Sarah's tribute to Smeech

[Reposted here by kind permission]
from Sarah to k9kidkeydiet@yahoogroups

A thank you and more...
Date: Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:33 pm (PDT)

First, I can't say enough how sincerely grateful I am to all the members of the list for everything you've ever done for us. I can't imagine what our journey would have been like without you. I hope to continue to learn and support the group as you've supported me. This is long but I thought I'd say what I wanted to say and be done with it.

Everyone knows my sweet little Smeech was diagnosed with Renal Failure when she was just 5months old but here's everything you didn't know. Afterall, kidney failure was such a small part of who she was and what we experienced together.
Smeech was from a breeding of two superb Malinois. Her mother is also the mother of my other Malinois, Thalia. Her father was an amazing worker with a heart of gold. He was abandoned (he will say he was paying a pet sitter) by an unscrupulous man after hurricanes hit Florida. A wonderful woman rescued him but ultimately just a few weeks later he passed away. Her siblings continue to be successful at different dog sports as well as working police dogs.

I got Smeech when she was just four days old. Her breeder was totally irresponsible with the litter and they all struggled. I bottle fed 8 pups for 3 days and on the fourth exchanged them for my sweet little girl. Tube and bottle feedings around the clock for weeks and weeks. She had to go everywhere I went. When she was about two weeks old she developed abscesses on her front joints. Daily cleanings and antibiotics cleared that up but that would just be the first of many health issues for her. Even then she had her own little place in bed. It was wonderful to watch her open her eyes, learn how to walk, wade in puppy mush, grow a personality

Just a few weeks later she was drooling a bit before she went to bed. I was worried and didn't understand why although she seemed fine otherwise. She woke up the next morning and ate like horse. I was smooching her like always and noticed that she seemed a little `lethargic'. It was then that I noticed her tongue was yellow as a banana! I rushed her into the hospital and she had a fever too. We quickly packed her with ice packs and pumped her with antibiotics. Everyone was baffled ˆ why was her tongue yellow but nothing else? They ran through text books, posted all over VIN — nothing. In true Smeechie fashion no fever or yellow tongue would stop her from being her baby alligator self. I was then I was wiping her mouth again cause she was leaving this stink all over me and I noticed the edges were a little pink now. Hmmmm, what is going on with this little jerk of a puppy? We tried looking at her tongue again— I say tried because Smeech was a naughty little bugger as a puppy. She'd bite you for any reason ˆ in her way BITE, move too fast BITE, do treatments on her BITE. And not in a fearful defensive way, in a playful I'm a Malinois and I'm possessed kind of way. Typical little Malinois puppy. So we tag teamed her and it was then that we realized her tongue was sloughing!!! It was on of the most disgusting things I've ever seen. So now the yellow sloughed and what was left was an ulcerated little tongue. "She probably won't eat cause it hurts" they said. Do you think an ulcerated tongue would stop her, I don't think so!!!!

The next few weeks were filled with lots of mischief, lots of trouble and a whole lotta mess. She had chronic UTI's that we were constantly battling. We went to bed one night just as we had always done but when we woke things were anything but normal. The obnoxious little Malinois puppy was still lying down. I was alarmed. I called her firmly and she struggled to stand walked a few feet laid down and peed on herself. I was so shocked and given her previous history of trouble wasted NO time in rushing her to the vet. This time she had a joint infection and of course a fever. She was in a lot of pain and she was PISSED about it! But in true Smeechie fashion after a day of antibiotics and she was back to her normal self. It was then I thought I should do bloodwork again to see if it might reveal anything.

And it did. At 5 months old she had a Creat 4.2, BUN 112, Ca 13.4, Phos 10.1, Bicarb 15—.. and other than those pesky UTI's no other symptoms. She was a happy, chunky, active, mean little Malinois puppy. That's when everything changed for us. Well, maybe not us... she wouldn't hear of it... but for me at least...

This is still just such a small part of who she was. The truth is Mimi was a tyrant. An obnoxious tyrant. She was going to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, to whom she wanted and she'd be damned if anyone would stop her. She constantly got into everything she shouldn't. She even got an electrical shock once! She'd eat ANYTHING she could get her little paws on. It was so bad I had to hide my dental floss! She'd eat her food as fast as possible and then try to steal everyone elses. She would go bizerk if a motorcycle or train passed her spinning in circles barking her yappy head off. Working Malinois folks always got a chuckle out of her. She was stupidly driven. She was blinded by her drive. She's bite anything you waved in front of her. She always wanted to work and couldn't be stressed or backed down. She even would hang on a springpole longer than the bulldogs. Despite that she couldn't catch to save her life. She was totally reckless and I often wondered how she didn't just kill herself. She could, at times, be her own worst enemy. We tried a number of times to put her on IV fluids, we even sedated her, and she just would have no part of it. You couldn't convince her she was sick. She found joy in simple things and often found herself in a battle with the slicker brush that bit back, lol! Only once in her entire life did anyone other than my parents or I take her out for a pee. They ended up using pool sticks and couch cushions to get her back into her crate after she held them hostage in the basement for an hour. She thought it was hilarious and loved every minute of it. They didn't understand her and she knew it. She was having a blast being a little brat and they took her seriously. The most successful prank she ever played! She always greeted Anwar, my APBT, with a shot to the face as he came in from his walks. She'd lay right next to him wherever he was and then would chew him out if he moved. Her siblings loved her and would groom her meticulously if she so much as had a blood draw that day. She loved it. She was ridiculously spoiled and I could never bring myself to reprimand her and it showed ;)

She was the most affectionate dog I've ever known. She always wanted to have her muzzle against my face and it always smelled like maple syrup. It was so soft, like heaven. I can't even imagine the hours we spent face to face. It was comforting for the both of us. She slept right next to me every night. We always spooned and often woke up face to face. She would eat off a spoon like a baby. She was crazy smart and could figure out a way to anything. She spent a part of everyday `nursing' on her stuffies. It was so cute, just like a kitten she'd knead with her paws. She had more names than people could remember. Everday I called her Smeech, Mimi, Me, Middle Stweech, Queechie Queech, Lil Stweech— and I almost always spoke to her in a sweet baby voice. She was gorgeous, simply gorgeous. She never ever grew up and was the same carefree girl at 2years that she was at 7weeks. She wanted to play from the moment she woke 'til the moment she fell asleep. She was larger than life. She was always happy, ridiculously happy. She never ever let anything get her down. She was brilliant, simply brilliant. She is the embodiment of heart.

My love for her is endless.

Sarah missing Angel Smeech
3/11/04-7/17/06

"To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it -- who can say this is not greatness?"

See for yourself:
Smeech Swims
Runnie Smeech
Hello Smeechie!
Gorgeous Girl
Mimi Tribute