Meri's story

I would like to share the unfortunate journey we had to take with Meri (Afterglow Hail Mary), our parti-color beauty. She always had the best temperament, always there to cheer up her co-owner Heidi, whom she lived with.

Photos of Meri are by Kaisa Hannula

Sadly, right before New Year's eve, Heidi called us to let us know her tummy was looking very bloated and she wasn't quite herself. I'm studying to be a veterinarian, and work at a small animal clinic, so as soon as I heard, we rushed her to the vet. She was still so cheery, almost her old self, so we weren't too worried at that point. She had some blood work and an ultrasound of her abdomen done. All of her internal organs seemed fine, she was just hypoalbuminemic and was accumulating fluid in her abdominal cavity. Our vet immediately put her on antibiotics and medication to get rid of the excess fluid. 

Despite the medication she wasn't getting any better, so we took the blood work again and manually removed a lot of the fluid from her abdomen. At this point her liver enzymes and bile acid levels had gone up. Fortunately we had taken her straight to Mairi Speeti, one of the leading specialists of veterinary liver diseases in Finland, so Meri was in the best hands possible. She was put on several additional drugs, including another set of antibiotics and cortisone. Still, nothing seemed to make her better.

After a month and a half of seeing her not be herself, not eat and vomit all of her medication, the hard decision was finally made. She was put to sleep on February 16th, 2012, when she was only 2 years and 8 months old. Our vet took some biopsies that were sent to a pathologist, to get the final diagnosis of her illness. She had a condition called lobular dissecting hepatitis, which is idiopathic (meaning the cause is not known) and currently has no cure.

I know we are all still very upset about losing her so young and so quickly, and I wish all the strenght in the world to Meri's family.

Our first Ru CH!

Heidi Sormunen and Meri (Afterglow Hail Mary) headed out to a show in St. Petersburg, Russia on December 10th. They came home from the successful trip bearing a brand new title: Russian Champion! Thanks and congratulations are once again in order to Meri's co-owner Heidi!

We didn't manage to get a good picture of Meri from the trip, but above's a picture of the two taken by Elina Kempas last spring.

New Fi CH!

We have a brand new Finnish Champion! Meri, Afterglow Hail Mary, was placed 2nd Best Female and finished her championship on August 20th at Kouvola all breed show, under judge Viva-Maria Soleckyj-Spunar from Poland.

Photo by Outi Heikkinen

Congratulations are also in order to Heidi Sormunen from kennel Heckler's, Meri's co-owner!

Turku INT

Lumi (Candida's October Opal) was shown in Turku international show January 22nd under judge Peter Harsanyi from Hungary. She was placed best female, and got her 2nd CACIB from Finland. Now she is only missing one time-CACIB from her C.I.B.-title! We finally lost best of breed to Russian Kenshin-Ko-Go Royal Nippon Akitos, because, as the judge put it, Lumi likes to eat and was not in the greatest show condition at the time.

BOB Kenshin-Ko-Go Royal Nippon Akitos and BOS Candida's October Opal

Here's what Mr. Harsanyi had to say about Lumi:
Typical bitch with good size and bones. A little bit heavy. Nice feminine head. Good expression. Correct topline. Good forequarters and angulations. Correct presentation and character.

Meri (Afterglow Hail Mary) was shown the next day under judge Dorothea Hanlon-Carrol from Ireland. She was placed 3rd in the intermediate class.

She was also shown in Parkano group show February 6th, where she was placed best female 4th under judge Tarja Hovila from Finland.

Winner show results

Last Saturday was the first ever Helsinki Winner show, and we had four dogs entered, two Akitas and two Cockers. Our day started with the Cocker ring, judged by Mr. Jos de Cuyper from Belgium.

Moriz (Candida's Moody Blues) was placed 4th in the champion class, and Meri (Afterglow Hail Mary) was placed 3rd in the junior class.

Fi CH Candida's Moody Blues, photo by Saana Pirinen

We then had a loooong wait until the very end of the day, when Akitas were judged by Mr. Attila Soos from Hungary.

Oki (Candida's October Fest) was placed 2nd best male, and received his last CACIB for his International Champion title!

Ee&Lt CH, Balt JCH, LtW-10 Candida's October Fest, photos by Tiina Sipilä

Lumi (Candida's October Opal) was placed 3rd best female.


On Sunday it was time for the annual Finnish Winner show, with the same four dogs entered. This time the breeds were reversed, and the day started with the Akita ring, judged by Mrs. Maija Mäkinen from Finland.

Oki was once again placed 2nd best male, but Lumi was chosen Best of Breed and gained the Finnish Winner title, along with her very first CACIB!

Fi CH, FiW-10, FiJW-08 Candida's October Opal

Right after the Akitas were judged, I had to run into the Cocker ring with shaking hands to have our dogs judged by Mr. Bill Bunce from Great Britain. This time Moriz wasn't placed, and Meri was once again 3rd in the junior class.

Overall I'd say our weekend was pretty amazing, although veeery tiresome. And just when we've recovered from the shows in Helsinki, on Friday we head out to Lithuania with Lumi, Moriz and Meri, to test our luck in two international shows in Vilnius. Wish us luck!