Loka was a sprite, a joyful, mischievous spirit dancing from moment to moment. Although Loka exhibited excellent structure and a long, easy stride, she lacked the substance and heavy coat that her siblings had and I knew from the start I would have to wait awhile before I could do well with her in the show ring. Puppy points would not be in the cards for this girl. And so I waited and finished championships on her two brothers, Kaz and Zak, before beginning Loka's show career. Consequently, she was almost two years old when she first entered a show ring.

As is the way with mals, she decided to let go of her coat at the same time as her show career began which didn't help the overall appearance of her diminutive frame. In spite of this, any judge that could appreciate her smooth glide around the ring and her flawless down and back overlooked her lack of coat and substance, and she accumulated six of the ten required points fairly quickly. But fate had already dealt a cruel blow to Loka, and time was no longer on her side. Numerous nose bleeds in the summer of 2001 forced a clinical analysis of the situation, and Loka was diagnosed with a rare fungal infection which x-rays located in her skull. Faced with extremely dangerous and invasive surgery and no promise of recovery, we decided to let her live out her time as she was as long as she was comfortable.

An intensive regime of antibiotics and other medications kept the nasal discharge under control until the winter of 2002/2003, when I could no longer stop it. And so began a long progression of incisions to relieve the pressure, and constant cleaning and swabbing to keep her nasal passages as clear as possible. As her face became more and more disfigured, her show career was of course at an end but Loka continued to be cheerful and sweet, patiently enduring the constant care of her disfigurement. It wasn't until the spring of 2003 that she finally showed signs that she had had enough, and I made the difficult decision to let her go. On a beautiful, sunny spring day, Loka laid in my arms on the grass under a shade tree while her life slipped away, all the while looking into my eyes with trust and faith. My darling Loka, we tried so hard. It just wasn't enough ...

I named her "living the crazy life" and she lived up to her name to the end. Incredibly energetic, she approached each day as a new adventure and joyfully embraced every person she met. Loka was an angel here on earth, but I never expected her to join the heavenly angels so soon. Loka, always in my heart ...