In Memory of
Nikko

April 14, 1992 to August 7, 2002

   My beloved Labrador retriever, Nikko, came into my life when he was eight weeks old in June of 1992. I had been looking for a puppy for awhile. I visited many animal shelters and many breeders before I found Nikko. He was one of ten puppies and was the one with the biggest head.
   All the puppies were falling asleep when I visited, and when I bent down to cuddle Nikko, he lifted up his sleepy head and gave me a love nip on my finger. I was smitten. The night I brought him home, he did not cry at all. He only woke up once to sniff his new home. From then on until August 7, 2002, I loved him and cared for him, and he loved me and was by my side through my sad times as well as the happiest events of my life.
   Nikko was there when I married and was in my life when my two children were born. He was never jealous of the babies, and he was so patient with them.
   Nikko was such a retriever. He lived to retrieve balls. During the first three years of his life, his energy was limitless, and he would chase the ball until I got tired.
   He never seemed to get tired. However, in his third year, he finally one day could not get up. Until then, I had no idea he was even in pain. I brought him to my vet and found out that he had severe hip dysplasia. He had to have total hip replacement.
   I was referred to an excellent veterinary surgeon in Concord, CA and that group of doctors flew an excellent specialist from Ohio State Veterinary School to fix Nikko. Nikko recovered beautifully. But we only fixed one hind leg, hoping that he would be fully functional with three good legs. Then when Nikko was six years old, it was clear that his other hind leg was in so much pain from the hip dysplasia that we did a second surgery.
   Nikko was a bionic dog by then, and we had such a good time going to the beach to swim and going to the parks to retrieve those balls. When Nikko was eight, his nose was bleeding after he went after a ball in a bush. I thought he just got a twig in his nose, but when I looked more carefully, I found a growth at the entrance to his nose.
   This time, the vet's diagnosis was not so happy. It was squamous cell carcinoma. I was immediately referred to an oncology specialist. Nikko went through a year of radiation, but in the end of the year, I was told that the tumor still came back, and that there was nothing else they were going to do. I was devastated. I cried for so many months, thinking that Nikko was going to leave me. However, he still seemed fine.
   We had to really slow down his lifestyle, but he was happy. By now, I had two small children, and they were taking all my energy. But we always made Nikko the center of our lives as much as we could. Just as I was thinking that perhaps Nikko was somehow going to miraculously survive the nose cancer for a few more years, his hind right leg started to limp, and then his front right leg started to limp.
   I then found out that osteosarcoma, cancer of the bone was going to be the last assault on my beautiful Nikko. My vet told me that this was going to take my beloved dog away from me. Osteosarcoma is so aggressive that Nikko's right front leg developed a tumor the size of a large egg in a matter of weeks.
   Despite the pain he endured throughout his entire life, Nikko never complained and always loved life and all that it had to offer him. He always loved everyone. My husband reminds me that I gave Nikko the best life he could have had and I believe it so. I just wished that I could have cured the cancer and saved his life.
   I'll always miss Nikko and will always love him.

Esther Kelly, Millbrae, Calif.