We unexpectedly had to say goodbye to Ellie this weekend. She had a heart condition, which we were treating. We took her to the emergency vet thinking they'd watch her and adjust meds but she deteriorated rapidly and by the time they checked her out she wasn't going to make it through the night. Heavy but I'm glad we could be there for her at the end. She was a special one.
My boy Clipper - we had to put him down over the summer. He had a good, long life for a greyhound. He would have been 13 last month. He was the Olympic athlete of the family - all muscle and purpose-built for speed. He was being trained to race at a track in Arizona. The track shutdown due to economic reasons, and we were able to adopt Clipper as just 1 year old. Normally, you get a greyhound around 2-3 years old and with all of the issues associated with emotional and physical trauma from having been a racing dog. So, we were fortunate to get our guy before all of that, and he was fortunate to not have had to experience it. He did come from a very strong pedigree; mom and dad were consistent race winners. He was always one of the biggest greyhounds when we'd take him to greyhound-specific events. Greyhounds are known as the '45mph couch potato'. Clipper was basically the laziest dog you'd ever meet. Greyhounds are 'sprinters' and not 'distance runners'. A lot of people assume they're hyper dogs because they're so fast, but they're the complete opposite. The second photo is him with his little brother, Aries. Completely opposite in every regard, but the 2 best buddies ever. Aries is getting up there in age these days, and sadly, it's pretty obvious that he sorely misses his big bro as much as the rest of the family does. My 4.5 year old son - despite me being pretty honest about it - still thinks Clipper's absence is temporary and that he'll be back someday (ugh). Miss you, Clipper!
Recent photos of yellow lab of 14-15 years(closer to 15 years or older now, lost track of time)............
One Benefit (?) of a long term relationship with the Vet and his team... LOL. Stella (aka Big Butt) is a 116# female rescue. They also do Pro Bono work in Baja/Tijuana, so smile & laugh, when you can...
Here are our two little rodents. They were helping me work on a radiation audit in this picture. As you can see our house does not have a "no dogs on the furniture" rule. My biggest problem with them is when I get back home after being at work for 2 or 3 weeks I need to reclaim my spot on the bed...
First one is my boy Titan (4yrs) always on alert. 2nd is our girl Lila (6years) on alert as well when those kids at the elementary school behind our house get too rowdy.