Mickthea Yukon Dragonfire SS

Mickthea Yukon Dragonfire SS, SR, PJ1, SJ, NA, NAJ, NJC, TG-N, TN-N, FD, FDX 2/10/02 - 7/18/09

I made a heartbreaking decision for me on the evening of Saturday July 18, to let Riki stop his constant fight for breath. He has been having problems since Thursday night when I came home after losing Devin. His condition of collapsed trachea that he has been living with for three years just got the better of him. He has been suffering since Thursday night, all day Friday, all day today. He had me calling his vet in a panic yesterday because even with all the medication and sedation, he would not sleep and relax; he honked, coughed, gagged and never rested. Today I went through numerous times of sedating him and it never got any better. For him, living in a daze day in and day out, not being able to run, to play, is not the life I want for him. And how could I leave him alone in the house, go out the door and be comfortable not knowing how he was breathing and if he got himself upset and he had an attack while he was alone.

Tonight he was suffering so much and I could not put him through this kind of life anymore. I cried for him, I cried for his pain, I cry for the huge (though he was small) hole in my heart, but I did it for his new life of running and playing. He, like Devin went quietly, with his dignity intact and when the terrible sounds of his breathing stilled, he was gone………..

I knew that eventually I would have to make this decision; I was just not prepared to do it on the heels of losing Devin. My two sweet dogs are now sharing times running, playing, breathing, being the fun police to everyone they can find at the rainbow bridge.

Rest in peace my little Riki, take breaths that don’t hurt, win at Flyball, be the fastest on the team and wait for me, I will see you when I get there.

I flew

down to Texas to pick out Riki from breeder Dorthea

Robinson DVM, Mickthea Kennels, in April of 2002. When I arrived at her house, I was greeted by the three pups I had to choose from. I was only staying the one night and by the time I was just about to leave, I still had not decided which pup I wanted. Riki sold himself to me then, when we were out in her yard. He was the one who was in the garden, splashing in the tortoise water, barking and pawing at those same tortoises, running through the hollow logs the tortoises hung out in. He was so inquisitive, so bold, so busy, that I had to take him home. He had everything that I felt an agility dog should have. He has a mind of his own and a temper. He is a blast to work with. It took me awhile to name him, I could not decide on the right name and as I watched him ricochet off the dogs, furniture and zip around the house, I had to name him Riki.

He fits in just fine here. He and Carmen were best buddies. They played all the time, making lots of noise, sounding like hive of bees. Riki does have a special circle of doggie friends, Cassie, the Weim, PJ, the Boxer and Harvey, the Collie. Does this tell you he likes his friends bigger than he?

***News flash!*** Riki was in his first ever agility trial, the OTRAG NADAC trial in Wrentham, MA on April 10 & 11, 2004. He was a good boy, he stayed in the ring, worked and jumped his little heart out. He is a different dog to run than the BC and Carmen, he has such nice long legs and covers a lot of ground as he runs. He does not look like he is going fast, but he gets out of the tunnel sooner than I expected. That was obvious in Tunnelers on Sunday, he came out ahead of me, crossed over my path and as I tried to avoid him, I believe we had a bit of contact. Did not bother him at all, he got up, shook himself off and finished the course. What a man!

Riki entered his first AKC agility trial the weekend of May 22 and 23, 2004. For his first outing in standard he did a very good job. He got a Novice Standard leg and two Novice Jumpers legs, all three with first places. Wow! I am so pleased with him.

Riki and I have done more agility, he now has Starters Relay, Jumpers and Snooker titles in USDAA. He got his first leg in Advanced Jumpers at the Agile Dogs trial in January 2006.

I taught him some tricks using the clicker and he loves that! He has learned to flip open the lid of a picnic basket, go in and let the top close over him. He bows on command, which I transferred to the bottom of the a-frame and dog walk . He loves to learn new behaviors and I think he will have an extensive repertoire of tricks in his bag.

Riki's was awesome in Flyball! He did a great job, and had super box turns. All of this is because of his two Flyball instructors Jessica and Valerie Stier. They have taken my two boys, Riki and Kane,

worked wonders with them in this exciting new sport, the boys love it! He is a member of the new Flyball team, Long Island Road Rage! Riki's favorite thing was getting cheese for his work in flyball and I was able to transfer that love and desire for the dairy food to his weaves! Riki is the first Papillon on Long Island to have any flyball titles and he proudly tells everyone just that wonderful accomplishment!

Riki is now retired from competition, he can no longer do agility or flyball. However he has a great life, he keeps my pillow warm at night, he is still the boy with the biggest and loudest opinion. He still plays with his ball, lives for cheese, chases the other dogs around and loves to wrestle with the new Kelpie pup Raven. The two of them are good friends and she is careful to play nicely with him, she does not get too exuberant and physical with the small boy.