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Likes: Playing Fetch, walks, & car rides.
Pet-Peeves: At this point her newly adopted sister Emma. But we're working on it!
Favorite Toy: Her flattened basket ball. She pops and flattens all balls.
Favorite Food: Any dog treats but she is not food motivated.
Favorite Walk: Petrifying Springs Park
Best Tricks: Catching a ball.
Arrival Story: She was born here. Her mother is Adrienne. She was the first puppy born and it happened when we had taken Adrienne outside to relieve herself. Suddenly out came Nikki right into a snow bank! My ex hubby was with Adrienne and caught the puppy in the NICK of time. She was named immediately. For a short while the kids were calling her "Snow turd" LOL.
Her registered name is Gemstone's Nickerboxer
Forums Motto: A Work In Progress Dogster Local Spots I've Marked: Harris Pet Hospital Sc, Proper Paws University, The Healing Oasis The Groups I'm In: All Boxers, Boxer Town, Boxers International, Cesar's Dogster Pack, DAA: Dogsters with Aggression, Dog Sports - Agility, Obedience, SE Wisconsin Dogs
The Last Forum I Posted In: Sit Down Sit
Nikki Today: Nikki is now 7 years old (Boy does time fly!!) and has always been a very good dog though a little nervous. She is vocal she rooooo's to greet you when you come in the door. Its so cute.
She and her mother Adrienne have been our two house dogs all her life, and Nikki is very close with her.
Its funny because both dogs have been trained to ring a bell by the back door when they want to go out, However, for some reason that job is Adrienne's alone. When Nikki wants to go out she will go to her mother and communicate in some way. Adrienne will slowly get up from wherever she was sleeping, mosey over to the bell and ring it. Nikki follows Adrienne to the door expectantly.
I will let Nikki out. Adrienne stays behind. She didn't have to go! Nikki comes back in and they go back to whatever they were doing. I've always marveled at the way they communicate and have certain jobs that belong to one or the other.
Well last year Adrienne turned 10 years old and I became very concerned that if and when something happens to her and with Nikki always being so completely lost when her mother is not around that she would just not handle it well.
So my husband Paul and I adopted a young boxer named Emma. She is a real sweetheart and they love to play with each other, however they have gotten into some fights too. Nikki wants to assert herself as the boss but Emma will have none of it. They don't fight often but when they snap it is very upsetting. I am trying to learn how to bring this pack of dogs back into a good balance and stop whatever is triggering their spats. Wish me luck!
A little bit about me: I'm an animal portrait artist. You can check out my artwork at www.laurajsmith.com
Just one more time
To hear your Rooooo
One more time
To sit next to you.
To feel your breath
Upon my arm
To laugh once more
At your Wiggle Butt Charm
Just one more time
To Rally O
One more shout
Go Nikki Go !
One last walk
Down through the Springs
One more day
For all these things
To feel your snuggle ...
Or make your tea
One more day
To be with me.
Now you are so far away
Yet in my heart
Each and every day .
Thank you so much for the wonderful poem. The words sum up our life, love, adventures & struggles in a very personal way. Huggs to you Eve and your family. My thanks to you with all of my heart.
It is with great sadness that I have to report that Nikki crossed the rainbow bridge early in the morning on Tuesday 8/18/2009. She went for a walk the night before. Ate her dinner though not as ravenously as normal and really there was no indication that she was as sick as she was until the next morning.
She asked to go out early at 4:00 am and her stool was brown in color and other than a little too firm it was normal. She was somewhat lethargic that morning and when she came back in the house she didn't want to eat her normal "cookie". Right then and there I knew something was very wrong.
She spent the early morning hours laying in places that her mother Adrienne used to go when she wasn't feeling well. First she layed for awhile behind my recliner which Adrienne did when her tummy was upset. Then she layed underneath the dining room table. Adrienne only layed down there when her arthritis was acting up. To my knowledge Nikki never layed in those places. Was she trying to communicate her pain to me in the same ways her mother always did? Was she trying to be close to the places her mother used to go?
When Adrienne was beginning to bloat, and I was calling the animal ER she layed down on a folded up blanket. It was white with pink roses on it. When Adrienne didn't come home Nikki would sniff that blanket and lay on it watching the door. I put that same blanket down for Nikki in the same place it had been when Adrienne layed on it and Nikki got up from laying flat out on the floor, went to the blanket and layed on it. She didn't move from that spot except to lift her head once in awhile until it was time to take her to the vet.
The trip to the vet told us just how sick she really was. She had no energy to try to sniff out the window though she clearly wanted to. When we got to Harris Pet Hospital just before we went inside Nikki had to go. This time her stool looked like black tar. This we already knew was a sign of digested blood. Now there was no question what this day would bring for all of us.
When Dr Wikert examined her he told us that she was very very sick. She was bleeding internally a fair amount and her lungs sounded like the beginnings of pneumonia. He said that if ever a dog was telling us it was time to go it was her right here and right now. He said that after we had already made the decision to help her cross the bridge. He really didn't have to even ask. I knew.
Her blood level was so low that he was not even able to find a vein where he used to easily find one. He tried and tried and finally moved to one of her back legs and with some difficulty found one. My husband and I held her close, hugged and kissed her over and over again but she was gone in seconds. Dr Wikert said that the fact that she went so quickly indicated she had already started on her own.
After a bit I raised my head from Nikki's body and through my tears said to Dr Wikert, "This must be the part of your job that really sucks." He replied, "Well it is definitely not something I enjoy doing but in this case I was looking at a dog who badly needed my help. I am grateful to have been able to help her. There are times when this is much more difficult but not this time. This was the best thing I could possibly have done for her."
We spent a little more time with her, said our final goodbyes and went home to a very quiet house. Kenai was there and got lots of hugs and kisses from us but for me I missed my Nikki. I feel incredibly empty. I do feel blessed to have had to priveledge to love and care for her for the time that I was given.
For every joy that passes a beauty remains. Nikki and her mother Adrienne are a part of the beauty that has been in my life and they will remain with me forever.
Mom took me to my appointment with Dr Mulvihill last night. He felt my lymph nodes and told Mom that though they have grown a lot that they can get much larger before they become a life threatening problem. He says she shouldn't continue to give me high doses of prednisone anymore since that is causing the high liver enzymes and I'm not responding to it anyway.
He has added to my list of supplements Chih-Ko & Curcuma. It is used specifically to help with tumors. Here is some information about this medication from the manufacturer.
My dosage is 4 pills 2x per day so I've got a lot of these to take! Mom is going to run out of hot dogs to hide them in since I am picking these out of my food and won't eat them from my dish. Blech!
He says that besides the enlarging lymph nodes that I'm doing very well and he scheduled our next appointment for three weeks from now. He believes that I'll be there. =)
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