Z and a Greyhound

[LancePearson]

We lost our eldest greyhound to age related issues this week and will stick with one looking forward. The remaining girl, Maxie, is a dark brindle and neither has ever been allowed anywhere near the Corvettes but she is a little unsettled without her fraternal sister so I am giving her extra attention for a while. I put a harness on her, put a travel pet quilted bed on the leather, rolled the windows up and invited Maxie into the 91 Z. She managed to get all those 60 pounds of legs and long thin body curled up on the seat, often napped with her head on the shift console and kept nudging me to do more than 80 mph. Truth is she was very calm tho I did hold the lead with the targa top out and she loved the breeze. Took a nap on the way home. Lots of sun on a dark brindle though and she would get very hot and cramped on a long ride but it was fun for a first time.

Lance Pearson

[scottfab]

Sorry to hear this. It's incredibly hard to say goodbye to such good friends.
My last experience with this was with my husky of 18yrs.

[LancePearson]

Scott,
Yes, it is hard to lose them and you must have been really attached with 18 years of experience. With a greyhound rescued after racing you get them at around four years of age as adults and with luck they live to 11 and she made it to 12 1/3rd but her age related issues were just too much so it was time and she knew it and I knew it. Details aren't important as it makes for a very tough week. Even Maxie is unsettled with a quieter house and keeps looking at me more or less asking where her buddy, Kate is. It has been a tough week but I'm paying extra attention to Maxie to try and make the transition easier. Hard on me as I am a widower for five years now and these two girls really have been my day to day family and I just turned 70 in age. Still, life could be far worse so looking for the good things is where I try and spend time...

I'm going to stick with just one from now on though. My vet has four boys who need to go to college and his rates tho he is excellent reflect that. More food, more work, more effort and it is much, much simpler and cheaper with one especially when I travel and pay kennel bills.

Lance

[scottfab]

Originally Posted by LancePearson

....snip...
Even Maxie is unsettled with a quieter house and keeps looking at me more or less asking where her buddy, Kate is. It has been a tough week but I'm paying extra attention to Maxie to try and make the transition easier.

Yes, it's very hard on the ones left behind. One of mine lasted to 12 the other till 18.

Originally Posted by LancePearson

Hard on me as I am a widower for five years now and these two girls really have been my day to day family and I just turned 70 in age. Still, life could be far worse so looking for the good things is where I try and spend time...

absolutely. More adventures and some puppy out there now just
waiting to meet you down the road.

Originally Posted by LancePearson

I'm going to stick with just one from now on though. My vet has four boys who need to go to college and his rates tho he is excellent reflect that. More food, more work, more effort and it is much, much simpler and cheaper with one especially when I travel and pay kennel bills.

Lance

Can't agree more. Fortunately I have sons around that can watch my dog when I travel.

[Paul Workman]

Very sorry for your loss. Lance. I too have had the unique pleasure of owning a pair of rescued greys. They are fantastic animals and pets. But, it is an agreement we have to make with their maker when taking one in: They are on loan and too soon are called back by their maker.

Nice pic of her in the Z. Very nice. I'm sure she loved being near you. You'll have to share some stories (yet had) of the two of you.

P.

[ZZZZZR1]

Lance

So sorry for your loss. Pets are children / family to all and anyone
who says they are just animals, doesn't understand

Hope to see you @ a maintenance day or show soon

Take care



David

[LancePearson]

David,
Thanks for the nice sentiments and you are right. We got Kate to take the focus off my wife's serious and getting worse illness and it was a wonderful thing then she was there for me after my wife passed away two years later from that illness and Kate who was very intelligent and myself formed a terrific bond. It gives me great comfort that wherever Karen is now Kate is back with her and the two are together enjoying life without illness or the debillitation of age which ended Kate's time on earth.

Maxie is a great greyhound and has now had her first ride in the Z but there will always only be one Kate who had the IQ of approximately a six year old human.

Many here have pets and we all understand the roles they can play which are many.

Lance Pearson

[LancePearson]

Paul, et al,
Thanks for the nice thoughts from your own experiences. I still have Maxie who is the one in the car and Kate was a blue (gray color).

Stories of Kate? I could do them all day but will tell a couple..she was smart like a border collie which is a bit above the normal greyhound.

1. Kate when I just had her liked to go with me and did not like it when I left her home. One day I left for an hour but left an 8# mesh bag of naval oranges on the kitchen counter. When I returned I found she had taken the bag to the sunroom, opened it, (they won't eat oranges due to the citric acid smell) and in the center of each room of the downstairs there was one big naval orange in the middle of the room. I swear, if she could type I'd be getting emails if she were still alive!

2. Eventually I got a second grey, Leo, who only lasted 9 months before going back when he tried to kill my then girlfriend's 5# ball of designer fluff dog when the trainer was introducing them( a few greys have 6,000 years of a strong pray drive and Leo was one of them). One day when Leo first got there, it got very quiet and my home has a lot of windows and the front windows all have wood plantation shutters which hinge on each side of each window in the Palladium setup. Kate did not like the slats even when left horizontal so she would pull them with her little front teeth and pull the half of the shutter open, leaving little marks. That day I started looking for the two dogs and quietly saw them in the dining room where Kate was slowly and repetitively trying to show Leo how to open the plantation shutters so he could see out without horizontal slots blocking the view!

3. When Karen was ill the last two years she spent about 1/3 of the time in and out of hospitals for periods of a couple weeks at a time and Kate had hospital privileges at the biggest hospital in Richmond and visited about 50 times in that period with approval and great acclaim by all in the hospital. She got shown to lots of others to cheer them up plus Karen. One afternoon I left Kate home and went to visit Karen in the afternoon. She did not like not going and when I got home after dinner I walked in and there sitting by the king size bed was Kate looking at it and at me. She had taken the spread, the blankets and pulled them back in a perfect V like she saw me do every evening for Karen to get to bed and watch PBS before she got too tired to stay awake and even put the pillows the way I did them that she'd seen me do for Karen many times with her head and nose. The message was very clear: if you aren't going to take me then bring Karen home please.

I could go on but you get the drift. Kate was a very special dog and I swear spent a fair amount of time as wacky as it sounds inside my head communicating with me. Greyhounds are gentle, easily controlled and very affectionate dogs as anyone who has owned one can tell you. Kate was truly special even for a greyhound.

[LancePearson]

And, since this is loosely about transportation and now a grey in a z and so on I thought I'd show you a photo of a real Greyhound bus.

Lance Pearson

[scottfab]

Originally Posted by LancePearson

And, since this is loosely about transportation and now a grey in a z and so on I thought I'd show you a photo of a real Greyhound bus.

Lance Pearson

Thanks for sharing that