Fiona Victoria Barker

February 9th, 2014 - March 8th, 2021
Breed: Dachshund mix
Age: 7
Owner: Kim Barker
Hometown: US, Nevada

We adopted Fiona after losing 3 dogs in 6 months to cancer. We at the time lived in Reno, NV. I had fallen in a very deep depression to where I honestly couldn’t function. On a whim, my daughter and I visited the local shelter. We had always had large dogs; I wasn’t ready, and we had looked before. That day, a tiny, 5 lbs., black dachshund mix puppy stole our hearts. We immediately knew she was what we needed. Instantly we all fell in love. We immediately started her service dog training for me. It was a long process but during that time we developed a bond like no other. Fiona flew all over with us on trips and came with us everywhere.

She also developed a personality like no other dog I had before ever had. People would comment all the time she was like a person and not a dog. With her voiced barks and growls when she would get frustrated or her always grabbing my shoes when I got home and hiding them to what I miss the most, is her always running and grabbing a toy to give me when we came home. She was simply amazing.

June 2020, she started panting, hard. We live in Vegas and figured the 110-degree heat was getting to her, then we thought maybe allergies. First vet misdiagnosed her with allergies and sent us home with steroids and antibiotics. When she didn’t improve, we took her to get a second opinion to which a rapid and shocking discovery was made- MVD and she was having a CHF episode. Up to this point she had never been diagnosed with even a murmur. Things moved quickly and she was transferred to the ER for more advanced care. The cardiologist saw her the next day and told us the devastating news: mitral valve disease and the outlook wasn’t great.

We picked her up and I found Mighty Hearts. Instantly I knew I had support and knew Japan was happening. We started the process of getting to Japan. We never thought Covid would halt the process. Working in medical myself, I knew time was not in our side. She had echocardiograms every 3 mos. Fiona was doing amazing. One would never guess she was sick, at all. I knew not to let my guard down; I also was excited because I thought Japan could save her. Our original surgery date was in March 2021, we pushed to May 2021 due to Covid and restrictions.

In March 2021, I had a “gut feel” something wasn’t right. Fiona was breathing quite quickly. We rushed her to the ER where we were told she had GI upset- whew. or so we thought. She was eating and acting fine. Acting like silly Fiona. Almost 3 weeks to the day she passed away.

She was going to get a treat from my husband, looked at him then tried to run to me. She collapsed in front of us and couldn’t get up. I screamed and started crying hysterically, I knew in my heart what was happening, exactly what we were fighting against.

We carried her limp body out to the car and raced to the ER. She was by all counts alive, but I could tell her soul was gone. I didn’t need the ER doctor to tell me what I already knew. Her mitral valve blew, and they couldn’t even hear a murmur anymore, it was that bad. We helped her pass away. I held her and told her how loved she was. I thanked her for saving me and I was so sorry I couldn’t save her. I told her it was ok to leave us, and we would be sad but ok. And she was the best dog and my best friend.

5 days later (after missing work), I was casually checking email and there was a post on Next-door mentioning 2 sisters. I never check Next-door and was curious what they were talking about. There was Chloe. A black chiweenie in rescue who was thrown in a dumpster with her siblings. Instantly I knew Fiona sent Chloe to us... we looked into meeting her and adopted her the next day. Some might argue too soon, we, as a family couldn’t cry anymore. Chloe brought life back to our sad home.

If I had to do over, I would do everything the same except trust my gut more and not be afraid to push back on opinions. Run free my sweet girl
We will see you again soon.