Nikita4ever

Dashia has an excellent attitude and a high energy level. She is very intelligent and learns commands quick. She is very friendly towards people unless she feels I am threatened. She just loves our vet and gives him kisses and wants him to hold her. Dashia loves to play tennis ball, and play with her toys all the time. She is very athletic from what I have seen so far. She has way more enery than I do or ever will LOL.

I don't know for certain she is a mix that is what the resuce group said but then again they had her age incorrect too. Right now at approx 15 weeks she is 23 pounds. Our vet thinks she may be 55-60 pounds, but we are just looking at her paws and weight gain over the weeks. She is tall and skinny and has a longer than normal tail compared to Nikita and our other dog Misha who is half pit bull black lab. Our vet even commented on that. I will look at those other breeds and see. Thank you for the names. I am curious now if she is a purebred. I appreciate the input, let me know if I can answer any other questions to help see what breed Dashia is. Julie

Hi, I know Dashia is not a BC like my Nikita but everyone here has been so great I love posting here because the feedback is excellent. Since Dashia is a rescue we are guessing she is 15 week based on when her teeth fell out. They said she was a Shepherd mix. I was looking at dogs on-line trying to figure out what type of Shepherd. She looks like a Bohemian Shepherd but I am not sure. Does anyone have any suggestions what they think her breed maybe? I would love to know. These are not the best pictures since I am not a good photographer, but I hope they are good enough. Thank you again everyone for all your suggestions and support. Julie Dashia_toys.pdf Dashia.pdf

Thank you so much for all the suggestions!!! Dashia loves the frozen washcloths and ice cubes. I can't open the freezer without her wanting ice cubes or a washcloth. This weekend I am going to buy the Bitter Apple Spray and Cayenne pepper and hopefully salvage some of my stuff. You have to love the puppy stage......... LOL She is a handful but such a Mommy's girl I love it!!! Thank you again!

Dashia is teething now and I have lost two throw rugs, carpet in my bathroom, a blouse (my fault I left it on the chair), a corner on my coffee table and a few other things. I have raw hides everywhere, tons of soft toys, hard toys, a Kong and anything I can think of that will help with her teething. Yesterday she lost her two front teeth and one bottom tooth so I am expecting a nightmare when they come in. If anyone has any suggestions how to help with teething or other chew toy ideas to help with her teething I would love to know. She has lightened up on the toe biting since I taught her the command let go. Thank goodness my feet are healing now. She is my little termite and I love her despite the damage.

The only type of seizures I am familiar with are the ones Nikita had and they were severe. I do not remember the proper term due to my stress level with her health at the time. But in her case it was the brain tumor. She lost her bowels and was drooling and her entire body from head to paw was seizing. She could not be woken up out of it she continued until her body stopped and all I could do was comfort her. In the beginning she also made a noise difficult to describe but it was a noise that you knew she was in pain and it broke my heart. After the seizing stopped she was very disoriented, anxious and exhausted. Even when she was on high doses of medication and she seized it was her entire body just not as intense, she still lost her bowels and was drooling. Misha our other dog and Dashia the puppy both twitch in their sleep and yes I have panicked woke them up to make sure it was not a seizure. They both were alert which made me feel better. I agree I would go to the vet to be safe. If you can afford it you could even get an MRI if it continues, but they are expensive. Nikita’s was $1300.00 out where I live in Southern California. I had to borrow the money to get it done due to the cost. I hope the best for Scooter. I just read your new post and I am so happy Scooter is feeling better!!!!!!!

I am so sorry for your loss. I understand the hurt and pain you are suffering as I lost my beloved Nikita this past June. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. This just breaks my heart. I am so sorry.

Thank you for the suggestions and link for the puppy refresher book. I need to refresh myself because it has been awhile. So I am going to read it ASAP. I like the time out idea and I am going to start doing that today when I get home. Then she will realize you bite Mommy’s toes you are timed out from Mommy. Then she will start associating the two and hopefully stop biting my toes. Then she can lay by my feet and my toes/feet will be safe and I can begin to heal. No I don’t crate her, but I am beginning to think it would be a good idea especially while I am at work. I just have the house as puppy proofed as possible. But crating sounds like a good idea at least until she is potty trained then she can use the dog door. I need to learn not to make a big deal when I leave or come home, that was my error I did with Nikita and now Dashia. I just feel guilty for leaving and I am, so excited to see her when I get home. So that is my mistake which I need to work on so she does not have behavioral problems. Since Dashia is more ahhh lets say wild than Nikita her training needs to be more disciplined. I was very fortunate with Nikita she was smart and very obedient, she was an excellent student. I just hope Dashia turns out to the same. Dashia is so cute she follows me everywhere. She is defiantly a Mommy’s girl. That is what I wanted and needed. Now I just need to train her properly so she is well behaved. Thank you!!!

Well it is that time to puppy train again. We are guessing Dashia around 12 weeks old; since she is a rescue we are not really sure. The rescue group said they were guessing she was 8 weeks when we got her on June 27th. Our vet thinks she maybe a couple of weeks younger. She was 9 pounds on July 18th and has put on a few more since. Her next set of shot are on August 8th. She is growing fast. I have been trying to research what breed she is I think she is part Bohemian Shepherd. Has anyone had any experience with this breed? The coloring, ears are an exact match and from what I read she fits a lot of the personality traits. I need to get a picture so I can get some ideas if I am correct. Toe biting, I never had to go through this with Nikita all she wanted was a tennis ball. Plus she was quiet; Dashia is quite the clown, stories for another post. Any suggestions how to stop toe biting? When I am trying to get ready for work and all she likes to do is bite my toes. I tell her NO she backs off for a second stalks me then pounces back. I say it firm but she just looks and me and comes back to bite my toes again. She does not take me seriously. I am a giant chew toy to her. My arms and legs show it. I tried squirting a water bottle when she bites and saying NO and she just plays with the water. I have another water girl I think. I feel bad for Dashia; she is already suffering separation anxiety when I go to work. Nikita also suffered this so she just left me presents everywhere when she got extremely upset with me. Dashia screams at the top of her lungs. As I am leaving I can still hear her screaming. I feel bad because I don’t know how long she does it for. She also leaves presents but we are still potty training. Otherwise she is a very good puppy. She is starting to chew but has plenty of toys and rawhides that keep her busy. I guess my biggest issue right now is the toe biting how to stop it, help please!!! There will be more issues to come I will need suggestions for I am sure. I just don’t know how much more my toes and feet can take

My BC chose me. I had just graduated college, moved in with my fiancé, now my husband and I wanted a puppy. My husband at the time had an Aussie Mix who was 7. I knew I did not want a small dog but a medium size one like Sasha. So I went puppy hunting. At first I had no luck, no connection to any of the dogs I held but I was persistent and did not give up. I knew the perfect little girl for me was out there. Then one day I seen one that no one was really looking at. She was shy, scared and hid in a corner while all the other dogs were greeting people. When a few people tried to pick her up she just ran away not allowing them to pick her up. Then I decided to walk by her when she settled down and started talking to her and she perked upped. It just so happened she was a BC mix who became my Nikita. I picked her up and she showered me with kisses and just cuddled up in my arms and was so comfortable. I told my husband I want this puppy. She told me she wanted me to be her Mommy by all the love she gave me and not running from me. She knew what I wanted a shy little puppy to spoil and be a Mommy’s girl. We had such an instant connection it was amazing. Like Nikita I am shy and I think that is why we had such a strong bond and became the perfect match. I loved her and the breed so much, she spoiled me. The BC breed grew on me for what amazing dogs they are. I was very fortunate to get a BC who was the love of my life Nikita.

I have a new member of my family Dashia, she is a Shepherd Mix. She is a cute little thing 9 weeks old black and caramel coloring, but no matter how much I play with her, love her I still cry over the passing of my Nikita. I bonded with Dashia when I picked her up she immediately fell asleep on my shoulder and is a Mommy’s girl, but as cold as this may sound I do not feel that extra special bond I felt with Nikita. The little girl follows me everywhere and loves for me to hold her, but with Nikita there was just something extra I can’t describe. Don’t get me wrong I love Dashia and am going to spoil her rotten but I always am thinking about Nikita. I know it has only been two weeks and everyone keeps telling me time will help heal the wounds, but I don’t know if it will. Dashia is helping with some of the pain because the little rascal keeps me busy and is a total lover. Like Bustopher Jones said Nikita is my “Heart Dog” and everyday I read the Ode to a heart Dog. But I keep telling myself I will meet Nikita again at the Rainbow Bridge. I was to the point of missing Nikita so much I was not functioning and my husband thought it best that I get a new puppy to help take my mind off of things. To me when Nikita passed I lost my daughter and life ended. Everything in the house reminded me of Nikita and I wanted to get rid of stuff because the memories were too painful. I packed away some of her things like her bed, collar, food and water bowels, a toy duck that had her cookies crumbs on it from playing tug with it after she ate a cookie etc. I know I sound a little extreme but I loved her so much. At first I did not want Dashia playing with any of Nikita’s old toys (she has three toy boxes full of toys) but then I realized it was not fair to Dashia. I also wanted another BC like Nikita but the couple of BC’s I looked at did not bond to me like Dashia and my husband said to ignore the breed and go for the puppy that bonds with me. Plus if I got another BC I was worried I would compare her to Nikita and expect her to be like Nikita which was not fair to the puppy. Plus there is only one Nikita and that is what makes her so special. I am just not handling her passing very well and I am so depressed and my heart hurts, Dashia is a great little girl and I love her but thoughts of my Princess run through my mind all the time. Am I being too obsessive with Nikita’s passing or is this normal and in time I won’t be as distraught? Also, everyone here has been so wonderful to me even though I did not get another BC I hope I can still post. I have many puppy questions since it has been 12 ½ years since I had a pup. Thank you everyone!

I am soooooo happy Sam is home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much to everyone for your kinds words, thoughts, prayers and beautiful poems and sayings for my cherished Nikita. Everyone here has been so wonderful to us during her struggle with the brain tumor which she ultimately succumbed to. That little girl was my heart and soul. Her passing was painful and tore me up but thanks to all the kind and caring words from everyone it made the transition much less difficult. I have the support I need to get through this difficult time. I miss my Princess so much it hurts, but she will forever be with me in my heart and mind. Mommy loves you and misses you my Princess Nikita!!

It is with a heavy heart and endless tears that I have to say I lost my best friend Nikita. I had her put down on June 23, 2009 at 10:30 AM. Nikita had a very rough night Monday and early Tuesday morning. I knew by her actions and eyes that it was time for me to say good bye and let her rest. She fought very hard and I know she fought so hard for me and stayed around as long as she did for me. But I knew to be fair to the little girl who loved me so much I needed to say good bye and it was tough. Our vet agreed that it was Nikita's time and she needed to rest. I was with her when she passed and it was so difficult seeing her go. Today I buried my Princess at a pet cemetery by the beach with her favorite toys. She finally looked comfortable and I knew she was no longer in pain. However that does not take away the empty feeling, heartache and void I feel in my heart and soul. Nikita was a vital part of our family and she will be deeply missed but forever in our hearts. I love you Nikita!

Sam is in my thoughts and prayers for a safe return home.

Hello to all of Nikita's concerned friends, Nikita for the most part apprears to be pretty stable right now. She suffered another seizure Tuesday night and was having difficulty keeping her food down for a few days. Our vet put her on a new medication to help with the vomiting and she appears to be doing good with that. We had to increase her dosage of Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide and so far she is doing good on the new dosage although sometimes she is alittle groggy since her body is still adjusting to the higher dose. She still has her good days and bad days and of course on the bad days my heart breaks because I want to make her well again. This weekend was spent laying on the floor with her. I noticed when I lay by her she tends to perk up and have more life in her. So the few remaining weeks she has left I want to make sure she is as happy as she can be and if that makes her happy then I will continue to lay by her as much as possible. I did notice something is wrong with her left eye. It looks like she has a small dent in her eye. I am not sure if she ran into something or what happened. It does not appear to be huritng her, but I have a call into my vet just to be safe. I tried to Nikita proof the house as much as possible to prevent things like this from happening. She has Doggles but those were used when she use to go for walks or she was outside to prevent any injury to her eye when she went blind. They seem to uncomfortable to leave on her all day while I am at work. So this is a mystery to me what happened but I am very concerned. Thank you so much for asking how Nikita is doing I really appreciate it and so does Nikita!! The pictures I have been including of Nikita are older ones and I am not a good photographer as you can tell. I have newer ones before she got ill I just need to download them so once I do I will include those.

Hi Everyone, I called my vet and he increased her dose of Potassium Bromide by a small amout which I had to give her immediately. He did not want to increase her Phenobarbital since she is already on 4 a day. He believes it maybe, I think it was stated here too a breakthrough seizure I think he said, that just happens due to the brain tumor. He said the seizures will happen even with all her medication. He stated everything so well but I tend to get all in a panic and forget stuff which is not good in this situation. He tried to tell me politely considering her situation (he also has a copy of her MRI) that she has fought for this long and he is surprised she is still doing as good as she is. I told him alot of sleepless nights and love but she is worth the sacrifice. He told me to keep an eye on her and if need be he would stop on his way home. Right now Nikita is resting on her bed relaxing.

I agree I would take your dog to the vet. Before Nikita got ill she loved her food, but about a month before her seizures started(brain tumor related) she refused to eat. You just want to make sure she does not have anything medically wrong with her. Also, my other dog does not eat when there is stress or a change in our routine or if she is overheated. But to be on the safe side I would visit your vet like it was suggested.

Thank you everyone so much. I am going to call my vet when they open and thanks to reading your comments it gives me a better understanding of how to expalin it and questions to ask. My vet is great I just have a difficult time relaying the information in a rational matter when I am so stressed, but he knows me and understands what I am trying to say for the most part. I just get so emotional my mind is not there. But now I made a list of questions to ask that will make sense. Nikita's seizure lasted 3 minutes and was a full body convulsion where she lost her bowels. Most of her seizures have lasted between 3 to 5 minutes but she had a 30 minute one and we went to the ER vet, that was the most severe. I am hoping her medication just needs to be adjusted but I will find out shortly. Thank you for your support and helpful comments. I really appreciate it. Julie

I am sorry for my prior post I thought I posted twice but it looks like I did not. I am too stressed to be thinking clearly right now. Sorrry As far as Nikita she is 45 pounds maybe 40 now. Her dosage per pill are: Potassium Bromide 732mg/5ml once a day Phenobarbital 64.8mg, 2 pills in the morning and 2 at night Preds-20mg, 1 pill in the morning and 1 at night. It is alot of medication but so far this was the dose that helped control the seizures until today. I do not like giving her so much medication. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I am open to trying them. Everyone here has been so wonderful and supportive, it has helped me so much which in turn helps Nikita. Thank you! Julie

Sorry I posted this twice. My mind is not here right now.

Hello to all my concerned friends regarding Nikita. This morning as I was getting ready for work Nikita had another major seizure, so I am home with her today to keep an eye on her. The worst part is my husband had to go out of town for work and I am not the best at being calm during theses situations. I am getting worried that her seizure medication is not working like it was and the tumor is growing. I am not sure what is going on. All I know is that I am scared for her and when my husband is home I feel more comfortable since he knows how to handle theses situations. He has had dogs all his life unlike me, plus he stays calm. She is on 4 Phenobarbital daily, 5ml of Potassium Bromide and 20 mg of Preds two times a day. I am just worried that the time I feared is coming sooner than I wanted. Last night and early this morning she was fine then came the seizure. Although last night she had puppy like behavior like chewing on the TV cord which was hidden behind one of her toy boxes stuff full of toys but I did not give that a thought. I thought she just wanted to play and thought the cord was a toy which I immediately took from her. She seemed alert and full of energy. I was looking at her seizure log and her last major seizure was May 1st. She has had mini ones we believe where her head bobs but we were not sure if those were caused by the tumor or mini seizures. Julie

Hello to all my concerned friends regarding Nikita. This morning as I was getting ready for work Nikita had another major seizure, so I am home with her today to keep an eye on her. The worst part is my husband had to go out of town for work and I am not the best at being calm during theses situations. I am getting worried that her seizure medication is not working like it was and the tumor is growing. I am not sure what is going on. All I know is that I am scared for her and when my husband is home I feel more comfortable since he knows how to handle theses situations. He has had dogs all his life unlike me, plus he stays calm. She is on 4 Phenobarbital daily, 5ml of Potassium Bromide and 20 mg of Preds two times a day. I am just worried that the time I feared is coming sooner than I wanted. Last night and early this morning she was fine then came the seizure. Although last night she had puppy like behavior like chewing on the TV cord which was hidden behind one of her toy boxes stuff full of toys but I did not give that a thought. I thought she just wanted to play and thought the cord was a toy which I immediately took from her. She seemed alert and full of energy. I was looking at her seizure log and her last major seizure was May 1st. She has had mini ones we believe where her head bobs but we were not sure if those were caused by the tumor or mini seizures. Julie

Hello, Nikita had an Ok weekend, so that was good considering the other weekend. I called my vet and got some medication to help her tummy and since she has been on that she appears to have alittle more life in her eyes. However Friday night she was up all night whining and sometimes it was for potty or water other times I could not figure out why. My worst fear was that her kidneys were hurting her since she developed kidney problems on top of the brain tumor. She also appeared to have a few mini seizures which has me stressed. She seems to have her good days and bad days but what worries me is that her bad days outweigh her good days. She moved the wrong way this weekend and her left hind leg got positioned wrong and she yelped in pain. I immediately jumped up and adjusted it. Without use of her backlegs she is unable to move them when she adjusts her body. But there are times when I look at her she looks tired and ready to give up then other days she is perky and wants to play. She still at times has difficulty walking with her front legs and that happened a few times this weekend. Despite all that Nikita has going on she is doing a very good job at making the best of her situation. Thank you for asking how Nikita is doing both of us appreciate it. It is comforting to know we have friends that care, thank you! Nikita.pdf

As I write this the tears are streaming down my face and I hope I am wrong. It may be time to say good-bye to my princess. Last night her eyes were tired and sad. She has been a warrior not feeling well then a couple of days later bouncing back to a happy girl enjoying life. But last night I think she was telling me Mommy I am tired and I want to rest. Nikita has not been feeling well since Friday. On Sunday she appeared to be feeling better. She was alert, wanted to play and was barking, wagging her tail enjoying life. I think this may of been her good-bye to her family. On Monday she got sick again unable to hold anything down and I think she may of had another seizure while I was at work. She looked like she had given up. All night and this morning she just laid there no energy no motivation for anything. I tired to get her to take a sip of water and that was a challenge along with trying to get her medicine down her. I just hope I am wrong and within the next couple of days she will be back to her ornery self. There were a few times in the past I am glad I waited before I decided to make the decision because she bounced back. But her eyes were different then. Something about them this time was telling me Mommy I am tired and don't feel well. I laid on the floor with her all night in hopes that would help her recover and make her better. But I am afraid my time with Nikita is coming to an end very soon. I need to think about her quality of life the next couple of days and make the decision I dread. I will be losing my best friend, the only one who never judged me, loved me unconditionally and the list goes on and on. I called our vet and he said when the time comes he will come to our house so Nikita can be in her house and comfortable. I also have it set up for her to be buried at a Pet Cemetery by the beach. Nikita loves the water. She loved to swim in Big Bear Lake, pools, run through the sprinklers, bite the water from the hose and she just could not wait until bath time. Sometimes when I had the water running in the shower she would jump in eager for a bath. Everyone here has been wonderful and I really appreciate it especially in this difficult time. Thanks to everyone here I have been able to come to grips and deal with Nikita's brain tumor much better. I am still a mess but before all the wonderful people here I was to the point of not functioning. I have begun to mentally start preparing myself for the reality that my princess does not have much longer left and to enjoy every second I have with her now. I will keep everyone posted on Nikita. I sure hope I am wrong about how she is feeling and I am not reading her correctly and she will bounce back and be her happy perky self again. Lets hope. But time is of the essence.