~November 2001 to April 2006~

“"I will give thee a dog which I got in Ireland. He is huge of limb, and a follower equal to an able man. Moreover, he hath a man's wit and will bark at thine enemies but never at thy friends. And he will see by each man's face whether he be ill or well disposed to thee. And he will lay down his life for thee."

The Icelandic Saga of Nial

How do you describe your best four legged, furred friend?

Those words began what used to be the story of my life with Mikayla.  This is the rest of her story, her beginning, the middle and the painful end.

Mikayla came to me in January of 2002 as a gangly Irish Wolfhound pup.  I remember my husband asking me what I saw in that funny looking, scrawny pup.  I saw my dreams realized, I finally had my first IW and it was not just love at first sight, it was like seeing an old friend again…it was pure joy.  She was so different, she was gentle and calm from the moment she came home.  My daughter Hailey loves to tell how she came home from school sick with the flu and Mikayla had never seen her before, but she climbed up on the couch and was perfectly still beside her.  Hailey was in love.

We had our moments, my Kayla girl and I, she was a true sight hound and she found things to chase.  Her favorite game was to chase the outside cats.  She never hurt one, she would chase them until they stopped, then she would run past and wait for them to take off again.  She did love to run and I made the mistake of leaving the gate open once and she caught the scent of a deer and was off.  I thought I would never get her to stop, and I didn’t, Brian did.  Then there were the times that she went to work with me, greeting everyone and trying to sit in his or her laps.  She was the talk of the horse park; everyone knew her and everyone loved her.  We made trips together and she loved nothing more than being the ambassador for the Irish Wolfhounds of the world.  She loved to get in bed with me on my Friday mornings off; she would snuggle and then fall asleep.  We shared the couch in the evenings, either with her on one end and me on the other, or with her sitting in my lap. Her kisses were special, few and far between, and always slow and gentle.

Then there was Mikayla the mother.  I have raised many dogs over the years and I have had dedicated mother dogs, but few that truly enjoyed being a mama as much as she did.  Her first litter was an experience for both of us; eighteen hours of labor brought 10 beautiful puppies into the world.  She wanted to nurse them all; she didn’t want me to take any off to supplement.  Her mischievous nature and love of mothering all came together when she would let the 8-week-old puppies out of the puppy room.  She would break down the baby gate and let them out to play in the den of our house.  She did it more than once and she did it with both litters.