Pyper ~ the most amazing mini schnauzer in the world ~ life will never be the same!

To many, Pyper was known as an agility rock star.  An agility Princess.  An unstoppable, unlikely agility mini schnauzer.  But, Pyper was much, much more than that.  Although Pyper loved nothing more than to get her paws on a contact or to tip that teeter, Pyper had a different side.
 
Pyper was a fierce competitor.  Always putting her best paw forward, and making sure she had tons of fun doing it!  But Pyper was also a fierce friend.  The love Pyper exuded was intense, more intense than her love for agility.  Pyper loved me something fierce!  And loved her 100 times more!  The joy she brought to my heart is something I cannot explain.  Something I cannot put into words.

​I wasn’t the only one Pyper loved.  She loved others, just not with the intensity she loved me.  Whether it be her daddy, her grandma, her aunties, or uncles, or even the mail person or delivery guy, Pyper always showed people with love and affection!  Well, unless you were under 5 feet tall.  Then she tried to eat you…..When Pyper would meet someone or visit, she would greet them with intensity.  She would make them feel special, like they were the only ones in the room.  She would stay with this person until one of two things happened – 1. I came back if I was gone, or 2. They left.  Pyper never tried to hurt anyone’s feelings by jumping laps like a golden.  She was dedicated.  If she was giving you attention, she gave you her full attention.

​Pyper was mischievous.  She could be down right naughty!  However, one look at those brown eyes and bushy beard and crazy ears and there was no way you could be mad at her!  She made me laugh more times than she made me angry!  Some of her naughty tendencies were tearing into bags, boxes, or textbooks.  Also, when we lived in the apartment in vet school, Pyper LOVED getting into the garbage!  Once she got into it after I cleaned the cat box, which used feline pine (basically shavings).  Well, dumb me vacuumed it up.  That didn’t end well for my vacuum.  Another garbage adventure led to her eating almost an entire loaf of banana bread I had thrown out.  She got into the garbage when I was sleeping.  Now the garbage lives under the sink or up high.
 
Pyper destroyed her fair share of textbooks throughout my academic adventures, but usually only eating the covers.

Pyper’s greatest resource was her nose!  That dog could smell food in a bag or box from across the room!  One distinct memory I have was I had a bag of dog food sitting by the door.  I was a currently in vet school, and paranoid about everything.  She ate dinner, and an hour later she looked like a pregnant cow!  My first thought was ‘OMG by schnauzer has a GDV!!’  That’s a bloat and twisted stomach that is life threatening and is usually reserved for large breed, deep chested dogs.  I rushed her to the UMN VMC.  Dr. Todd asked if I was sure she didn’t get into any food.  Of course I was sure!  I watch her like crazy!  Radiographs showed – food bloat!  I get home, and Pyper had eaten maybe 5 cups out of a teeny tiny hole she made in the side of that dog food bag!

Pyper also had a knack for chewing open boxes that were delivered that contained dog food.  We would sit them in the office to unpack later, but Pyper always beat us to it!  Soon we learned to shut the doors of the office to keep her out!

Pyper liked attention.  If you weren’t giving it to her, she would find a way to get it.  Her favorite ways – growling and then barking at you, or if we were home, jumping on the dining room table and barking at you!  She demanded to be seen, and seen she was!
 
Pyper loved car rides!  Well, I’m not sure if it was the ride itself, or the journey with me.  Pyper hated letting me leave without her.  She would grab my shoe or pants and try to get me to stop.  She hater being away from me.  Not in a separation anxiety way, but a I didn’t say you could leave way.

Everything about Pyper was on her terms.  Her feeding schedule, for example, was on her terms.  Day light savings time?  No, why would she do that?  Who needs an alarm clock when you have Pyper?  Pyper will tell you when 6 AM and 5 PM are.  And sometimes she will tell you it should be 5 PM, but it’s really only 3:30 PM. 
 
Pyper’s favorite games, other than agility, were playing fetch with her red squeakers and soccer ball, or tugging on her monkey.  Pyper also had a foundness for chasing and chomping on the vacuum or broom.
 
She also enjoyed laying on the back of the couch, or simply snuggling with her mommy.  The last two weeks I had with Pyper I was on activity restriction for post-surgery.  Pyper and I spent a lot of time snuggling on the couch walking Netflix.  I think she loved that!  She was resting too, recovering from her neck injury.  I will cherish those days for the rest of my life!
 
I’m not sure I ever met someone who didn’t like Pyper.  She was a gorgeous schnauzer with big ears and a personality larger than life!  She loved all, and all loved her.

​Pyper had a full life.  A life full of love and fun!  I never missed her birthday and we always had parties.  Everything Pyper was always celebrated.  Pyper never needed anything, and I loved her and protected her fiercely.  When I diagnosed her with a liver shunt, presumed microvascular dysplasia, when she was 1-1/2 years old I knew she may never live to see double digits, so we lived her life to the fullest!  She saw the country.  She had best friends.  She had so many people that loved her, it would make a human jealous.  Pyper stood by my side through the best and the worst.  She was with my through vet school, break-ups with friends and boyfriends, countless moves, deaths of friends and beloved pets, job changes, and many, many, many other life changing events.  Everything else in the world changed, but Pyper’s love for me and faith in me never teetered, nor mine for her.  We were one, and Pyper will forever remain my baby girl and the love of my life!
 
Pyper was a blessing, a once in a lifetime dog, my heart, my soul.  She was my life in a hundred different ways!  I will miss her more than anyone can every fathom.  She was everything to me, and my world is a little less bright without her.  But, her memory will live on in my heart for the rest of my life!  And I know somehow, she will come back to me and someday, somehow we will be together again!  Until then, I will miss your soft fur, your warm kisses, your loving nuzzles, your bark that only a mother could love, and all of your habits that made you the worlds feistiest, loving, amazing, adventurous, fabulous, most perfect Princess Pyper the mini schnauzer!
 
Now my 3 mini girls are together again, keeping each other safe and happy!  I love you girls!  Until we meet again!

​On Saturday, November 12th, 2016 at approximately 3:20 PM, Pyper Ann Julius surrendered her fight, passing away on her own with me by her side.  Pyper had been on a low dose of Rimadyl on and off for neck pain since October 23rd, 2016.  She was on it a total of 10 days.  At age 1-1/2 years, in November 2007 Pyper was diagnosed with a complex liver shunt, presumed microvascular dysplasia.  This meant her liver was not hooked up right on a microscopic level.  The diagnosis was devastating, and meant that for Pyper’s entire life I would have to protect her, making sure she never, ever needed sedation or anesthesia of any kind.  On the evening of Thursday, November 10th, 2016 Pyper became very ill.  At first, I thought it was due to her muscle relaxer.  Later in the evening, I determined it was a septic abdomen – she had developed an ulcer in her stomach or intestines that ruptured or perforated, leaking intestinal contents into her abdomen.  I immediately took her to the University of Minnesota, where at 8:00 AM on Friday, November 11th, 2016 she had emergency surgery.  I was given a 50/50 chance of survival with an uncomplicated septic abdomen.  But she had a liver shunt.  But, I had to try.  She was found to have two perforations – one in her stomach and one in her small intestine.  They were repaired.  Her spleen had nodules, and was also removed.  Pyper had to be maintained on pain meds, which her liver could not process well.  If she did not have pain meds, then she would have been in excruciating pain.  Pyper never fully regained consciousness.  I came to visit her at 3:15 PM on Saturday.  She had been declining all day.  She was in oxygen.  As soon as I made eye contact with her, she respiratory and cardiac arrested.  CPR was unsuccessful.  Pyper passed away.