I have a beloved Australian shepherd named Mitzi. i’ve written about her in previous blog posts.

Growing up, I was an Air Force brat and we moved so much,we never had dogs.It was just too hard to deal with finding kennels and new homes and having to deal with quarantining, etc.

We were a house of cats. They traveled well, and were a staple for my entire childhood.

There have been a couple of dogs that have passed through my life in my 20s and 30s, strays that would come in and out of my life. It didn’t end well because I knew nothing about dogs.

When I met my husband in 2007, he had a dog. He also had dogs his entire life. His dog was well behaved, and I started rethinking my position on dogs.

A lot of my experience from dogs was with poorly behaved ones. Dogs running out at me, unleashed and yapping at my ankles. Or dogs on those terrible leashes that zip out toward you while the owner is not paying attention. Jumping dogs. Barking dogs.

You get the picture.

Sometime around 2009, I went to the pet store to get something for my husband’s dog – we were married now so she also was my dog. Sort of.

As I was walking into the store, the most beautiful puppy I ever had seen was walking out.

A fluffy, jaunty confidence added to the allure. The dog was black with gold and white highlights. And it had piercing blue eyes!

I started researching what kind of dog I would want if I was to get a dog. I wanted a medium size dog. I knew I wanted an intelligent dog. And I definitely knew I didn’t want a small dog.

After much research, I settled on Australian shepherds. I found a breeder in Georgia, and found out that she was going to be in my area showing her dogs. It was a perfect opportunity to check out this whole dog thing.

I was amazed! These dogs were performing in the ring, and they were all extremely well behaved. They rested quietly in crates when it wasn’t their turn to perform. They watched their owners every move, and came and went as they were told. When released, they were wiggle butts of love and affection.

I was sold!

The breeder and I made an arrangement for me to get a puppy out of her next litter. Little did I know that she’s one of the top breeders in the entire country.

After watching the puppy cam that was set up when the pups were born, I had my heart on a little pup that had a brown kiss on her head. Right on the top in the middle of the white! But I had no idea which puppy I was gonna end up with.

My dad and I made two 5-hour trips to Georgia to see the puppies.

The very first time I saw them, this little puppy that I’ve been watching with the kiss on her head, came and sat in my lap as I sat cross legged on the ground. I was in love!

The breeder knew my intentions, but she’s a professional and she had dogs that needed to go to professional homes. The dog that I wanted had a lot of potential.

At seven weeks old, I brought home the puppy I wanted. I got to name her. She is named Mitzi. I named her after Mitzi Gaynor of “South Pacific”, because she was a sassy, beautiful gal. Her fancy name is “Nightstar’s Some Enchanted Eve”, after that great ballad in that movie.

I set her up for a puppy classes, and we were on our way. I soon learned that most bad dog behavior can be attributed to irresponsible owners.

Mitzi was very smart and eager to learn, and we went through all of the classes together, all the way up through canine good citizenship.

I also tried to get her to be a therapy dog through Pet Partners, but the trainer never did her final test, so she did not make the cut, through no fault of her own.

When Mitzi was five, she became acutely ill and went blind in one eye. It turned out she had a rare disease that left lesions on her brain. In smaller dogs, it is almost always fatal.

We went up to Auburn University Veterinary School in Alabama, got a plan of action, and a wonderful vet in a nearby town gave her the subcutaneous chemotherapy treatment that she required every week. My own vet refused to do it. I am ever in this veterinarians debt!

Fast forward to now. For most of the years since that diagnosis at age 5 she’s been healthy. She did lose her vision in her left eye. Due to the fast and accurate treatment of the emergency vet, she did not lose vision in her other eye.

Now she’s 13 years old. She’s slowing down like most old dogs do. She’s got cataracts now, and her vision is poor in her remaining eye. Her hearing is also not great. She is also been getting lumps and bumps that I suspect are masses.

Last night she woke me up coughing a couple of times. it was an uneasy, haunting sound. It almost sounded human.

I called that vet this morning and he called her in some medication’s for her cough.

As I have been her groomer since she was a puppy, I gave her a good brush down and trimmed her nails and loved on her, and picked her up and put her on the bed.The dog that used to jump feet into the air to easily catch frisbees cannot jump up into beds, or climb upstairs anymore.

As I reached under to pick her up, I found a hard mass, about the size of a couple of golf walls. They are in the area of her mammory glands.

A year ago on December 7, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m so blessed to say that I am cancer free!

Now a year later, there’s a great chance that my beloved dog has breast cancer. What are the odds?

It’s a bitter irony to me.

We’ve got an appointment to see her vet the first week of December.

She’s my best girl. She changed my life.

Please say a prayer for my Mitzi.