In Loving Memory Of
His Majesty’s First Princess Neka

Princess Neka

“Trusted Companion, Loyal Friend, Gentle Soul, Beautiful Spirit”

Princess Neka came into my life at a time when I really needed a friend. I had recently lost my beloved Chip and there was a huge hole in my life.

Our bond became much more than just companionship. It was more of a partnership. We needed each other. When I rescued her, I REALLY rescued her. She was slated to be put down within three weeks, but I didn’t know that at the time. And she rescued me because she had given me a new job. She needed guidance and training and I needed to keep my mind off of my loss.

My Princess Neka was a 2 year old stray when she first came to live with me. Because she was on the run for the first year, and in a shelter the rest of the time she didn’t really fit into a “home life” situation. But she learned very fast and was eager to please. Her very sweet dispossession began to emerge once she got settled in.

When I first got her, she was a quite skittish and unsure of a lot of things. Her social skills were basically nonexistent. She wasn’t used to being around a home and wasn’t afraid of a lot of human contact. Because of her previous life she displayed some aggression and resource guarding around other dogs. She was also afraid of sudden and loud noises. 

With a lot of careful exposure to help socialize her (and plenty of TLC), it didn’t really take to long for her to relax around people and other dogs. We hit it off and spent quite a bit of time together playing, training and just hanging out. We watched TV, went for long walks, and spent time sitting on the front porch watching the world go by.

I spent a lot of time showing her what was expected of her. I  set up clear rules and boundaries for her and then praising her for doing the right thing. She liked the attention and responded very quickly to reward based training. Her personality required a soft touch. Once she realized that we were working together, training progressed rapidly. I think she liked me just as much as I like her!

She went almost everywhere with me. When my mom had a car accident and was in rehab for 6 months we went to visit her almost every day. The people at the rehab center looked forward to us coming to visit and were disappointed on the days that she didn’t come with me.

Her gentle soul and beautiful spirit attracted humans and animals alike. Children loved to pet her and give her lots of hugs. And she loved the attention. She even got along with cats.

On hot summer days she would just hang out under a shade tree, or in my office in the basement of our home. Other times she would run and play in the backyard or run up and down the 100′ long cable that reached halfway down from the back door down into the yard.

She had some great dog friends in the neighborhood. A Brittney Spaniel, Three Black Labs and one White German Shepherd. 

Two years after she moved in, the day came for us to help a dog in need. She stepped up to the challenge and took Patchs in without question. 

They quickly became best friends and they loved to run and play together. Their bond became so strong that the were like sisters. They fed off each other and gave me many hours of pleasure as I watched them run and play together.

It got kind of crazy at times, but I’m sure that they did a lot of it to amuse me as well as themselves. They loved to hang out with each other and loved to wrestle and chase each other around the yard.