I always seem to give my second greyhound Dot short shrift, but maybe it's because of the sudden nature of her passing. She was sweet, loving and shy, but she could be fierce in defending her "pack". Easter day, 2004, I volunteered to transport one of 8 greyhounds brought to Denver from a closed track in Harlingen, Texas, to a foster home. The night of the following day, Dot, Dash, Allan and I all went to sleep in our individual beds. Only 3 of us woke up the following morning. She was only 7 years old.
The good that came out of that terrible day: the dog I transported, a 21-month-old failure at racing school named Redline Design, became my Easter flower, Lily.
The good that came out of that terrible day: the dog I transported, a 21-month-old failure at racing school named Redline Design, became my Easter flower, Lily.
As long as we're reminiscing, here is one of my favorite photos. It shows my two GSDs together: Max, at 12 years near the end of his life and, Dash, at 3 months, near the beginning of his (with those ears you gotta love). The look-alike poses, taken in 1999 (when the Austin Powers movie came out that featured the evil clone "Mini-Me"), earned Dash the nickname "Mini-Max". The sofa that they are laying in front of was later destroyed by a 1-year-old Dash.
Max was my co-Heart dog, along with his long-time companion, and my first greyhound, Willow. This picture was taken in 1997, during a trip to Alaska with Max, Willow, and my Mom, whose jacket appears on the passenger seat in the picture. The dogs died in 1999, Mom had a stroke in 1998 and died in 2003.
Finally, no reminiscence could be complete without at least one picture of the Clown Prince of Greyhounds, the wonderfully wacky worker of weirdness, TV Allan. This picture shows Allan begging for a piece of Lily's birthday carrot cake as only he could. He died 5 years ago at the early age of 9 years from bone cancer, and I still miss him.
Max was my co-Heart dog, along with his long-time companion, and my first greyhound, Willow. This picture was taken in 1997, during a trip to Alaska with Max, Willow, and my Mom, whose jacket appears on the passenger seat in the picture. The dogs died in 1999, Mom had a stroke in 1998 and died in 2003.
Finally, no reminiscence could be complete without at least one picture of the Clown Prince of Greyhounds, the wonderfully wacky worker of weirdness, TV Allan. This picture shows Allan begging for a piece of Lily's birthday carrot cake as only he could. He died 5 years ago at the early age of 9 years from bone cancer, and I still miss him.
Beautiful pictures of your fur and featherbabies, ByTheWind. The cat posing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas reminded me of the time I crossed Donner Pass on the way to Yosemite, and decided to pose Dash (full name Dasher) in front of the sign just so I could caption it "Dasher on Donner" :R
Gary, thanks for the welcome! No clue how I managed to only find this forum now, I feel so behind the times. But better late than never, right?
With a fair warning, let me say you opened a can of worms now. lol! I love sharing photos of my furkids, past and present... oh, and my featherkids, and scalekids, and all my non-human family.
And I love viewing others' pics too, so will make a note to look over as many pages in this thread as I can.
I'll try to keep these photos small, assuming I do it correctly...
First off, a couple before pics of Chance, the slaughterbound guy I mentioned in my other post.
Around 500 pounds underweight, unknown age though estimated in late teens or early 20's, teeth all worn down from eating rocks, hooves split and cracked, covered in rainrot and various sores from flies, so weak the first night we got him the emergency vet figured he would be dead by morning. Next morning he was very much alive, but needed help getting to his feet. In the pic with the red trailer in the background, I was holding Chance's head up because he was too weak to even hold his head normally, that pic was taken less than 12 hours after we bought him.
The second pic up there was 3-4 months after we had him. His coat shed out and his rain rot cleared up pretty quick.
Yes, THIS bag of bones was my first true love. I adored that old man. ๐
Heres a shot of Chance less than a year after we had him, maybe 8-10 months after his purchase. The saddle is just decorative, he was never ridden, but you can see some weight gain and muscle improvements. He was also getting back into a winter coat which made him look a little fatter too, hehe. Sorry about the crappy photo, that was before I had a decent digicam.
Smartest cat and best traveling and hiking companion, Micro (named after Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs on TV). Seen here in Las Vegas. (On the roof of the Bellagio, with Paris' eifel tower in the background). She was a pick-up in Florida and has been with us through 20-something states. She's sleeping right next to me as I type this, actually. I consider myself more of a dog person in general, but this cat is awesome.
One of the two Pigeons we travel with. Yes, pigeons. Nothing fancy, like an African Grey or Cockatoo, but still very loving and fun to have around. We picked up a pair in Las Vegas back in June. This is the female, Pajamas.
Last pic, then I will stop hogging. ๐ A pic of my two canine kids. The Tibetan Spaniel (left side, arguably a Pekingese..?) is Chrissy, the Pug goes by many names including (but not limited to) Puggy, Frankie, Fatty, Egghead, Dummy and Goober depending on what she's doing at the time. Both joined the family here in Missouri around Christmas and have yet to travel out of state with us, both "rescues" in a way. Both the apparent product of backyard breeding kennels, though in better general condition than puppy-mill dogs... or so I hear.
Thought I had some pics of the toads in Photobucket but can't seem to find them. I'll snap some shots tomorrow if anyone cares to see them. ๐
Dogdiva, is "interesting" good? Might have been more interesting if the Grand Canyon was in the background, eh?...never did get there, by the way. Maybe this year or the next.
With a fair warning, let me say you opened a can of worms now. lol! I love sharing photos of my furkids, past and present... oh, and my featherkids, and scalekids, and all my non-human family.
And I love viewing others' pics too, so will make a note to look over as many pages in this thread as I can.
I'll try to keep these photos small, assuming I do it correctly...
First off, a couple before pics of Chance, the slaughterbound guy I mentioned in my other post.
Around 500 pounds underweight, unknown age though estimated in late teens or early 20's, teeth all worn down from eating rocks, hooves split and cracked, covered in rainrot and various sores from flies, so weak the first night we got him the emergency vet figured he would be dead by morning. Next morning he was very much alive, but needed help getting to his feet. In the pic with the red trailer in the background, I was holding Chance's head up because he was too weak to even hold his head normally, that pic was taken less than 12 hours after we bought him.
The second pic up there was 3-4 months after we had him. His coat shed out and his rain rot cleared up pretty quick.
Yes, THIS bag of bones was my first true love. I adored that old man. ๐
Heres a shot of Chance less than a year after we had him, maybe 8-10 months after his purchase. The saddle is just decorative, he was never ridden, but you can see some weight gain and muscle improvements. He was also getting back into a winter coat which made him look a little fatter too, hehe. Sorry about the crappy photo, that was before I had a decent digicam.
Smartest cat and best traveling and hiking companion, Micro (named after Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs on TV). Seen here in Las Vegas. (On the roof of the Bellagio, with Paris' eifel tower in the background). She was a pick-up in Florida and has been with us through 20-something states. She's sleeping right next to me as I type this, actually. I consider myself more of a dog person in general, but this cat is awesome.
One of the two Pigeons we travel with. Yes, pigeons. Nothing fancy, like an African Grey or Cockatoo, but still very loving and fun to have around. We picked up a pair in Las Vegas back in June. This is the female, Pajamas.
Last pic, then I will stop hogging. ๐ A pic of my two canine kids. The Tibetan Spaniel (left side, arguably a Pekingese..?) is Chrissy, the Pug goes by many names including (but not limited to) Puggy, Frankie, Fatty, Egghead, Dummy and Goober depending on what she's doing at the time. Both joined the family here in Missouri around Christmas and have yet to travel out of state with us, both "rescues" in a way. Both the apparent product of backyard breeding kennels, though in better general condition than puppy-mill dogs... or so I hear.
Thought I had some pics of the toads in Photobucket but can't seem to find them. I'll snap some shots tomorrow if anyone cares to see them. ๐
Dogdiva, is "interesting" good? Might have been more interesting if the Grand Canyon was in the background, eh?...never did get there, by the way. Maybe this year or the next.
By the Wind, I can relate to your stories. We had 4 horses at one time. We are down to 2 of them. Mine went to a good home in Indiana after I got hurt and couldn't ride him anymore. He was way too good to leave standing in the pasture. The other was our daughters show horse. He also has a great home living in a climate controlled barn. We had the opportunity to go and see him and it really tickled me because after being gone for around 3-4 years, he still remembered me. One of the ones we have left is our daughters first horse. He was 9 when we got him and it is now 29 and still seems to be in fairly good health. Our last one we got when he was turning 3. He had been groomed to be a BigLick Stallion Walker but his small feet could not hold the pads so he was gelded and shipped down the road. He is now closing in on 18.
We also have one of Richard's first rescues. He rescued 4 puppies from under a dumpster where they had been tossed with no food or water. What a good dog she has turned out to be. We also have a second one from Richard that someone had brought over to him that had been hit by some motor vehicle and left along the road for dead. She had been torn up pretty hard and had a dislocated hip. Other than being a little scared of things still, you would not know she had ever been hurt.
If you have the opportunity to get to Branson Missouri in June, we are having an Old Fella Rally starting June 15 (Wednesday) and ending the following Sunday. There will be folks from Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Indiana, Colorado and other states I can't remember right off. Just go to the Rallies and Gatherings area and look for the Old Fella Rally thread. We have about 20 rigs coming from all over. It should be the best one yet. Hope to get the chance to meet you.
I commend you for your efforts and God Bless.
Sarah
Anna
We also have one of Richard's first rescues. He rescued 4 puppies from under a dumpster where they had been tossed with no food or water. What a good dog she has turned out to be. We also have a second one from Richard that someone had brought over to him that had been hit by some motor vehicle and left along the road for dead. She had been torn up pretty hard and had a dislocated hip. Other than being a little scared of things still, you would not know she had ever been hurt.
If you have the opportunity to get to Branson Missouri in June, we are having an Old Fella Rally starting June 15 (Wednesday) and ending the following Sunday. There will be folks from Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Indiana, Colorado and other states I can't remember right off. Just go to the Rallies and Gatherings area and look for the Old Fella Rally thread. We have about 20 rigs coming from all over. It should be the best one yet. Hope to get the chance to meet you.
I commend you for your efforts and God Bless.
Sarah
Anna
Molly is such a mix of warmth, bravado and insecurity. She loves to take Dash's dog bed at night if she can get there first. When we come downstairs to the family room, the first thing she does is look and see if Lily is on the center cushion of the sofa. If she isn't, she will get up there herself. If Lily is already there, she walks up to her, looks at her, looks at me, looks at her, looks at me...I say "Uh-uh". She then has to "settle" for one of the end cushions, complete with soft pillow. Life is rough.
