I came home in the wee hours of that morning overwhelmed with grief but knowing I had to return to the search I had left. I showered crying every step of the way and drove the hour and half back to our command scene. By noon of this day the world began to hear of my loss which for thousands it became their loss too. You see all K9's that work to recover the missing are special and become hero's to the families and those who work with them in the field; so the loss is felt by those who remember. My K9 Heidi was one of those who gave until her last living day, no warning, no fuss, she exit the world while most were asleep, the same way she entered the world.
As my husband and I pulled into the address provided I was impressed of the layout and was instantly greeted by this man, it was if I was meant to be there. He showed me around and walked me through a clean and well maintained kennel to see these puppies. He handed me his prize puppy, a beautiful male and I immediately said I have always owned females, but he convinced me this was the pup I needed. He was stunning and had a great drive, but for the hour I spent playing with him he kept running away or wanting to get away distracted by the other puppies. This little female kept coming up to me jumping on me wanting my attention and the man would continue to remove her from me and push the male back my way.
Now, two hours had past and we decided to leave and I was walking out of this area with the male puppy in hand, he was wiggling to get loose while this little female would keep jumping out the the secured housing area running to me and pulling on my pants, this happened about three or four times. I stopped and thought, here this one is constantly trying to get away and this other one was fighting to go with me. My husband said, are your sure this is what you want and looked down at this little girl pup, she is trying to tell you something he added. I knew at that very moment and let go of the male and picked up this little girl saying, this is Peggy's Gift, and we will call her Heidi. The family of Peggy Carr had made a large donation to purchase a new K9 for our organization and to help us in our continual search for others.
I took her everywhere, into the center daily and she adjusted to her role and matured instantly. She was so in tune of her surrounding and my every move, her eye contact and attention was beyond that of a normal puppy and I knew she would be a great partner. Heidi was attending searches at eight weeks old, as I conditioned her for her life ahead. Her first search was a deceased male in South Carolina that CUE found moments after hitting the ground. I walked her through the scene to experience our recovery after the search was over. She adapted well to the world of search and gave her all in training, soon being well known for her protection of the vehicle. Her talent far exceeded my expectations and her love for families of the missing and her always knowing who were families amazed people across the nation.
So many memories I shared with Heidi and even days I find myself remembering things I have forgotten as we traveled so many places together and searched in almost every state as well. She earned her respect in the search world, was known by thousands across the globe. Heidi could be seen on countless local, state and national media coverage while searching, to include Larry King Live, Readers Digest, People Magazine, Chicken Soup Magazine and many others. Upon her death for days flowers, memorial gifts, cards, donation were sent into the CUE Center and left on my door step in honor of her life and awards were presented in her memory. It was a whirlwind of emotions for me as I was reminded of all who truly loved her.
