slow the progression of bone cancer and improve comfort, and Riley felt quite a bit better. My boss, being the pain management guy that he is, designed a pain management plan for Riley to keep him comfortable. And, being the awesome vet he is, he also reached out to a friend of his who is an renowned oncologist, and they came up with an aggressive cancer suppression plan. Riley’s people were all in, so we started on this plan.

They got him a stroller so he could still enjoy walks even on the days his legs were bothering him. They built him a ramp so he could still see out the window and snoopervise the neighbors when he couldn’t comfortably stand up on his hind legs for long enough to get a good look. They fed him the right food, they gave him the right supplements, they did everything they could. He had everything he wanted.

And you know, he did really pretty well for a while. They paid real attention to his quality of life. But then he started panting more and x-rays showed it was in his lungs. And his mouth. And all over his skin.

And so on Tuesday they called me and we cried together on the phone. They said on his tenth birthday in January they were thinking about how they should hopefully have 5 more years or so at least with him. It turned out to be five months. They asked me if I wanted to visit him to say goodbye (because they’re that kind of thoughtful). I was so glad that I’d been able to spend some time with him on his frequent visits to the clinic, I snuggled him and told him he was loved and that while I might have been the first person to love him so many more people loved him now, and that his people loved him most of all and that they would do what he needed them to do. I told them it was better to let him go a bit too soon than too late. I knew they would make the right choice for him. They asked about how to help their other dog through the loss of his brother. They said that while COVID meant they didn’t get to see the oncologists they’d wanted to see, it also meant they’d been able to spend so much more time with him than they would have otherwise, since they were both working from home.

That’s the kind of people they are.

And then today I got a text from them that said: “We let Riley pass today. So peaceful, he was ready. Had the best walk out on his favorite trails this morning. Give your pups an extra hug from us.”

Nobody could have given Riley a better home, or taken better care of him. And I am so thankful that they included me as they did.

Rest easy beautiful boy, you were so loved.

(all pictures except “Triangle Boy” courtesy of Nichole & Chris Buryta)

We had a mini Alkemi puppy reunion this weekend, complete with cake:

Judge Oksana Syrkin designed some fun, tricky courses. Nina had a pancreatitis flare-up unfortunately, so even though she double Q’d on Saturday she was very slow and wasn’t right and I ended up leaving the trial early Sunday morning to take her home because she really wasn’t feeling well at all.

Zhora tripled Friday (her first TQ!) and doubled Saturday (with a gift on an R on Friday), Riley earned his OAJ title, Colby earned an Excellent Standard leg and Cricket earned her very first AKC Q’s! Cricket is a Nina for sure.

It was awesome to see my puppies again and I am so grateful to Jennifer, Nichole and Chris for coming, and to Zap as always for her huge help with pictures and video!

Zhora Friday FAST (QQQ#1, QQ #90):

Nina Friday Standard (NQ):

Zhora Friday Standard (QQ #90, first place, 3.4 YPS, 24 points):

Nina Friday Jumpers (NQ):

Zhora Friday Jumpers (QQ #90, fourth place, 4.5 YPS, 16 points):

Colby Saturday Jumpers:

Nina Saturday Jumpers (QQ #25, obviously not herself, 4.1 YPS and just 14 points):

Zhora Saturday Jumpers (QQ #91, third place, 5.06 YPS, 21 points):

Cricket Saturday FAST (Novice Q #1!!):

Colby Saturday Standard (Q!!):

Nina Saturday Standard (QQ #25, feeling a bit better, barked at me on the table anyway! fourth place, 3.5 YPS, 25 points):

Zhora Saturday Standard (QQ #91, third place, 3.8 YPS, 29 points):

Riley Saturday Standard:

Riley Saturday Jumpers (OAJ title!):

Cricket Saturday Jumpers: