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Kira
Badgerland's Kira CD, CGC, DNA-CP
May 1, 1993 to December 26, 2002
Kira - "sun"
She was our first Aussie and our kennel is named after her. She came into our
lives in a roundabout way one summer day. Our Husky/German Shepherd mix, Sadie,
had died suddenly of a stroke a few months earlier. I knew I wanted an
Australian Shepherd to do competitive obedience with. I had my heart set on a
black tri male. I heard about a litter with 2 females left. 1 blue merle and 1
black tri. I thought, I'll just go look, I didn't expect to find "just the
right" dog for a long time. When we got there, we were told, only the blue merle
girl was available. I went thru all the temperament testing with her and lo and
behold she had all the qualities I was looking for in an obedience prospect
except for color and sex. My son and daughter were with me, so I asked their
thoughts. Brad, who was 10 years old at the time, started crying. He felt that
Sadie would have hurt feelings if we replaced her so quickly. We had a long talk
about that and in the end, the cute little blue fluff ball won out and came home
with us.
At the time, I had a small pick-up truck and with 2 kids, no room for a crate in
the cab, so the puppy rode in the back. And boy, did she serenade us all the way
home! It was a long 2.5 hour drive. When we got home, I suggested the name of
Lyric, in honor of her musical abilities. John wanted to name her Ramona. Yuck,
we vetoed that one fast! Somehow, the name, "Kira" popped into my head and
stuck. Later, I looked up Kira in a name book and saw that it meant "sun". By
this time we realized this puppy did indeed have a sunny disposition. Little did
we know how prophetic that name would be.
Kira was always a happy dog. She loved everyone she met. She was a big time
smiler and wiggle butt. It wasn't long before she was doing everything with our
family. She went to every family reunion, outing and get-together. She was at
every campfire, sitting on her own lawn chair. We could take her anywhere off
leash and never have to worry about her. She was completely trustworthy with
anybody. She was a great obedience dog. She always elicited comments from the
judges on her bubbly, cheerful nature. Her high score was a 198.5 at a match.
Unfortunately, a torn cruciate ligament prevented her competing beyond the
novice level. She was Tera's 4-H obedience dog also and they did some wonderful
work together.
Kira had 2 beautiful litters for us. We still have her son, Flash. She was an
excellent mother. I will never forget the joys of raising those 2 litters and
the good friends I made who still have her children.
She was also the cat-police extraordinaire. I can't begin to tell you all the
funny things that happened with Kira and cats. Suffice it to say that no cats
stepped out of line in our house without having to answer to Kira. Luckily, she
has trained her Lieutenant True well, so we are not left to the mercy of the
cats.
One of her favorite past-times was spending an afternoon in the woods with John
when he cut wood for our furnace. She and Flash would hunt mice and chipmunks
for hours. More than one rodent met its demise thru the efforts of their
teamwork.
But we did not truly appreciate Kira's talents until we began to do therapy work
with her. It was at this time that her special talents really shined. Kira had a
knack of finding the sickest person in a room and going to them and comforting
them. I remember at a family reunion one year where there were over 150 people
in attendance. My Uncle Ray and Aunt Evie (they were brother and sister), were
each quite ill, unbeknownst to me. As I said, we could take Kira to these
gatherings and turn her loose without worry. After a time, I thought I should go
and check on her. Where did I find her? With my Uncle Ray. He told me how she
had just walked up to him and laid her head in his lap. She knew that he needed
comfort. He told me how he'd just reserved a German Short-haired Pointer puppy
and was looking forward to feeling better one day and hunting with that dog. A
little while later, a repeat performance with my Aunt Evie. Who, by the way,
didn't really like dogs, but that didn't stop Kira. She could spot a sick person
a mile away and was right there to help them. Kira was like a sponge, soaking up
any negativity in a room. She never failed to bring a ray of sunshine to even
the darkest places. That was her greatest gift to us.
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Unfortunately, the cancer was aggressive and relentless. It consumed her body
w/a vengeance until we could no longer bear to see her endure the pain. We had
to let her go. It is hard to loose one of your best friends. Especially one so
unselfish as Kira. It's hard to imagine life without her. Never to see her
smiley face or wiggle butt again. But it was even harder to watch her once
strong body deteriorate right before your eyes. To look into her always bright
eyes and see pain. We could be selfish no longer. We let her have peace so that
she could again frolic with the other dogs, pain-free as was her right.
Thank you for being a part of our lives Kira. There will always be a place in
our hearts for you. We will never forget you.
We love you Kira.
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