A dog's life

Blanche, a black lab retriever, was expecting a litter of five. After hours of horrible, painful and fruitless labour, the vet decided to go in. C-sections in canines are done without much in terms of anesthesia - it is brutal and bloody, verging on butchery. First a female, then two still-borns, and then a male. The vet reached in again to pull out a female, a runt, another still-born. As the vet was about to set her down, the runt stirred slightly and began to breathe... Nikki has been breathing (sometimes snoring) life into our family ever since.

I remind myself of the perilous circumstances surrounding her birth whenever the contents of my garbage can are scattered across the living room, or when she wears my shoes...with her teeth. Though, I can't honestly fault her for liking shoes. A couch-potato, with a healthy appetite (for destruction), Nikki is not much of a sporting dog. She does not do "retrieve". She does sport designer collars.

Nikki will not be making the trip across the Pond with us. For one whole year, she will bully my brother-in-law, PY, for attention and be his chick magnet.