Happy Birthday NIKKI !

Yesterday, October 1, my little companion Nicole was 14 years old.  She is the longest love relationship I have had.  Never married that long, never in a relationship with a man that long, never had an ongoing friendship with anyone that long. She has been with me since she was a little orange baby. I drove her home as she nestled inside my shirt on my chest.

 I already had a miniature poodle named Sammy who was bigger than most minis and was very energetic, caught balls in his mouth and retrieved them to be thrown again. Sammy loved playing ball. He demanded most of the attention so little Nicole aka Nikki sort of hung out in the background waiting for hers.  When I divorced and moved into an apartment with my two babies and had to go to work, Sammy did not adjust well. So I found a poodle rescue lady in Bellingham who took him and her daughter fell in love with him and they kept him. He had a ranch to run around on and other poodles to play with.

They loved going out in the boat on Lake Ballinger and swimming in the lake

Nikkie and Sammy in the backyard in Edmonds

Nikki and Sammy in the backyard in Edmonds where my husband and I lived



Then there was just Nikki and I. She was happy to get all the attention but she was never interested in playing ball or retrieving.  She just loved me, sat on my lap all the time, soaked up and gave love.

She was always very self protective, not liking her space encroached upon. She has bitten my grandson Joseph when he was a young boy.  So my son does not love Nikki.  Nikki mostly loves people, she will lick you before she will bite you. But she is not recommeded for young children. She is protective of herself and of me.

I have taken care of her all her life, from 6 weeks on. She was always a beautiful little girl.

She will always be my little girl and we have gotten to be old ladies together.  She has MVP (mitral valve prolapse) aka heart murmer and has taken a heart pill every day for three years. She also has a "mass" in her abdomen.  She doesn't like to sit on my lap much anymore.  But so far she seems to go along like the little puppy I have always loved.

Happy Birthday, NIKKI.

Nikki today