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She was bred to be a champion. [Fade up sad music] But before Hoover ever set a Weimaraner paw in a dog show ring, her dreams of a best in show were dashed by a genetic defect.

Born on September 8, 2003 as Top Hat’s Avalon to champion parents Windwalker’s Blue Sky and Top Hat’s Country Western Star, Hoover Post’s floppy ears were marked for greatness. As a physical specimen, she was flawless, but sadly several of her siblings were born with an overbite, a recessive trait that made her unfit for breeding. But fate held a different leash for her. [Fade up inspirational music]

Although she wasn’t viable as a breeding dog, there was a couple in Tucson Arizona that wanted to welcome her bright blue eyes into their home as a pet. In the midst of great adversity in their own lives, they looked forward with much anticipation to the day when little “Hoover” would be able to come home to them.

After saying her melancholy goodbyes to her littermates and her Mom, “Hoover” was packed up in her crate and shipped off by airplane from San Jose California to Tucson International Airport. The poor thing was stuck at the freight terminal for several hours late at night as her new owners struggled to find out where to pick her up. Once they found the right place, poor Hoover whimpering and whining from the cold as she had spilled her water during her long journey. She was relieved to find a warm place to curl up in Becky’s lap as they traveled back to her new home, an apartment Tucson’s Northeast side. Fortunately this home was a temporary one while her owner’s new house was being built as Hoover quickly showed Becky and Randy just how much (destructive) energy a Weimaraner puppy can have!

[Fade up playful music] It took some time for young Hoover to grow up into her big floppy ears and oversized paws, but everyone she met fawned over her cute puppy features and bright blue eyes. She quickly showed her masters who’s the boss as she shredded various things around the house including her soccer ball bean-bag bed, two pairs of brand new Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a host of other small items. She developed a knack for escaping from her bathroom / hallway daytime containment area and had fun exploring the rest of the apartment when nobody was around.

Once the new house was ready, the Post Family was fortunate that there was not much furniture around that she could damage. She still managed to destroy a couch or two, and some brand new blinds in the guest bedroom when she accidentally locked herself in there one day. She also astounded her owners with her ability to open door handles. For some time they were prisoners in their own house, forced to lock all of the interior doors in the house to keep her out of the rooms. She tested the doors like a caged velociraptor, waiting for the day when they forgot to lock one of them! She loved to spread out on the couch, or sleep on her mom and dad’s bed when they were home, constantly challenging Becky for the “head princess of the house” title.

[Fade up melancholy music] But it soon became apparent to her owners that this seemingly normal Weimaraner was in fact suffering from a serious mental disorder…separation anxiety. In January of 2005, when Hoover was around 1 ½ years old, her owners adopted a rescue dog named Kona. They had hoped that having a companion dog for Hoover would lessen her separation anxiety and make her happier. But unfortunately, Kona turned out to have even worse separation anxiety and she brought a whole host of new issues to the Post household!

[Fade up the odd couple theme song] The two dogs got off to a rocky start, as Hoover quickly realized Kona would be the dominant dog, even to the point of chasing Hoover away from her own dog food. But eventually their relationship stabilized, and the two became fast friends, wrestling and playing all the time, and Kona excelled at helping Hoover find new ways of getting in trouble. Together they destroyed another couch or two, and Randy and Becky eventually found out that when left at home during the day, they liked to jump up on the dining room table to better see out the back yard windows!

As time went on, the dogs destructive habits were getting the better of their masters and they banished the dogs outside whenever they weren’t home to supervise them. Of course, if they forgot to lock the deadbolt on the back door, Hoover could open the door and the two partners in crime would be found lounging on the bed or the couch with a swath of destruction around the house when their owners came home.

[Fade up dramatic music] In early 2005, it was becoming clear that something was causing Hoover to behave subtly different. When Randy and Becky noticed a mass on her side, they did what any good dog owner would do and got her in to see her Vet. The diagnosis was Valley Fever, a fungal infection that is common in the dusty desert southwest. Typically it infects the lungs after being breathed in, but Hoover seemed to have a less common variety. She began an aggressive Fluconazole treatment and everyone crossed their fingers that they had caught it in time. The treatment was a success! And Hoover made a full recovery.

[Fade up “You’ve got a friend in me”] Hoover still lives with her owners in Northwest Tucson and keeps herself very busy.  Being named after a vacuum cleaner, she has lived up to her name and then some, gladly cleaning up after the two young post children. She spends about 75% of her day napping, and splits the other 25% between napping, eating, napping, chasing lizards and insects, napping, getting into the trash can, napping, and stealing food off of people’s plates or the stove…oh, and napping.

She may not have any best in show or even best in breed titles under her collar, but she’s happy with another title, best in her owner’s hearts.

Happy Birthday “Hoover Doover!”