The Swamp

Sorry, BSF. Just now read this. Hope your girl is at peace now. Maybe even more so than humans, if any animal deserves an afterlife, it's dogs. And if there is one, she's running and playing and feels no pain right now.

I picture a place where there are wide open spaces, slow squirrels and cool, fresh water for all of them.

Sincere condolences. It just sucks so badly.

Pruitt wrote:I picture a place where there are wide open spaces, slow squirrels and cool, fresh water for all of them.

Sincere condolences. It just sucks so badly.

Tummy rubs on command.

Sorry man.

Yeah. Sorry, man.

Sorry, BSF. While we're being sad, I guess I'll go.

Full disclaimer...I'm not a "dog person." I like dogs and even have adored some dogs I've met but I just never really wanted one. I've just always found them a little dopey and needy. It's not really my desire to be needed so I like cats for pets so much more.

So a few years back, my wife visits the rescue that they have at the local dog track just because we had met someone else with a greyhound and she loved the dog and wanted to see them. Well, they had one female and she was a little too apathetic to be a great racer so they had retired her at just 2.5 years old. They asked her if she wanted to walk her (her name was Precious at the track but we changed it because it reminded us too much of SOTL). They had told her that another guy had showed interest and was thinking about coming back to get her. My phone rings and it's Jen and she tells me I have to come get the damn dog.

I was pissed. Not because she defied me or anything because whatever...harden the fuck up, people. I was pissed because I just really, really didn't want a dog and I knew I was going to be the one to have to take care of it because my kids were real young and my wife would grow apathetic. I was right but also, she was right.

Brandy was the absolute perfect dog for someone who is not a dog person. She was always just around. Didn't really care about other dogs, never chased after anything in her life...she just loved people and I never met a person that didn't fall in love with her immediately. She was gentle, and sensitive, and incredibly obedient, and all she really ever wanted was touches and hugs and maybe the rest of your cheeseburger if you could spare it...but she never begged. One stern "no" was all you ever needed.

It's a funny dog too because the dichotomy between the way they look outside and in is off the charts. They have all the grace of a giraffe on roller skates indoors but then watching them run is a thing of beauty, almost like a cheetah and with the same stamina problems...a 45 mile per hour couch potato.

Greyhounds hate stairs. If they race, they pretty much don't see stairs for the first few years of their life and even after we taught her how to navigate them, they always made her a nervous wreck. She'd go out from the upstairs deck out the sliding glass door and there was never a time she didn't dread those damn stairs but for 8.5 years, she navigated them.

A couple weeks ago, she began limping. I've pulled enough things out of her feet over the years so I thought it was that but it was fine. Then these massive diarrhea problems started and she looked real thin and the poor thing was obviously suffering and I felt so bad because she was so scared that she was going to get in trouble.

I let her out last Thursday night and I went over to the door 10 minutes later and she wasn't there. This was about midnight. I looked out over the deck and she was just laying still in the middle of the yard. So I went down and laid with her for about a half hour and she was so sick but still just happy as hell to get her touches and hugs. That was the first time I had to carry her up those stairs.

We took her Saturday and she had lost 20 pounds, had a high fever, and the thing in her leg was probably cancer but they couldn't test because she was too weak for anesthesia. I knew the day was coming. Greyhounds average 8-10 years and she was almost 11.5 (we have the same birthday), but holy fuck.

My family went out Saturday night and for the first time in a long time I was completely alone in my own house and it was fucking surreal as hell. Ever see the comic strip Blondie and notice that the dog is always in every single frame? That was her. She was always just around, and now she's not. I guess that's just how it is.

She probably ruined dogs for me for good now but I'm grateful as hell to have had her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJvuuQGrIOQ&t

Damn. Sorry man.

Aw man. I was able to catch the gist of what happened on FB the other day without watching the video. Aw man.

Sorry everyone. I'll go home and be extra nice to my 13ish year old.

Geez, sorry J-Lo. How do so many of us have dogs around the same age? Our Sydney will be 12 in November.

Jerloma wrote:My family went out Saturday night and for the first time in a long time I was completely alone in my own house and it was fucking surreal as hell.

Having worked at home, I know exactly what you mean. Didn't even consider it ahead of time. Sorry, man.

brian wrote:How do so many of us have dogs around the same age? Our Sydney will be 12 in November.

Harper would have turned 12 in July so "kinda all of us?"

Mine's 12.5 with easily 15 more years in her

Mine's nine, so not imminent risk, but starting to show some age.

Sorry for all the depression here Frogs. Extra sorry for you Jerloma. Greyhounds are special dogs. There's a solid chance we may add one to the family somewhere down the line. Meg loves them.

Thanks for all the support for Meg and myself. Most of you saw on FB, but yesterday was our last day. We had a hell of a ride though. She got to see all her doggo friends all weekend, and got tons of treats and special food. When we were headed to the vet for the last ride I got stubborn. Drove past the vet and Meg was asking me what the hell I was doing and we were going to be late. I didn't care. I drove another 4 miles down the road to a Wendy's and got a JBC, fries, and a vanilla frosty. And we drove back to the vet and sat outside on the front step of the vet and all munched down garbage that we shouldn't. Kaylee was elated. Half a hamburger and fries and 3/4 of a frosty in your belly is a good way to go out I guess.

She was stubborn as always and didn't want to let the sedative get her, staying on Meg's feet until she finally started to sleep on her own, she barked at the vet one last time at the end of the injection and she left us. Stubborn and had it her way until the end.

The house feels quiet and empty. Cleaning up all her things and putting them out of sight is strange. Meg's taking it pretty hard every time we leave and come back and she's not here to greet us or we don't hear her jingling around somewhere. It hurts. But we're lucky to have so many people check in on us. The number of texts and phone calls and FB messages has been overwhelming and very welcomed.

I can't wait to get another pup in here, but we're gonna need time. Kaylee was special. They're all special, but she was ours. I miss her so much and it's only been 23 hours.

Christ, it's dusty in here.

Rush2112 wrote:Christ, it's dusty in here.

Just bawled like a baby watching beautiful Brandy. Hang in there guys.

BSF21 wrote:Cleaning up all her things and putting them out of sight is strange.

You're never going to use them again so I'd donate what you can to a shelter. It sucks in the moment but feels a little better later on.

mister d wrote:

BSF21 wrote:Cleaning up all her things and putting them out of sight is strange.

You're never going to use them again so I'd donate what you can to a shelter. It sucks in the moment but feels a little better later on.

We're looking into it. I think we'll hang on to some of the Kong toys and leash/harness, but everything else is getting trashed or going to the shelter/other friends with doggos. We've got about 8 months of flea/tick and heartworm meds that someone could use.

Dammit. Dust in my eye. Time to read some more reviews on wheels.

I'm certainly not a dog person (all jokes aside). I had one once and have gone through what BSF and JLo are going through and it sucks. I'm sorry for both your losses.

BSF21 wrote:Thanks for all the support for Meg and myself. Most of you saw on FB, but yesterday was our last day. We had a hell of a ride though. She got to see all her doggo friends all weekend, and got tons of treats and special food. When we were headed to the vet for the last ride I got stubborn. Drove past the vet and Meg was asking me what the hell I was doing and we were going to be late. I didn't care. I drove another 4 miles down the road to a Wendy's and got a JBC, fries, and a vanilla frosty. And we drove back to the vet and sat outside on the front step of the vet and all munched down garbage that we shouldn't. Kaylee was elated. Half a hamburger and fries and 3/4 of a frosty in your belly is a good way to go out I guess.

That is absolutely fantastic. I had to try to treat it like a normal vet visit as to not make the girls think we were going to a funeral. They actually ended up staying in the room with me while they did it though. Those kids are hard.

Mood lightener:

An Australian Cattle Dog is running for mayor of St. John's in Canada

I'm pretty sure the average Aussie is smarter than Donald Trump, so...

rass wrote:Mood lightener:

An Australian Cattle Dog is running for mayor of St. John's in Canada

Make Canada Grrrrreat Again!

And here's a dog being a dog...

https://twitter.com/Mikel_Jollett/statu ... 44/video/1

That one just fucking kills me.

That's one of the best pictures I have ever seen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xEX-48RHCY

Came up on my FB timeline today.

no pyramid references
http://www.gocomics.com/thebuckets?ct=v&cti=2090315

From rass's posts on Facebook and instagram I feel like Gus is partly my dog.

A_B wrote:From rass's posts on Facebook and instagram I feel like Gus is partly my dog.

He is every bit as awesome as he seems in the pictures.

He's a good dog you guys.

Long story short, the vet thinks my 13 year old neutered dog might have a retained testicle.

hahahahahahahahahHAHAHAHahhahahahahahahahahahaHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

shit

That explains so much...

Which one doesn’t look like you?

The younger one, who is much more attached to the dog. Why do you ask?


We've joked about this before. The food and toy aggression, the excitability around other dogs, all of the dizzcharge he's dripped all over the house, and the occasional prostate issues he's had as he's gotten older. It all makes sense!

Do animal shelters keep records for 12+ years? I'd love to know if they noted this his file when they neutered him and (potentially) removed only one ball.

(ETA - they don't)

Ryan wrote:Mine's 12.5 with easily 15 more years in her

Or, you know, probable cancerous thing in her larynx.

Ryan wrote:

Ryan wrote:Mine's 12.5 with easily 15 more years in her

Or, you know, probable cancerous thing in her larynx.

Fuck.

Sorry to hear that, Ryan.