12/19/1999 - 8/31/2008
Can. Ch. Cameliard's Noble Knight x Bridget McDougall

Instead of dirt and poison, we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax,
thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.
~Jonathan Swift

Val came into our lives rather unexpectedly. Since Nettie and Hugo were both actively showing, we were looking for a companion for Linus that we would not be showing or breeding, and we decided a white female puppy would be perfect. Shortly after, on February 10, Nettie's sister Morgan whelped a litter that included a white female. We went to visit the next day, and mentioned that we were interested in the white puppy - wouldn't you know it, she was already spoken for! However, there was a white female available from another litter that we would be able to pick up the next Monday, February 14 - eight weeks sooner than we had planned. Who could resist that kind of Fate? We certainly couldn't, and so we brought home our Valentine Surprise.

On August 31, 2008, we said our final goodbyes to Valentine - rather unexpectedly, true to her form. She'd had some seizures a couple of weeks earlier, but was adjusting well to her medication and hadn't had any further; that last day at around noon she had another, mild seizure, and it just wouldn't stop. The most likely diagnosis - which we knew when she had the first seizures, since everything else was ruled out - was a brain tumor. While we had thought the progression would be slower, with the seizures gradually increasing in frequency, that was not to be the case. After consultation with the emergency vet and a neurologist, both of whom said it was highly likely that nothing we could do would make any difference, we made the difficult decision to give her peace.

Valentine went quietly, without complaint, as she lived her life. (Well, not entirely quietly - Valentine used to bark her fool head off at Nettie when she got excited; Nettie died in March of 2007, and Valentine never barked again after that day.) She was a sweet old girl who never had a cross word for anyone, human or canine. She was loving and gentle, yet full of mischief in her youth - it was Valentine who taught us that ex-pens do not always contain puppies, and nor do 6-foot wood privacy fences always contain young adults! She was our "omega" dog and glad of it, our model of stability and equanimity, and we are the better for having known her.

We love you, Bird, and hope you find peace - and your voice - with Nettie at the Bridge.