WHISKER WALK 2025

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The time has come to write the post I’ve been dreading. On Friday we made the difficult decision to let our Baby Daphne go on to heaven. I know in my heart that she was warmly greeted by her Dad & Mom, Cosmo and Sophie, her son, Ranger, & her best friend, Noel (and so many other of her buddies and brothers who passed on before her) and that gives me a lot of comfort. It’s so hard to put into words what this dog has meant to me. Funny to say, but the two of us really had a lot in common, her mom went into labor on my birthday, so she was a late birthday present for me and she was the seventh pup out of seven (like me, LOL). We each lost both of our parents during her lifetime and we both went through cancer surgeries. So many monumental moments in my life she was by my side… from fun times with great friends on hikes and to the beach, traveling all across the west on dog show trips & vacations from California to Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Idaho and Oregon… to the hard times of my divorce and to surgeries (hers & mine).

We did a lot of activities in the dog world, conformation shows, Rally & Obedience, Coursing Ability and then in October 2020 when she was 8 years old we started a new sport called Nosework (aka Scent Work). I remember thinking I didn’t know if she would ever compete, but it was fun to do and our trainer, Jean, thought she would be very good when she really understood the game. The next four years we really had a great time earning lots of titles. She did so well that we worked our way to competing at the Master level in AKC and even earned class placements at that level even as a 12-year-old when we were battling her health issues. I can’t say enough about getting involved in that sport, it’s so fun because it gives us humans with our ridiculously poor sense of smell a glimpse into a world where our canines really shine.

Daphne had such a great personality and she was so loyal and devoted to the people she loved. I think what I’ll miss the most was the way she shadowed me, even when it was getting hard for her to get up, she followed me from room to room throughout the house as I went about my day. As her time was growing shorter she was even more loving, a few times a day as I worked at my computer I would feel a touch on my arm and she would be there asking for a cuddle… I was so happy to comply because she wasn’t the only one who knew our time together was growing short. I really wish she could have stayed longer even though I know we were so lucky to have had 12-3/4 years together…the years went so fast…

Daphne -- BISS RBISOH BBEIS GCHB CH Kokana's Once In A Lightyear BN RN FDC CAA SWA SCE SEE TT CGCA CGCU TKN ATT RATI L1I NW2 ~ Versatile Akita Excellent Level 3
7/26/2012 ~ 5/9/2025
 

Angel Walker Daphne