Normy came to us through destiny's intricate design. We already had a little poodle, but in July of l988, felt the time was right to add another dog to the household. We had just moved to the country and with my husband being a policeman who frequently worked the night shift, I wanted something larger that would give me a greater sense of security. The Bullmastif was at the top of my list. Fate, however, would decree otherwise...

One lovely summer afternoon, I was browsing, as was my habit, through the newspaper "pet" classifieds, when I came across an ad for Shar-Pei pups. Now, I kinda did a naughty thing. I was very curious to view one of these creatures in real life, having only ever seen pictures of them. So my husband (who is so great at humouring me) and I decided to spend our lovely Sunday afternoon by going to view some peculiar puppies that we had absolutely no intention of buying (the poor breeder!). Well, to make along story as short as possible, the instant we saw 8 week old Normy, named for the jowly individual from the hit show "Cheers!", we were totally smitten. She stood out from the other two, definitely the pick of the litter, destined for the show-ring and motherhood, both of which further piqued my interest in her. Now, back then, the price tag on Shar-Pei was still a pretty hefty item, and with her being the pick puppy, well...I'll leave the rest to your imagination!

I spent the next three weeks scraping up every nickle I could and calling other breeders (I had hoped to redeem myself from committing the cardinal seen of falling in love with the first puppy I'd seen) to see if they knew this breeder and/or Normy. It seemed like every Shar-Pei breeder in Ontario knew about the fabulous little cream dilute and the relatively new, but dedicated breeder. A month after we'd first seen her, Normy was ours!

From the day we brough her home, we knew that Normy was very, very special. Incredibly dignified and fastitious as the age of just 10 weeks, she was absolutely mortified when she soiled our livingroom carpet an hour after arriving. She had sat there and cried and we, stupidly, thought she was lonesome. Only after she soiled did we realize that the poor thing didn't even know where the door was! We led her to the door and from that point on, Normy never, in the entire rest of her life, soiled the house again! In fact, she rarely ever let us even see her doing her business - preferring to "do it" in the privacy of the bushes as the back of our property. If she did know we were looking, she would face the opposite way and close her own eyes, as if to shut us out! She would be thoroughly embarrassed if we snuck up on her and sang the little ditty "We know what you're do-ing!!".

Normy never really did live up to her expectations in the show-ring. Though her conformation was fabulous, as she matured she developed a pretty terrible bite. You could actually see the disappointment in the judges faces as they looked into her mouth. Though she always placed, she never came home with the top rosette, so we retired her from the ring. We bred her with males of excellent pedigree that complimented her own and she bore us two litters of puppies. Unfortunately, none of the pups turned out better, or even as nice, as Normy herself and since this defeated my goal of breeding "better" dogs, I decided to have her spayed. Since I had not kept any of her pups, my wonderful "foundation bitch" was no longer my foundation. By this time, however, I was totally hooked on this wonderful breed and make arrangements to purchase another bitch, with Normy remaining as a pet.

Still, we marvelled at this wonderful dog who would pick ripe raspberries off the bush, so delicately with that huge meat-mouth of hers! We watched in fascination one day, as she sat in the middle of the rose garden, thrusting her nose into each blossom within reach, closing her eyes and deeply inhaling the fragrance of the roses. What kind of dog did that?! Normy was incredibly friendly with people, for a breed that is supposed to be aloof, and the sound of children's voices would bring her running, eyes sparkling! She particularly liked Halloween, when all the kiddies would come to the house in their costumes. She was never spooked by the weird get-ups, knowing instinctively that they were kids inside! Normy's only flaw was that she was territorial with other dogs on her own property - this after "Jake", a normally fun loving Labrador from down the street, had the temerity to venture onto our property on the one day that we'd brought Normy's new pups outside. From that point on, Normy fiercely defended her yard from all dogs.

Normy absolutely adored spaghetti - the only time she would 'forget' her manners and beg at the table. We could never resist giving her a small plate and she'd get the wonderful garlicky sauce all over that lovable face of hers and then spend half an hour cleaning herself like a cat. She would wait patiently in the car every Sunday morning, eagerly staring out the window, while we breakfasted at a local restaurant, knowing that her bit of sausage or bacon was coming. And, despite the fact that this breed usually hates the water, Normy loved going to the beach for a swim.

One day, while we were at the beach, Normy was racing around, enjoying running just for the pleasure of it. I don't know why she didn't see it, but she smacked head first, at full speed, into a set of welded- together chairs that had been put there for beach visitors to sit on. This set of chairs had to have weighed over 40 pounds and Normy sent it flying. Terrified that she'd certainly killed herself, I raced over to her. Though she stumbled appeared somewhat dazed, she seemed fine within a few moments. I'll always have my suspicions though, that that blow to her head was the start of our problems.

About a year after the incident, at the age of 4 years, Normy began to have disc problems. She would have trouble rising and had to pull herself up with her front legs, while her hind end got weaker and weaker. Perhaps it was this extra strain on her front joints that started her difficulties with her carpal joints. They began getting laxer and laxer, until her carpals were banging on the floor as she walked. The vets were stumped. We tried everything, from aspirin to prednisone to Arquel and splinting. Nothing really helped. Though I had my own suspicions, they suspected that all of her problems stemmed from an immune-mediated arthritis. When she developed horrible bloody diarrhea from the medication, I stopped the treatments. Within days, she was unable to rise at all and had to be carried everywhere. Though her attitude remained excellent, I could tell that she was in terrible pain and knew that, at the ripe old age of 5 years, Normy's time was over.

The veterinarian, a personal freind, offered to come to the house, since Normy had never liked going to "the office". When Normy heard the car drive up, her eyes started sparkling and her tail started its furious dance. Company!!! As my friend entered the living room, Normy tried valiantly to rise, failed and started crawling agonizingly across the carpet, so eager to say hello. We all visited for a few minutes and then we inserted the needle that would free Normy from her pain forever. We were all crying by this point, including Normy, who let out a horrible wail as the dreaded fluid entered her veins, though she never struggled. Though I know "technically" that it was an "excitement phase" she was experiencing, a result of the euthansol entering her system a little too slowly (the Dr. had chosen a small needle, hoping to lessen Normy's discomfort), my heart told me that, despite her pain, Normy did not want to leave and would have preferred to stay to visit with our "guest". I also know, in my heart, that I did the right thing and that Normy is now happy and healthy, watching us from across the rainbow bridge.

Though other Shar-Pei have come and gone in our lives in the 8 years since she started in all, it is Normy who touched our lives so deeply. We will probably never be able to look at a rosebush or raspberry bush without thinking of her. We think of her whenever we eat spaghetti or go out for breakfast. And Halloween will always bring a special, bitter-sweet smile to our faces. ...