Kiki

Saturday, we had to make the hard decision to put Kiki down,. Over the last few days, Kiki’s body finally gave out. She could no longer walk or use her back legs, her mouth tumor started bleeding, and she was being eaten by bugs because she couldn’t fight back. At nearly 13 years old, it was time for her to go.

Surprisingly, we’ve all handled it better than expected. We had to get Nike some tranquilizers for his anxiety (which we’ve hardly needed to use, luckily) as he adjusts to life alone. Steve has been really sweet and sleeping downstairs near his kennel to help him adjust since he isn’t allowed inside.

It was really hard leading up to the decision, but since we left her with the vet, I’ve survived. I’ve been able to get almost everything done that was necessary, and have even managed to leave the house a time or two. It’s been harder than I thought on William, though. He keeps asking for us to go get Kiki and asking to play with her and give her treats. When he went to say goodbye to her, it broke my heart. They used to be such good friends.

I’m sorry the twins won’t know her as well as William did (though he may not remember her later either). They had SO much fun together and I loved watching their interactions. Silly Billy would hang out in their kennel, give way too many treats, and play in the water bowl.

I have a lot of great memories of Kiki. I’ve had her since I was 14, so she’s pretty much my oldest friend that I’ve keep in regular contact with (so Angie’s probably the only real exception). I BEGGED my dad to let me get a dog for years. I even had a job and calculated how much time and money I would need to take care of one…including a very detailed shopping list. All my cute pictures of her as a puppy are in storage, due to our temporary living situation, but I did find a few gems of her legacy.

My best friend growing up, Anna, and I LOVED our dogs. We would hang out together all the time. We even once celebrated Nancy’s birthday.

Occasionally, I’d dress them up for Halloween. The devil/angel bit was always a hit, as it was particularly appropriate. Kiki got in way too much trouble over the years…but I even miss that part of her personality. She mellowed out a lot at the end and wasn’t ever quite the same dog, though she would still try to hold her own in a fight with Nike.

And the time Kiki got stuck under the bed…man, that was hilarious.

When we lived in LA, Steve saw the dogs more, since I was usually busy working and he studied at home. Kiki was a great study partner, and they loved to hang out on the couch with a big textbook or 5.

Kiki had several litters of puppies. I had lots of fun reading books about whelping and got good enough at it that I was able to make several thousand dollars that way. It was such a fun side job. Much more play than work, but I don’t think that matters. Who doesn’t love puppies, right? Nike is to the right of Barbie, the pup in the the pink collar.

Before she got too old, Kiki used to accompany us on lots of hikes---from Little Sahara to St. George, to Hollywood. When I had to start carrying her on the return trip, we knew her hiking days were over.

On his birthday one year, my dad asked if I still wanted a dog. The answer was a resounding YES! My dad picked the breed, my sister Rosie picked out her name, but I picked her and she picked me. My first dog, she lived a good life full of puppies, dog sledding, and glorious SoCal. Kiki was a little mischievous, loved food, and too smart for her own good. I will miss her once feisty personality, cool tricks, and happy smile. Her body couldn't handle life anymore and she just wasn't the same dog, so we knew it was time for her to go. Hopefully this will be the last in our long list of trials over the past year and things will finally start to turn around. We miss you already, Kiki(especially Nike!).