2006 is the year of the dog.
At the end of this doggy year, I have to inform you a very sad news.
Nanako had passed away on August 27. She was just 15 years and 9 months old.
Nanako

We've been together for about 14 years and a half since she was 16 months old. Time flies so fast but I still remember the first night when she came to me. I didn't have a crate for her to sleep in and she had to spend a whole night downstairs all alone. She couldn't come up stairs then and she was whining until next morning. She was very helpless then.

Nanako was affectionate, sweet and lovely. She loved people so much. She believed all the people around her should be her friend and as she did, she was loved by many of them too.
She used to be my best business partner. She was a superb fax retriever and when she was at my office, I didn't need to stand up to get a fax sheet. This job is now done by Leanne.
She also helped me a lot at training seminars or classes as a demonstration dog. She was a great demo dog and played an important role at many seminars.

She experienced fatal diseases as ITP and bloat after 10 years old. She overcame ITP but she bloated 8 times (!!) in her last 5 years. It was too hard.

Through Nanako, I have learned so many things and she gave me a lot through her life. One thing she taught me best is the true value of living with a Standard Poodle. I enjoyed living with her so much and she was really a treasure to me. She was a great dog.
We went to many places. The photo above was taken when we visited my husband's home town, Tanegashima some years ago.
Tanegashima is a very small island south of Kagoshima. We need to take two planes to get there and it takes us about three hours from Tokyo.
There is a space center and we visited there almost everyday to play because there was no sign saying 'No Dogs Allowed.' This was a very beautiful place.