K.C.

Many of the readers of this blog already know. For those who don't, we said goodbye to our sweet K.C. last Monday. Making the decision to put her to sleep was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my entire life. I am thankful that I was with her to hold her in my arms as she passed from this world. I do find some comfort knowing that she is no longer suffering, but I miss her immensely and wish she was still here with me!
Above is a pic of KC the day we brought her home. Yes, I had just brushed her. I still have her brush and a lock of her fur. She did have a beautiful coat of fur!

She was such a special dog and we were very lucky to have her in our lives. She brought me so much joy and laughter. My mom and I got her from the SPCA in '95. She was surrendered to the SPCA by her owner because she had heart worms and her owner did not have the financial means to get KC treated. The SPCA knew that KC would be an adoptable dog, so they treated her for heart worms. Bear in mind this was back before the SPCA became a no kill rescue. My mom and I happened to be at the right place at the right time. We saw her first and then looked at every other dog in the kennel, but came back to her. There was just something about her. She was meant to be my dog. She had the sweetest little face with big sad puppy dog eyes. In her younger days, she was a very active dog and would play fetch for hours! She wore me out!! Her energy level decreased over the years, arthritis set in and then cushings. She was definitely a fighter, a survivor. However you want to define it.....she was the meaning of the word!! She loved rolling around in the leaves in the fall, and baking in the sun in the summer. She will live on in our hearts and we take comfort in knowing that she is waiting for us at the bridge.

My mom gave me this beautiful poem months ago. She had an artist draw a very pretty bouquet of purple and pink flowers on the front. Purple was KC's color. So thoughtful.

A Dog's Plea

Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I might lick your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me learn.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world's sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail and when the sound of your footstep falls upon my waiting ear.

Please take me inside when it is cold and wet, for I am a domesticated animal, no longer accustomed to bitter elements. I ask no greater glory than the privilege for sitting at your feet beside the hearth.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst.

Feed me clean food that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.

And, my friend, when I am very old and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having any fun. Please see to it that my life is taken gently. I shall leave this earth knowing with the last breath I draw that my fate was always safest in your loving hands.

By Beth Norman Harris

I just want to get to the point where I think of her and smile instead of crying. I will never forget her, just want to think of her and remember her better years and not of her suffering.


One last Eskimo Kiss.
We love you K.C. and miss you very much!!


Thank you to all who have sent cards, thoughts, prayers, condolences, plants, poems and kind words. We appreciate your support during this difficult time.

Meet & Greet and Spring (?) Picnic Dahlgren Base

On Saturday Booyah and I attended VAGA's monthly meet and greet in Richmond at the PetSmart. We had a nice turnout of hounds and managed to miss the majority of the rainstorms. Brought my camera, but did not take any pics. Bethanie, Chris, Baron and Maggie came. And, Kristen, Gyeong, Stella, Stanley, Jamie and Parker came. We had a nice group of greys for folks to stop by and meet. Cueball threw a fit when I was leaving the house with Booyah. He was sooo mad that he could not go! Silly boy.

On Sunday we attended VAGA's spring picnic at the Dahlgren Naval Base. We had a nice turnout of hounds and folks. There was lots of yummy food. The event was a lot of FUN!! The weather, well.....it was a bit cold!! The picnic area was set up just outside the ball field. The hounds really enjoyed running around the ball field. A large pack of dogs were running and Cueball wanted to get into the mix, so he tried to do a u-turn to cut in and got clocked by another hound. He went tumbling over on his side. Thankfully, he was okay. Mitch saw the whole thing happen and then later told me about it. They had a blast and were pooped on the drive home.

Here are a few shots. I did not take many, because my camera does not take good quality shots at greyhound speed. But, we should be able to buy a new camera in a month or so. So stay tuned for better quality pics. In the meantime, these will have to do.

So many hounds. :)
Maggie checking it out.
Cueball does the two legged hop.Hey what is this red stuff? Booyah's muzzle was full of red clay.

Booyah taking a stroll.It was a greyhound filled weekend. We really enjoyed the picnic!! The ball field was awesome for the hounds!! =)

Brotherly Love

Quick post before we head out for VAGA's monthly MG in Richmond.

These pics were taken a couple of weeks back . Aren't they cute together?



4-13-08 Author's Note: Found this one while I was downloading pics today. They are sooo cute together.

URGH....., this article made my blood boil!

I found this on houndlife.blogspot.com. Please click here to read the story. Hopefully legislation will be put in place to stop the abuse in the greyhound racing industry!

Florida residents, please click here to help the hounds!!!

Time to catch up...

We have been busy. So let's catch up. Last Friday (March 28th) Zelda and Pep returned to their home. Their family was soooo happy to see them!! Then on Saturday around 6:00 a.m. Cleo was dropped off to stay with us for the weekend. And, we still had Zola for another week. We fostered Cleo back in December and as you might remember she is a 2 year old fawn full of ENERGY!! But, she is super sweet and soooo happy. Her tail never stops wagging!! She enjoyed going round and round our island in the kitchen. She was just as happy as she could be, wagging that tail the whole time. Once she tired herself out, she would plop down on a dog bed. She was a lot of fun to keep for two days!!

Cleo.

Hyper active, who me???Zola.

Saturday, March 29th, we headed to Cooper Vineyards for their Wine/Chocolate/Jazz festival. It was pretty cold out, but we made the best of it and had a picnic lunch by the vineyard. They had a Jazz band playing outside, wine tasting and a Chocolate Fountain! We made sure we got our $30 worth. :) It was a lot of fun! We really enjoyed their Norton Red and their Noche desert wine. We stocked up on some wine and we both got a hat. We also picked up some brochures while we were there and are going to try to go to at least a couple of wine festivals this year. We would really like to make it to Afton mountain one weekend and go to Veritas. We have heard very good things about this vineyard.


Wine a little bit, you'll feel better.

Then, on Sunday as Mitch stayed home to nap during the nasty little sleet storm we had, Maggie and I headed out to the first Meet and Greet in Newport News. Like a doe doe, I forgot my camera. Thankfully, Amy brought hers and sent us some pictures. We had a greyt turnout and Lola was our donation dog. It was really great seeing Gracie again!!! She is such a sweet girl and I am glad they were able to come to the MG. It was nice to have both Greys and Galgos represented. We had a good number of folks stopping by to love on the hounds and we handed out lots of info. Linda printed up these really nice facts sheets and other information about greyhounds and we had both business cards and brochures. Folks stopping by were well informed about our beloved breed. :)

Lola and Maggie.

Gracie, Virginia and Virginia's Spanish huskie, who also participated in our meet and greet, on their way home. Too cute. Virginia states that the Spanish huskie is going to Denmark. :)

On Friday Mitch bought two new trees for the yard. They are tiny now, but one day will be gorgeous. He got a red leaf maple and a weeping red leaf maple. Zola was picked up on Friday afternoon. Her mom was sooo happy to see her. She was so worried that Zola would not miss her or even remember her. Not so!! Zola knew exactly and was waiting patiently to go out the front door!! I guess 2 weeks with my kids was enough for her for a little while. :) LOL

So we are finally back to 4 dogs, at least until April 15th anyway. : )

Saturday we started our spring cleaning and even tackled the back bedroom downstairs, which has been a nightmare room (you could barely walk in there, there was so much JUNK). We took lots of nice things to Goodwill and then trashed everything else. We are about 80% done. I just need to box up the items we are keeping and place them in the attic (they are mainly my books from college and old photo albums) then I plan to make curtains and re-finish the dresser and bookshelf. I plan to do this next weekend. Mitch's sister is coming to visit in May and it will be nice to have a room for her to stay in!

We put the baby gate up to keep the kids out while we were cleaning. They were very confused as to why they could not join us.
Misty was confused also.

Today we are relaxing some and continuing to clean. It has been a difficult couple of weeks for us. We recently took KC to the vet and have had to discuss putting her to sleep. She is not in good health at all now and continues to get worse. A good friend once told me to pick 3 things and once those three things are no longer achievable for her then it is time. Well this is a very good piece of advice and was very helpful in our decision. We will have to say goodbye to our sweet little KC on April 14th. I hope I am strong enough and selflessness enough to do what is right for her!! We are trying to prepare the best we can. But, can you ever really be prepared for this? We will be heartbroken for a long time. KC has been with me 13 years and she has been such a good dog. She will be missed immensely!! But, we cannot continue to be selfish, as she has absolutely no quality of life left at this point. So sad. :(