Lita Konopka-Herp

Lita Konopka-Herp, 13 1/2 years old of Chardon,OH crossed the Rainbow Bridge Thursday, June 26th, 2025. 

How does one summarize 4,929 days. 13 years 5 months and 29 days?

That’s how long ago Miss Lita and I met.

I was looking for a dog with a sense of humor and smart enough to balance my check book.

Oh I got that, and a whole lot more. Way more. She was my baby, my sister, my companion, my shadow, my family, and my protector. She always had to know where I was.
Standard Poodles are smart. She was wicked smart. I conversed with her as I do my friends. She learned quickly and pushed my buttons on occasion. She aced obedience classes.   I once heard another lady during class say to her puppy, why can’t you be like that poodle?  Ha!

At 9 months old she got up one morning and fell over. I rushed her to the Vet for tests. Dr. Danforth called and said, I think she has Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia, her best chance for survival is to take her to Metropolitan Vet Hospital in Akron.  She was there for nearly 2 weeks in the ICU. I drove down there everyday with my mom to see her.  I Brought her home cooked meals.  So Many meds and transfusions and It was touch and go, but she was one tough cookie …and she pulled through, only to end up there, again, a few weeks later.

This time it was heart issues, partly cause by the Anemia.  Several more days in the ICU. More Meds. And a Cardiologist named Dr. Lori Hitchcock. Diagnosis SVT and a heart mummer.
I was given a crash course in unconditional love.

Lita got me through so many rough times.  In fact, it was several years, I’m sure I wouldn’t have made it through without her unconditional love. 

Enter Doctor Bob. King of Poodle spoiling!

On his way over to meet Lita, I told him, do not pet her, do not touch her, do not look at her, let her check you out first. He insisted, Dog’s love me and he went on and on… I said. don’t F this up..

Do like I say!  He obeyed my strict orders and then….

Lita had a new friend!  He brought her treats, and toys and a fancy hiking backpack. That says, Lita Badass Hiking poodle. He insisted we take her everywhere we could. She loved it, and him. He doted on her. Calling her Poodlely Do and Baby Girl.  They were smitten with each other. Oh what adventures we had. Hiking and kayaking, late night at King Kone for pup cups. We hit all the parks and trails. When I had to photograph a wedding, he would come over and kidnap her. I would get a text with a photo of what they were up to.  One such adventure she ended up in quicksand!  He saved her, only to be consumed by the quagmire himself… up to his waist. That is an adventure never to be forgotten!There were vacations in Hocking Hills with friends and up to Benezette PA.  More hiking and adventures.  She was always up for adventure.  No matter what time.

Sometimes we would spontaneously leap up and start running around flapping our arms clapping our hands and yelling, Lita would run around barking and trying to catch us and bite our butts.  There would be no frivolity on her watch.  And no dancing!  She was the dance police!

Oh and she was the star of one of my theater productions.  It was a spoof on the Johnny Carson show, she howled as I played a harmonica like instrument and jumped into the air and spun around on command.  She was a big hit. So much fun. Lita was always fun.

If you sat on the couch, she would bring you her toy.  She only liked one toy and one kind of ball. You’d better play or she would keep throwing the toy onto your lap.  If you would ignore her, she’d make up her own game, bury it in her blanket, and dig it up.  Only children make their own fun. She was such a funny girl.

And she went super crazy when I would vacuum. She would grab that toy run to her crate and bury and dig that toy up as long as I vacuumed. What a goof ball.
Then she developed an issue with her eye.  Now she had an eye specialist.  It was Glaucoma. More meds and drops.  Many drops per day. Sadly, we couldn’t save her eye site.  We had her eye removed. Lita didn’t miss a beat. She could still catch her toys or a treat that was tossed. Nope that didn’t slow her down. Bob said, Lita had spirit. Spirit Indeed!

And a nose for tracking.  Boy I couldn’t hide from her; she would find me every time. We played hide and seek constantly.  Bob would say…go find Mommy… and boom, the nose would be down to the ground and off she went.  I never out foxed that girl.  I tried!

She loved to run beside the tractor or mower for the first few minutes. then she’d find a spot where she could watch me.  Gotta make sure Mommy was safe. She Followed me everywhere, the garage, the barn, the back 40.  She learned to stay a safe distance from the bee hives when we were working on them. She was one smart cookie.  She ran like the wind, chasing a tennis ball all over the back 40. Her medical issues never slowed her down, never! And when it was time to sleep, she was always next to the bed, keeping me safe and sound.

In the last year or so, she slowed down a bit, she was in her 80’s after all.  But she still thought she was puppy.  Yes she still had that spirit. We still took her everywhere, she loved going in the car or the truck she loved to sniff all the smells. 

A great travel companion.

We had some blood work done in February because she was becoming quite picky about food.  Her liver enzymes were up. An ultrasound revealed a mass in her liver.  Because of her age and heart issues we didn’t want to do anything invasive.  Doctor Doles said she had maybe 2 or 3 weeks left. Bob researched like crazy and we put her on all sorts of vitamins and supplements.  I cooked her homemade meals, bone broth and omelets for breakfast.  She was especially fond of honey nut cheerios. This was her new game at night, find the cheerios.  She still had her spirit, right up until Sunday.  Something was different. She didn’t want to eat her very favorite meaty treats. She was so sad. We gave her a few IV treatments and I sat with here trying to coax her to eat.  No, there was no rally this time.  Her body was tired. She was tired. She was depressed. She could walk or stand. We made the hardest decision a pet owner has to make.

Fly high Miss Lita, Miss Poodley Doo, Girlfriend, Baby Girl, Boobala.  Run, Run like the wind like you did when you were young.  Please tell Rocky and Leo, Sass and Kikko, Angel, Buster, Coquette and Mimi I miss them all.

WE are heartbroken.  That girl touched our very souls.

There will never be another Lita, the girl with incredible spirit .

September 6, 2011 – June 26, 2025 

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