In Memory of Kiyah Aikin

Hello friends, family, teammates and dog sports community. We started off Saturday, July 30th at Surf City's Flyball tournament, Biola University. Rebecca's dog, Kiyah, ran her first race as perfect, as always. Her older dog Kendyll had just run a clean run to achieve her Iron Dog Award-we were all in good spirits. When she came out for her 2nd race of the day, things were not right. She would not take a treat, her gums were very, very pale. Rebecca acted quickly, sought advice and immediately took Kiyah to a local vet. Soon after dropping her off, she received a call that Kiyah needed immediate surgery. An unknown tumor on her spleen had ruptured. Our team pulled from racing, got dogs back to San Diego and some of us waited out the surgery. The Dr. said she lost over half her body's blood, but had survived the surgery. He was cautiously optimistic at this point. The first 24 hours would be crucial. Just 2 hours later, we received a call that Kiyah had passed.

We had the good fortune to travel, compete and babysit Kiyah often. We met her the first day she came home to Rebecca. Everyone loved this dog. We are all in shock and grieving with the Rebecca.

There is a hole in our hearts, our team and the dog community. Being part of the dog community means you should not have to deal with this alone. Worrying about the cost of surgery and finances should not have to be the focus at this time.

The following is from Rebecca's post about her sweet girl...

Kiyah Aikin 2013.01.13-2022.07.30

I cannot believe I am writing this, but we lost our sweet, sweet girl Kiyah yesterday. Our family will never be the same and we are all devastated, stunned, in disbelief. She was the absolute bestest dog and I got to tell her that so many times, but not enough. 8 years and 1 month was certainly not enough time with her, she had so much more to do. Kiyah accomplished so many things in her life after being rescued off the streets of Kern County and brought to San Diego where Kendyll and I found her at a rescue. Her favorite things in the world was food, balls and giving hugs. She excelled at everything I asked her to do - flyball, nosework, agility, dock jumping, lure coursing, trick dog, hiking buddy, frisbee dog, therapy dog. But she was best known for her snuggles, she would snuggle with anyone who wanted and was the best napper on a cold day when we would keep each other warm. She followed me everywhere and was the first and most enthusiastic one to greet me when I left home without her. She loved sticking her head out the window of the car, she loved diving into any pool or lake that would allow her in, she loved having her little brother Knyxx chase her at Fiesta Island. She was great at traveling and settled in anywhere we would go. I had so many more plans and hopes for her, life will never be the same without her in it. I will cherish every one of the memories I have including her last flyball run yesterday morning and our last nosework trial and our last awesome Standard agility run. Kiyah passed last night after a long surgery to repair a ruptured tumor in her spleen. She miraculously survived the surgery after losing half of the blood in her body. The vet was cautiously optimistic when he called and we held out hope she would make it home. She fought so hard but her little body gave out last night. I cannot explain how much that dog meant to me, I will miss her forever and ever!!!