Raio is a male that came to me the summer of 2011. He is my first male dog ever, and he won't be the last. He is a lively young Man (in his own eyes), even if he will always be my little boy. Raio loves several activities and shows great talent no matter what I challenge him to do. We've tried agility, freestyle, tracking so far. Even Rally. Sadly, Raio has HD: C (B/C) and had moderate calcification. He also has an extra vertebrae in his back close to his pelvis. It doesn't stop him from being active as long as the activities are adjusted for him. He visits a chiropractor and she is his favourite veterinarian. Raio is a true teddybear and prefers to sit next to me in the sofa with his head in my lap, if he can. If he's on the floor, it is usually ON my feet. He follows me whereever I go and likes to keep track of all that's going on. 

His name means "beam of light" in Portugese and I thought it suited him well as he also has a white stripe on his chest.

Sadly, his life ended way too soon after his health was deteoriating rapidly the summer of 2015. Since he was diagnosed at the age of 18 months with mild hip dysplasia on one side with moderate calcifications and sacralisation in his back, the pains grew too fast this summer. Since the diagnosis' were set, I took him to a chiropractor who managed to help him a lot. With that his health was managed well. This summer, however, he took a turn for the worse and the pains became too severe. He became more and more unpredictable, especially with aggression towards other males and also started towards humans as well. The last week he growled at me at a couple of occasions, and it was heartbreaking to see the despair in his eyes - he did not want to growl at me, but he couldn't help himself.

As one of his best friends in the pack also had a life-thratening diagnosis, I made the choice to let them travel to the other side - together. They were so dependent on each other and it felt "right" in a way. I will always remember them for the wonderful dogs they were. Raio was the dog that introduced me to the showring again, after a few years away, and it was with him that the dream of becoming a breeder started. Thank you, Raio. I will always keep you in my heart!