A Tribute to Dreamer

The Kuvasz world lost one of its best ambassadors, and I lost my best friend on Friday, July 8, 2005, when Ch. Double Ring Butiful Dreamer died suddenly, at over eleven years-old, from complications following surgery.

Most of you never had the opportunity to meet Dreamer. But for those of you who did, you know what a special girl she was!

Dreamer came into my life when she was about 5 1/2 years-old and already a finished champion.

She was my first Kuvasz and, while she excelled in the working group ring, having won multiple group placements including my very first Group One and earning the Kuvasz Club of America's Conformation Performance Award, the highest she was probably ever ranked was No. 3. Tragically, I had to retire her when she was still at the top of her game when she pyoed. Because I so enjoyed showing her, I considered trying the injections to save her uterus, but because that procedure comes with considerable risk, I decided that Dreamer was more important to me than trying to achieve a No. 1 ranking... or a bunch of titles... so we retired with our heads held high.

I showed her competitively one more time as a veteran at the Kuvasz National Specialty in St. Louis, where she won Best Veteran in Sweeps.

I will never forget her leaping around the show ring in such joyous abandon and hearing many of you onlookers shouting out, "Hey someone remind her she's a veteran!"

Her last time in the show ring was in the Parade of Veterans at this year's Kuavsz National Specialty. I wasn't even planning to show her but I am, oh, so glad I did! She moved a lot slower than she did in her heyday, but I could tell in that last time around the show ring together as a team from the gleam in those beautiful eyes of hers that she thoroughly enjoyed every single moment and it is one of many special memories of her that I will treasure forever.

But where Dreamer truly excelled was outside the show ring.

She never met a person or dog she didn't like and yet I know, if the need had ever arisen, she would have risked her life to save mine.

She had the most amazing and beautiful smile and this way of cocking and tilting her head and prancing when she saw her special people. Kathy and Chuck know exactly what I mean.

Everyone in my subdivision knew Dreamer. Kids couldn't wait to run up to hug and pet her when we took our nightly walks. She routinely gently licked and tickled the toes of babies in strollers and licked popsicle juice off the mouths and figures of countless toddlers and kids.

She had a special affinity for people in wheelchairs. She seemed to instinctively know just where best to position herself so that the person in the chair could most easily reach and stroke her beautiful coat.

Even in the craziness of the benching area at Westminster, she demonstrated this special talent with actress Glenn Close's wheelchair-bound mother when they were strolling down our row and stopped specifically to meet Dreamer.

But one of my most treasured memories was when Dreamer met a young boy (maybe five or six years-old at the time) shortly after his family had moved into the subdivision.

Chad and his parents were stetting on their front steps as Dreamer and I walked by. When the parents called out what a beautiful dog she was, Dreamer took it upon herself to go up to them and personally welcome them to the neighborhood. But unlike most children who would rush out to gleefully pet Dreamer, Chad cowered behind his parents as we approached. You see, not only was Chad terrified of dogs, he was also totally blind.

As Dreamer and I spoke with his parents and they petted her, I asked Chad if he would like to give Dreamer a piece of hot dog. He'd still never spoken a word, but when he hesitantly nodded his head, I put a hot dog in his trembling hand and guided it to Dreamer's mouth. She proceeded to carefully take the hot dog out of his hand and gently lick his fingertips.

The smile of sheer joy on Chad's face is a memory I will treasure forever.

After Chad had given Dreamer two more hot dogs, he openly began to talk and came out from behind his parents so that he could "see" Dreamer with his hands.

The next thing I knew, Chad was grabbing her ear and saying, "This is Dreamer's right ear. This is Dreamer's left ear." Picking up each of her paws, "This is Dreamer's left foot... this is Dreamer's right foot." Next it was, "This is Dreamer's tail... this is Dreamer's nose... these are Dreamer's eyes... and here are Dreamer's teeth," as he put his gentle fingers inside her whole mouth.

The entire time Dreamer just stood there wagging her tail with that special smile on her face. And just before heaving a big contented sigh and laying down at Chad's feet so he could pet her, she gently licked his eyes. I swear, it was almost as if to say, "I know your eyes are hurt and I wish I could make them better."

Needless to say, visiting Chad, and his parents, became a nightly ritual for us.

The highlight to this story is that Chad's parents told me later that because Chad had always been so terrified of dogs, he would never consider the possibility of getting a guide dog when he got older. Now that's all he talks about and he plans to name his guide dog "Dreamer."

That's my D-Dog for you!

In fact, one of my biggest regrets is not taking the time to certify Dreamer as a therapy dog.

There are so many more wonderful Dreamer stories I could write down here and those memories will live in my heart forever. Fortunately, I have two other wonderful Kuvasz here with me, Marley and Pixy, and my two veteran Shibas, to bring me some measure of comfort as I work through my loss of Dreamer.

I am trying, sometimes more successfully than others, to not dwell on the visual memory of her death. Rather I am trying to honor her by remembering Dreamer....

I guess I should apologize for the length of this testament, especially since some of you may not even really know me, or Dreamer, but I won't because she was worth it! I would also like to thank Kathy and Chuck Ringering for breeding such an incredible Kuvasz.

Champion Double Ring Butiful Dreamer you were truly beautiful— inside and out— and my life will never be the same without you. I will never forget you, Dreamer, and I will always miss you. You were the wind beneath my wings.

A Tribute to Dreamer

Ch. Double Ring Butiful DreamerMarch 23, 1994 -- July 8, 2005

Ch. Double Ring Butiful Dreamer
March 23, 1994 -- July 8, 2005