Happy Trails to You, Til We Meet Again

Today was the end of a journey, one that took a lifetime of almost thirteen years to complete. January 30, 1997 Stat US Hawk came into this world as a member of a large litter of puppies. Tonight, he left to move on to a better place, where old bodies don't give out, there's no danger of the sky ever falling and there are endless morning scratches and treats. If I'm honest with myself, he was ready to go when Treat left us a year and a half ago. He grieved for her almost as badly as I did, perhaps more in some ways, but I have a feeling he was torn. In his world, things were perfect when we were all together. When we were at home, everyone was supposed to be in the same room so he could keep track of them. He would never stand up for himself, but he was fiercely protective of Treat and me. I think he would have lay down and gone right along with her when she died, but he felt that he had to continue to do his job and keep the rest of us all together. Every night when it was time for bed, he couldn't rest until every person and dog was secure in the bedroom. If one of the girls didn't come to bed, he had to pace restlessly back and forth from the bedroom to the living room.

He wasn't an easy greyhound. We got Treat and she came into our lives as effortlessly as if she'd always been here. Hawk bit me three weeks after we brought him home, and we learned about things like fear biting. When he'd bite, it was because he felt cornered, and he was a very nervous sort of guy. When we went to the kennel to choose a second greyhound, Treat made her preference clear. When Hawk came in the room, she played for the first time since we'd adopted her months before. Several others came in and she was completely indifferent to them. Hawk came back in and she was playing again. We'd thought a new dog would make her feel safe and confident on walks. As it turned out, she stepped up because she realized he needed to be protected from the world. He was happy to be at home with his toys and his family, and he really didn't care to go anywhere else.

A year after we brought him home, we enrolled in a greyhounds only obedience class, partially because we wanted to start doing nursing home visits with Treat and partly because we thought it would give Hawk some much needed confidence. He excelled at obedience -- at home. For the class, I took Hawk while my husband took Treat. We would practice all week and Hawk was spot on. Treat would turn her head and ignore my husband completely, much to his irritation. Then, we'd go to class. Hawk was convinced that our instructor was a devil in disguise and he wanted nothing to do with her. He refused to do anything in class besides the recall, which he did excellently, running from the instructor to find me as if the hounds of hell were at his heels. He was so good at obedience that one day when he slipped his collar because he was afraid of a neighbor of ours and ran for home that I yelled "sit" and he sat at the intersection and waited for me instead of crossing into the street.

He didn't ever really mind the weather, but he loved this time of year in particular, when my husband would start bringing his quilt out to lay on the floor. In the first year we had him, he was so jumpy that we couldn't lay down near him. Then, one day he decided it was okay and came over to lay down beside me, resting against my leg. It was a moment I'll always remember. He became quite a snuggle hound in his older age. As soon as he saw someone with a quilt or blanket, he was pacing, waiting to get to the dog bed nearest that quilt first so he didn't miss out. I can't begin to count the number of days I've come out of the shower in the morning to see Hawk's nose and my husband's feet sticking out from beneath the quilt.

I can remember the first Christmas we had with them. We got a snowman toy for him that sang "Jingle Bells" and it drove him crazy. My husband's grandmother was in the hospital, so a short while after giving him the toy, we ran out to visit the hospital. When we came home, it was Christmas Carnage. Instead of two happy hounds greeting us at the back door, they came creeping towards us, guilt and terror on their faces. Our best guess is that the snowman got too close to the Christmas tree and then he got something caught in the tree lights. The tree was entirely down, ornaments were strewn about and two very nervous greyhounds awaited us. Then the cat peed on the tree to add insult to injury. Things with that tree just kept getting worse. We laugh about that every year at Christmas when we pull out the few surviving ornaments.

We often took Hawk to the nursing home when he was younger. He had a repertoire of tricks that he would do to entertain the residents because he wasn't always the most social with people. Yet, he always had a knack for finding the one person off in the corner alone who needed a quiet presence to lean against them. One woman in the Alzheimer's ward asked me every month what his name was. Then she'd turn and announce to the others "This is my dog Spot" as she gripped his leash between me and him. He always stood there patiently, waiting for me to disentangle him so we could move along.

Hawk taught me so many lessons about patience and perseverance, I can never count them all. I thought in the beginning that I was teaching him how to be a good dog, but the truth is, he was busy teaching me how to be a good person. In my heart, I can imagine him already running, his ball in his mouth with Treat running at warp speed behind him, the way they often did here at the baseball diamond. No doubt they have a lot of catching up to do. I know that I have been blessed to have them touch me in with all their perfect imperfections. Hawk, you wonderful, soft hearted mama's boy, I miss you so much already. Run free and be well!

Wordless Wednesday 11/04 -- Can You See It?

Can you spot what's extra special about our Berry girl?

Things We Do For Love

I have mentioned that our handsome boy, Hawk, who really hates the limelight, has not been feeling well. Ever since we went through that round of sickness from the bad dog food, he has been losing weight. He hasn't bounced back, and given his age, that's a cause for real worry. So, since I happen to be sick today myself, we decided to move his vet appointment up to today to see if we could get some answers as to what's wrong. To protect his dignity, I did not take the camera along today, although I wished I had as we drove over this morning.



Hawk has always loved to go for car rides, as long as the car ride involves going to a drive through where he gets some French fries or a Milkbone at the magic window. He's even happy to ride to the grocery store and wait in the car when the weather is nice. Just don't take him to Petsmart or somewhere else where he has to go inside. He hates the strange acoustics in Petsmart and will do almost anything to get out of there, including poop on the floor. That was a long time ago, however, and we don't bring it up. Today he thought he was in heaven, bless his heart, as he rode in the van between my husband and me, watching out the window.



Given how weak he's been in the back end, we encouraged him to lay down. Apparently, that won't allow him to see if the sky starts to fall, which he knows it will at some point. He went to the back bench seat and tried to climb up, turning to look at me in what has become a classic pose for him -- front feet up on what he wants to climb up on, back feet on the floor as he gazes at me and waits for help. I suspect that he's gotten a little to used to the help, since he went and jumped into the back seat of the car on his own the day I was frantically trying to load Lilac into the car when she had her strange seizure. Anyhow, he wanted on the back seat, so I crawled to the back and lifted his back legs up for him. He gave me his big grin and I crawled back up to my seat. As I strapped on my seat belt, there he appeared again. I sighed and patted his head in reassurance. A few minutes later, he was back at the seat, waiting for my help again. Dutifully, I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed back again to lift his butt back onto the seat. As I sat down, there he was to sniff my arm again. Then he returned to the back.



Husband: Maybe he wants the seat down. You just pull it out in the front.



Me: Okay! (climbing back into the rear of the van again)



Hawk: Aww, you really love me!



Me: (after pulling the seat out so it's a big flat surface for him) Okay, this is the last time I'm lifting your butt up here!



Hawk: I'll take that under advisement.



So, I lift him up and get back into my seat as my husband giggles over what the people in the car behind us think I must be doing to the dog back there. Of course, a minute later, Hawk's back up in the front with his happy grin. I just look at him and shake my head. He stood the whole half hour ride to the vet's office, which was not a wise decision on his part.



We entered the vet's office and Hawk was escorted to the scale where they confirmed that he's lost a lot of weight. We went into an exam room and laid a bed down for him. Of course, he still wouldn't lay down. The vet came in and we spoke about what's been going on. In order to help allay his fears, we went back into the back exam area with him, and I will say that I am happy we have a vet who welcomes us back there with our dogs. There aren't any mysteries about what happens back there for us. My husband lifted him up onto the elevator table and they secured him and raised the table. The vet tech held his front end as the vet began her exam. Hawk started to get tired and nervous. I saw his back end sagging. He could have sat on the table, but his dignity told him to stand. So, being the person who loves him, I stood behind him and held his back end up. Yes, the things we do for love!



At last the exam was over, his blood drawn and they needed to get a urine sample. They walked him out the back door and we returned to the exam room. A few minutes passed and the vet tech returned him to us stating that he wouldn't go. That's a first! He's almost always locked and loaded, ready to drop pee-mail whenever the need arises. Still, it wasn't a big deal and he was very stressed. So, we'll see what happens and if we're able, I guess we'll make a delivery to the vet's office later when he's feeling more refreshed. Hawk still refused to lie down, but his rear end wasn't taking the hint. We spoke to the vet and then it was time to go. My husband took him out to the van while I paid the bill.



Then we had to make a stop at McDonald's so he could have a hash brown, since it was too early for French fries. Bless his heart for believing that was the real reason that we took the whole trip. He polished it off as he rested on the dog bed, finally laying down and comfortable. He rested the whole way home and allowed my husband to carry him into the house, assuming he'd finally been promoted to king of the castle status. He's now resting comfortably on his favorite bed as we await word on the test results. It was an eventful morning for the old guy and fortunately, he saw it as an adventurous outing and doesn't hold a grudge.

Little Bo Peep

We have a new toy here at our house, and to say it's causing quite a stir would be a major understatement. It looks innocent enough. It's a little sheep we got at Target. He's been dubbed Sheepie here in our house. Hawk has not been feeling well at all lately. It's been tough for him to bounce back after the bout of bad food we had for Lilac's birthday. When we pulled Sheepie out of the bag this morning, Hawk jumped up and tried to play with him a little before giving him up due to exhaustion. Bunny seized the opportunity to make the toy her own. Blueberry has remained indifferent to Sheepie's charms, but I suspect it won't last. She likes to play with toys when she believes no one is watching.

Like all two year olds, Bunny believes that all toys in the house are hers. For the most part, this goes unchalleneged, with the exception of Lilac and her bunny. Nobody takes Lilac's bunny! Bunny doesn't attempt it, nor does anyone else. Lilac was curious about the sheep today, but only mildly so. It drove Bunny into a frenzy, however. She gave Sheepie a work out. Actually, he had several workouts today, in between naps in the afternoon sun. I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, as long as Sheepie doesn't lose his voice! Bunny has had a few other beloved toys, but I haven't seen her as excited about them as she was over the sheep. Maybe I should go back to Target and stock up.


I don't think Sheepie will be joining us at night, however. He'll need to rest up for more playing!

Trick or Treat

This Halloween we had a good time. The main attraction at our house seemed to be the pumpkins. Bunny was with us last Halloween, but the weather was unusually nice and we did out pumpkin carving and gutting outside. This year, it was actually sunny out, but it was pretty brisk, so my husband decided to gut the pumpkins inside. Bunny felt that this task required her careful supervision. We quickly learned why when she began stealing stray pieces of pumpkin that were dropped and eating them. Apparently, pumpkin is some sort of hitherto unknown greyhound delicacy. None of out other hounds has ever shown an interest in eating the pumpkins before, although they do like pumpkin treats and canned pumpkin in their food on occasion.

Carving pumpkins is something we've always done and the results this year were pretty nice. Bunny was particularly impressed. The other hounds didn't show much appreciation for our artistic attempts this year. Perhaps Bunny understood that this was a beacon that would lead people to our house to admire her cuteness. I imagine that she would figure that out, as clever as she is. We got the pumpkins arranged, candy was ready, the weather was nice and the stage was set for people to come to the door.

I'm sure that the best part for Bunny was the people coming to the door. However, eating the pumpkin was a close second. She liked the pumpkin so much that she decided to try working on the second one before we even cut it open. She just started licking the outside before there was any of the good stuff to partake of. Of course at pumpkin carving time, she was unaware that people would be arriving. As far as I know, she just thought it was an entertaining afternoon's diversion.

Of course, after we started carving scary faces on the pumpkins, she was a little less sure that things were a good idea.

Me: Bunny, would you sit up here by the pumpkins please?

Bunny: I don't like the way those guys are looking at me!

Me: Maybe they're angry that you ate their guts.

Bunny: That's it! I'm hiding in the bedroom until you get these things out of here!

Me: Don't do that! I'm just kidding! There will be people coming by soon!

Bunny: Really?

Me: I wouldn't dream of teasing you about something so important!

Bunny: I'd better watch for them! When are they coming?

Me: You'll know when they get here!

Bunny: I think I hear someone coming right now!

(doorbell rings)

Bunny: Blueberry! Come quick! There are funny looking people here and they brought human puppies!

Blueberry: I'm coming!

The door opens to ooo's and aah's from the kids every time as the girls rush over to greet them. Hawk and Lilac consider themselves too old to get excited about these comings and goings, probably mainly due to the fact that neither of them wants to give up their cushy bed to Blueberry. Bunny was too busy standing sentinel to worry about laying down, and Blueberry knew she'd sound the alarm if they didn't ring the doorbell.

As far as Bunny is concerned, everyone who showed up last night came to pet her and Blueberry. We won't tell her that we bribed them to come by with candy. She had so much fun with the whole thing that I don't have the heart to burst her bubble. After all, Halloween is for the young and young at heart. We all enjoyed the magic of the holiday!