Millie the Magnificent
Our Magnificent Ms. Millicent (Kiramoon’s Aida) commonly known as “Millie”! Millie is our very special new Leonberger puppy. In regards to the circumstances in which she entered our lives we know Millie is a gift to us from our previous Leo, Nellie (Ms. Nells). This makes Millie even more of special puppy to us. If you want to read more about who Millie is and how she came to us continue reading this post. If you want to skip to her day to day life you may want to pass this post as it is going to be fairly long..but it is a GREAT GREAT story that should not be missed.
Firstly we need to thank Suzanne Vorsaa of Kennel Kiramoon (http://www.kiramoon.dk/ click on Hvalpe in the side bar for puppy pictures) for trusting us with one of her awesome puppies. Millie’s Mom is a very special lady, Khaimas girl, Marika (Khamais’ Saturday Autumn – http://ileodata.com/pedinfo.php?id=95571). Pia and Jørgen Hansen have Kennel Khaimas and we love their dogs!
Below is a picture of Marika on the day we picked up Millie (December 2, 20119 with a couple of the other pups.
Marika and a couple of her pups the day we picked up Millie
In September 2010, Dennis and I went on a wonderful trip through Germany and ended up visiting the German Leonberger Club show in Leonberg. We had such a great time seeing so many wonderful Leonbergers and meeting so many wonderful Leonberger people. We met a great dog there. His name is Forest (http://www.leonberger-hunde.de/zucht/rueden/b1/Forrest_Leo_vom_Jerichower_Land.html). Forest has many championships under his belt but thats not what stood out about him to us. Forest has a really really great temperment. He is such a lovely stable dog, a great Leonberger. So when we heard Forest was Millie’s Dad we were very happy!
Millie's Dad - Forest Leo vom Jerichower Land
So how did Millie come to us? Read on:
In September 2011 after many years of hopping the pond from Nova Scotia to Denmark I finally moved over to be with Dennis in our Pinecone Cottage in Mogenstrup, Denmark. I brought with me my heartdog, Ms. Nells/Nellie. Nellie was thought to be having a hard time getting over ACL surgery from back in mid-July. She was aproximately 7.5 years old – a senior. After having some issues getting settled here in Denmark we finally got Nells to an orthopaedic veterinarian thanks to the help of Pia and Jørgen Hansen (Kennel Khaimas – http://www.khaimas.dk/khaimas_uk.htm). What we thought was trouble getting over ACL surgery turned out to be much more devastating. Ms. Nells had advanced osteosarcoma. We only had a little time left with her. We were shocked and heartbroken. I cannot describe in words what she meant and still means to me. Nells took care of us as we all did our best to enjoy the time we all had left together but it did not stop the day from comming when Nells told us it was her time to go and be a star in the universe to look down on us always. We had a little time to prepare ourselves to face that but Nells knew how to help us through and she passed peacefully – We couldnt have asked for more. Yet, Nells gave us more.
Nellie at Smiley's Provincial Park in Nova Scotia after some fun in the water!
Sweet Nells
Nells and her Cape Breton Menaces
Nells in Denmark with her Massive Monkey!
Nellie and her Posse!
The house was so dead without a dog in it.. especially without Nells. Nells was one of those larger than life characters. She owned our hearts. We were very sad. Since we knew we would be getting another dog we started the search right away. We know no dog could ever replace Nells but that doesnt mean a new dog cant come into our lives and make their own way with us. We just had to find “our” dog and let her find her way with us..and to let her grow into her own.
We actually knew we wanted a Kennel Khamais pup. Our first experience with Leonbergers was at Pia and Jørgen’s home meeting their very special dogs. Pia and Jørgen have been such good friends to us and helped me find Nells through Lori Dzingala in Canada. Lori directed me to Pauline Labreque of Vonlinderhof Kennel and through her and Isabelle Renaud Nells came into our lives. I could never repay any of them enough.
Below is a picture from the day I first met Leos. This is Pia and Jørgen’s Plet (Spot). He was a gorgeous boy.. we loved him! Below is Nana who we just saw about a month ago. She is such a lovely gently lady!
Me, Plet and Nana
Over the years we kept in touch with Pia and Jørgen and have become good friends. Since the first day we met I knew I would someday have a Khaimas pup. So this is what we wanted after Nells passing. With luck we found out that Pia and Jørgen were having a litter in late December. YAY! This would mean waiting until February to bring our new pup home though.. a very long wait in a very empty house! We could do it for a Khamais pup and thats what we decided.
Well in his sadness Dennis was surfing the net around Denmark looking at Leonbergers etc. He found one. An adult female in need of rehoming. She was very tempting but not a Khaimas Leo. We talked about it and waited a day before calling to decide if we got her would we still get a puppy. We decided YES and called…lucky for the Leo she had already found a good home. Sad for us – still having to wait til February but something to look forward to. We were both still having tears over Nells as she was so close to us and even though she was only at our Pinecone Cottage for a short time she had made an indelible mark on it and our lives here. It was only a few days after she had passed and emotions were very raw. We looked up at the sky every night and saw her star…shining down on us. Nells was not finished helping us yet…
We decided we needed a Leo fix. Dennis went to the Danish Leonberger Club website (http://www.leonberger.dk/index_uk.htm) hoping to find out there would be a Leowalk soon that we could go to. Of course we immediately skipped to the puppy site! THERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US – A litter born October 5th 2o11 with a Khamais Mom and Forest for the Dad!!!! WOW! Were there any pups available..any females!?!?!?!?! We got in touch with Suzanne and she had three females available! We saw them that friday! .. One was ours.. Ms. PINKY/Lyserød!!! How did we decide? Dennis took lots of pictures. We knew which pup we favoured while visiting them. We took a look at Nells’ puppy pictures. She didnt really look like any of the pups BUT there was a look.. a sweet sweet sweet look.. that both Nells and Ms. PINKY shared. Thats how we decided. Nells showed us which pup she had chosen for us! Taking care of us again!
This is how Millie came to us. She is a very special gift of love from Nells. Now you can follow Millie as she grows up not with Nells’ paws to fill but with her own paws to fill. We hope we can do the best by her to help her become just who she is meant to be in this world. We will love her every bit of the way! Nells made room in our hearts for Millie and we will always be so very thankful for that. Nells can now rest among the stars as Millie’s guarden angel and watching over all of us and all who knew her as she has done forever.
Nells and Sucky Monkey - The day we picked her up!
This is a picture of Nells the day my sister, Ann, and I picked her up from Isabelle in Quebec and brought her home. Nells’ was Vonlinderhof’s Godiva the Lady. Nells had sucky monkey from the day Ann gave it to her til the day she died. She had a backup Monkey that on the day we brought Millie into the house and she was exploring she found the toys. The first thing she did was plonk down on Monkey and start sucking! Another Suckberger!
Millie the Suckberger on Nellie's Backup Monkey
How much more could this little girl tell us to impress us that she is truly a gift from Nells. Follow our blog and watch Millie grow into herself.
Millie is now waking up from a very long puppy nap – YAY! I get to hang out with Millie… Mighty Millie, Silly Millie, Mastermind Millie, Millie Vanilli when she is making her squawking noises that all puppies make (we consider it bad lip synching as Millie wouldnt make those noises right?), MadMax Millie when she is on a wild and crazy adventure out in the big big world.. and I am sure she is going to introduce us to many many many more “Millies” as we grow as a family together… for now ..she is our sweet sweet sweet Millie – Gift from Nells.
If you got this far.. thanks for reading. You have an insight of how much this sweet girl means to us.
We love comments on our blog and tell us about your Leonberger experiences, your dog experiences.. life in general. We love to hear from you!
HeatherM
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