We adopted our Suki from your organization in Aug of 2007. She was in the liter nicknamed “labor of love” from a pregnant beagle rescue. All her siblings have names meaning Love in different languages. I remember the foster mom’s name was Katie. And we met at the PetSmart in Champion IL to get her.

The inevitable had come upon us today. We had to put Suki down at the vet. After fighting lymphoma for 3 months, Suki never achieved remission, no longer responded to chemo, and frequently suffered infections.

The latest episode started on Sunday and by this morning, she could not stand up, move her body, nor eat or drink. She whimpered in pain and we knew the time had come, this was the right thing to do. We did not want her to suffer. The procedure was quick and peaceful.

Suki was Rob and my very first “child” together. We adopted her through Midwest BREW (Beagle Rescue Education and Welfare) organization in 2007. We drove to Illinois to retrieve our girl when she was a couple months old. She had so much spunk and personality from the get-go. We still love about her very particular dislikes of certain carpet patterns at the hotel we stayed at. We fell in love with her right away, Rob was especially taken with her. I used to joke that in the unlikely event that our marriage falls apart, Suki would def prefers Rob, and Alex does me. When she was a tiny puppy she used to nap on Rob’s belly. Rob would have to come up with new games to play with her because she was so smart and figures him out all the time. She cocks her head and looks at him like “come on dude, u gotta do better than that!”

Suki’s favorite thing to do was stalking and chasing squirrels at the Barstow Woods park. Although she had never caught any. There was one time she got beat up by a squirrel in our yard, got her face and snot all scratched up. Another time, she had caught and killed a small one- the only time ever. I still remember the proud and wild crazed look in her eyes afterwards.

She was a curious dog, but not all that brave. But she would try anything for some treats and loving. We coaxed her to swim in Great Lakes. Her first time ever swimming was at a beach in Traverse city. We had tried to take her into the water all weekend and she would not budge, then all of a sudden she saw a duck landed in the lake and went after it like an arrow! She swam in really far and we started to panic when the duck flew away that we would have to go in to get her. But luckily she turned back and came right back. We went to all the obedience classes with her at PetSmart and she learned so many cool tricks. Rob would show her off at gatherings, the favorites were pretending to be dead when we make a shooting gesture, and she paws her nose when we say “daddy farted”.

Her relationship with our Rottie mix, Alex, was very intriguing. At home she would always try to dominate Alex. She called the shots and used Alex for warm and head support. But on the playground, it was obvious that Alex was her pack leader and protected her from other dogs. She mostly was scared when other dogs chase her, Alex would run up and plow thru the other dogs mid run to protect Suki.

We never knew her exact breed mix, only her mother was a pure beagle rescued while pregnant. From her behavior and temperament, we are 90% sure she must have been a jack russell mix! She could be a little stinker and loved psychological games. Even in her final days, she was sick, but still manages to “train” Rob to give up his favorite chair for her use.

We enjoyed all our years with her. I am glad the boys had the chance to know Suki and taught them to love and be gentle with animals.

Rob and I are forever grateful for our vet, Dr White (Sr), for his care of our Suki the past 13 years and throughout her cancer treatment. Dr White provided us great comfort today and treated us with so much compassion and respect. Great vet and even a better man.

Suki will be remembered and missed for always.

Nancy And Rob Larsen