Miyuki + Kawana= TLA

We had a dog in our home for a short time while I was growing up. I say "in our home" because it was more of a co-existence rather than a relationship. It didn't work out and my mom had the painful task of taking him to the Humane Society. She didn't know what else to do. She cried all the way home. I must not have been too attached because I don't remember crying at all.  Now I know why my mom cried. She was the one who took care of this little dog and so I can only imagine how attached she got even though he wasn't quite what we had expected. 

Our youngest, Emma, 8, is a complete animal lover. She cried and cried when our little hamster, Henry, died. He "mysteriously" disappeared from his Postmortem Crayola Box Home in the freezer to some undisclosed location in an attempt to give him a proper burial (which translates to: we needed to get him out of the freezer). Emma made him a little headstone and R.I.P. out of mud and put it symbolically in our flower bed. I happened upon it a couple of weeks ago. She was still thinking of him.

A few years ago, out of the blue, I got puppy hungry. I could count on Emma to be on the same page. I investigated different breeds to find the right fit for our family and finally settled on a Shih Tzu. They're small, they don't shed, they don't bark, they're mellow and pretty low maintenance. I found a local breeder who called us when our little dog was old enough to leave home. That was nearly 4 years ago. We named her Annie and she has exceeded our expectations. She loves us and it's humbling to think how little she asks of us and how much she gives  in return. Annie was the beginning of my journey to becoming a dog person. I believe in the power of a pooch. Because of that I was so touched by Miyuki and Kawana.

Miyuki & Kawana

Miyuki is my neighbor and she has been training Kawana, a beautiful Golden Retriever, to be an Assistance Dog through the Power Paws organization. They have been together for 18 months. When I learned a couple of weeks ago that it was time for Kawana to go to his new home and new owner, I could feel how sad Miyuki was to see him go. She had done a good job training him and their bond was strong. Kawana will be placed with a person who's life will be greatly blessed by having him around.He is lovable and smart. He can go to the refrigerator and get a water bottle, he can push the handicap button to open doors among other things. I wanted Miyuki to have more than a snapshot to remember him by, so we did a little photo shoot with the two of them the afternoon of his departure. Here are some of my faves:

I know Miyuki will always remember what it felt like to love Kawana, now she can remember what it looks like.