Farewell Golden Boy

on the field

A great heart was stilled on one of the kindest Borzoi I've had the privilege of knowing and sharing my life with. I cannot thank Nadine enough for sharing him with me and Victor for all these years. He was a wonderful boy, who even while working through the results of a grave injury several years ago (ran into the cross-fencing and temporarily paralyzed from a spinal shock) and dealing with decreased mobility, maintained such a happy attitude and acted like he had never had a bad day in his life.

on the runway for a Christmas modeling show

Kalipso was a remarkable dog in so many ways - beautiful and talented and such a love. I believe he is still the youngest Borzoi to complete an AKC Dual Championship. He finished his conformation championship by taking Winners Dog from the 12-18 Month Dog class at the Rocky Mountain Borzoi Club specialty show under breeder/judge Gwen Post. He had also won Best Opposite in Sweeps under Rebecca Peters-Campbell there. We were pleasantly surprised by his enthusiasm for running sports considering he was such a large boy, and from lines that generally did not come to mind when thinking of lure coursing. He was remarkably agile for such a big boy, with that agility at speed garnering him a Best in Field win. One of his final wins was an Award of Merit at the Borzoi Club of America's centennial national specialty show.

Sadly, it came to a point where the meds could no longer help him, and he lost that sparkle in his eye and it came time to say goodbye. My heart hurts with emptiness.

BIF DC Rising Star Kalipso, SC FCh

May 20, 2002 - October 10, 2012

Farewell my golden boy.

http://www.gryffynsaeyrieborzoi.com/borzoi/kalipso.html

(The) Magik is Gone

Today the world is a less "magickal" place.

DC Chataqua Gryffyn's LaMagieContinue, SC SOR GRC FCh ORC
aka "Magik"
Nov 22, 2001 - June 6, 2012
she has joined her sister Sassi in the fields of heaven - Godspeed ladies

Sadness...

Today we had it in spades - all because of one little soul.

We have been fighting the battle for the last year when the original diagnosis was made after Trouble was exhibiting a slight limp in her left front. We thought she had badly bruised or perhaps cracked her shoulder. Our vet didn't like the x-ray where there was some shadowing, so they suggested a specialist. After the fiasco we had been through with the orthopedist previously recommended with Arthur, we opted to find another and received a recommendation from a friend.

After new x-rays, he diagnosed the possibility of osteosarcoma in her left scapula - a biopsy confirmed it. He suggested trying a scapulectomy and that she would be able to once again utilize her front leg after the muscles and connective tissue adjusted and strengthened. Unfortunately not long after she had healed from  the surgery, I noticed that the top of the forearm, where it met with the scapula, was slightly enlarged. A lump also appeared where the top of the scapula once was - and it was very painful. Another appointment and another surgery scheduled - the rest of the limb was removed, as was the offending lump.

A couple days post-surgery, the stitches began to split and then it opened up completely. There just wasn't enough good skin to keep it closed - so it was cleaning and wrapping with wet/dry bandages. Trouble took to the routine easily - as soon as we put a towel on the bed, she would jump up and stand on it while we worked on her. She would wag her tail the entire time - and then she would get a treat of some special food.  She healed much quicker than I expected and we thought we could relax for a while. That was in July.

About a month after she healed...the lump reappeared. It was not as aggressive nor was it very painful. We could touch it without her making a sound where previously she would fuss and cry. So we kept an eye on her and she went about her normal business as if nothing had changed and being on three legs didn't hinder her in the slightest. She could always make us smile, but it was touched with sadness, because we knew that the cancer was not going to let her stay as long as we wanted (as if it's ever long enough).

Her remaining front leg began to thicken ever so slightly - hardly noticeable at first. Then the growth appeared on her muzzle - it was spreading. Then her back legs began to thicken as well and we knew it was getting closer and closer. Except for Trouble's outlook - she still was happy go lucky, constantly wagging her  tail - and keeping Victor to the schedule of giving her her special food just before bedtime. She was downright insistent on it. And the lump where her scapula used to be continued to grow.

It became obvious that no matter how much she ate, it was no longer feeding her body - it was feeding the cancer - and she began to lose weight. The last week she dropped down to nothing. We had always used the measure of marking the time of a "decision" to be when a dog quit eating or lost the shine in its eyes where you could see they could try no longer. I looked at her and just knew there was no way that the rimadyl or tramadol was helping her any longer - yet she kept on, her behavior never changing, and still eating regularly.

I went ahead and called the clinic for a Saturday appointment so Victor could be there too. This was a different clinic than we usually use for the dogs, although they come out for the horses. The clinic was  crowded so we left her sleeping in the van for a bit while the clinic cleared out of its appointments. When it was calmer we brought her in and they put us in a room immediately.

What happened will be with me forever as an example of what a pure soul little Trouble (who was anything BUT trouble in her lifetime) truly was. Her front leg was so hardened that we thought being able to administer the shot would not be possible, so they were going to try a vein in her neck. The vet was so gentle with her and talked to her, and they began to give her the injection, but it ended up that the vein collapsed in the process. We watched her but it was obvious that she had not received near enough. She lifted her head and was looking up at the vet, and wagged her tail while he held her head in both hands and stroked her face. The assistant meanwhile had gotten some more of the solution and they quickly found an outside vein in her rear leg. And she was gone. Loving and friendly to the very end. And fearless.

We are heartbroken - she fought so long and never complained. It was almost like she did not want us to worry more.

In her remembrance, here is a link to a poem I found years ago:

http://gryffynsaeyrieborzoi.com/library/living.htm

Rest in peace, free of pain, in our hearts forever.

Rarities BIS Gryffyn's Aeyrie Gypsy Road

3/16/2005 - 2/12/2011

the World is a Little Less Funny Today

What a lousy way to wake up on a Monday - to the news that one of the most intuitive, albeit at times cranky, comedians has passed. George Carlin was a wordsmith and a marvel, and one of the first stand-up comics that I had ever seen. I remember a rare night ages ago when I was allowed to stay up late and watch Carson, and Carlin performed his Football vs. Baseball routine. He became an instant favorite. Back in the 80s I did get to see him live at a show in Houston. He had to be one of the funniest curmudgeons I've ever seen. I had a daily calendar with snippets of his outlook on the world - and I still have a pile of my favorite bits of daily wisdom clipped together and tucked away.

A few weeks ago I DVR'd his latest special on HBO. I think I will raise a glass tonight and watch it.

"Just when I discovered the meaning of life, it changed."

~ George Carlin

Perci - Saying Goodbye

my favorite picture of him, taken by Sally Papin
Yesterday morning I had to say goodbye to one of our boys. A son of my beloved Nikki, he wasn't known to many, and he didn't do anything all that grand when it came to showing - matter of fact, he didn't much care for it, although he did finish his championship. He would come up occasionally in conversation on the lists when the subject had turned to ticking markings. He was affectionately called the "Blue Belton Borzoi". He wasn't much for strangers although he did make friends with some folks outside our home, notably our petsitters who had a soft spot in their hearts for the old man. He was also the first dog that Jill, who currently shows Solo in the specials ring, handled for me.

Perci turned 10 just last month. He and his brother Arthur would tear out the back door looking half their age every day. They were partners in crime. Perci was introduced to straight racing when he was 5-6 years of age. He raced a few months ago and looked pretty darned good for a Borzoi of his age. Recently he began to be hard to keep weight on, especially in comparison to his sibs here, Arthur and Danu (fatty fatty). But he kept eating and running around and being very active.

Sunday he looked less active than usual. He gobbled down a can of A/D food after I noticed he wasn't too terribly interested in the kibble. We figured he was just having an off day. Monday morning he was a bit less active but still ate a bit - Monday evening he looked like he had shrunk. He had soiled his pen as well. He ate a bit after I had added some gravy from our Boston Market take-out.

This morning I took him to the vet and I got the bad news a couple hours later. Perci was in renal failure, his prostate was inflamed (possibly infected - and he had just had a prostate exam in December with no issues noted), and x-rays showed 2 large masses in his lungs. Based on past experiences with lung cancer and renal failure, we opted to let him go, so I went back down to the clinic to be with him.

What a ghastly week it's been :(

I will miss my sweet old freckled fellow.

CH Gryffyn's The Road to Avalon
March 20, 1998 - April 22, 2008

Mourning - Ginger Gone Too Soon

No matter the age, it always seems too soon to say good-bye to our loved ones. Friday morning we experienced a loss so unexpected that I couldn't have even begun to imagine it. The previous day I had to go the dentist for an emergency tooth repair (an uncrowned tooth with a root canal had broken the night before) and was experiencing the mother of all nitrous hangovers when Victor awoke me to tell me that he had found Ginger semi-conscious in the backyard, not far from the outer corner of the cross-fenced area that several Silkens are in. She was gasping and her tongue was blue. I stuck my hand down her throat as far past the tongue as I could reach and found no obstruction. I didn't see her flanks moving with breath but her heart was still beating. I was frantic - it looked so similar to the time that Astyn just dropped and began gasping for air, that I thought it was an aneurysm or cardiac episode or a thrown clot (the 3 scenarios offered by our vet upon Astyn's passing). I felt her heart slip away. Our gorgeous silver girl was gone forever.

We took her to the vet clinic for a necropsy and also asked for an x-ray to determine if perhaps her neck had been broken, as she was not far from the corner of one of the yards. When we let that group out in the morning they run hellbent for leather around and around - so we thought perhaps she had grazed the fence at speed. The x-ray did solve the mystery - although not what we had imagined. Apparently Ginger had picked something up that interested her, and choked on it. It was very far down her trachea
- the vet assured me there was no way I would have been able to reach it - she didn't even think it could have been reached with calipers.

I still feel like I failed. And I'm heartbroken that I won't get to see Ginger's smile again. She was such a joyous girl - never had a bad day in her life. Always happy - sometimes irritatingly so - and never an ugly word to another dog. I am thankful that some of her progeny remain here - Gabe, Siren and Radar. We also have her pups born this past March that we will soon be evaluating seriously.

But nothing will ever replace our glorious, silver beauty.

Some Sad News

I received word this morning that the last of the dogs from my first litter has passed from this world. Kodi lived with a physics professor from a local university who at the time had several girls - so Kodi had his own personal "harem", although no one was ever bred. Kodi had an open, compound fracture of the femur as a 4-5 week old pup, and wore an external fixator device for several weeks. He healed well and no perceptible limp once grown. I chose to go on with his brother Freddi and placed Kodi with Richard after receiving glowing references from friends of ours.

He had a wonderful life, occasionally attending class and he and the girls traveling to a beautiful cabin in Colorado surrounded by pines. Daily walks with his harem in tow. Pictures can be found HERE.

I remember ages ago hearing from Richard that an April Fools' article was written about him naming a comet for the fawn colored fellow. And now today, he has gone. He was 12 years 9 months and one week old

Rest well Kodi. You had a wonderful life, and thanks to Richard for giving you such a fine home. You will be missed.

Farewell Wee One

Today's dreary weather (more thunderstorms interspersed throughout the day) seemed absolutely sunny compared to the sight that awaited me when I arrived home from work - our approaching-ancient Brussels Griffon, Heather, had passed away during the day. Heather was a rescue - so perhaps she was actually ancient instead of just approaching it. The more I think about it - the more I wonder if she may have personally known Noah. I had been curious about Brussels since seeing them at shows when I first began exhibiting Borzoi. Their little faces reminded me of the 1950s Wolfman I would catch glimpses of when staying up late at night in my high school years sneaking peeks at forbidden horror movies.

Heather was already an adult when she came to live with me. She used to have a torrid love affair with my male Borzoi Nigel - and he certainly thought she was the bee's knees. It was fascinating, in a train wreck kinda way, to watch them flirt and coo over each other. Heather would circle around his front legs, brushing up against him at times like a cat, her nubby tail going back and forth, and her head turned up towards him, sometimes licking at the air as if to say "C'mon big boy!"

The first signs of her aging were her eyes - clouding up and eventually getting a blueish cast. Then she started to lose a bit of her hearing - then pretty much all of it. A few years ago our vet's diagnosed an inoperable mass in her chest cavity - but she seemed comfortable enough. She had also started to accumulate a bit of fluid in her chest, so Lasix was prescribed. She looked like hell - but she was still truckin' along and cleaned up her dish every night. The senility seemed to set in, and she lost more of her sight, occasionally becoming lost in the yard when out to potty - just 10 feet from the door. But her bowl was always licked clean and she would at times, bark her displeasure at whatever unforgivable sound she may have heard.

Yesterday, the food was untouched. We talked about her options and if it was time to go ahead and assist her passing with a visit to the vet, since she no longer seemed to really be "there". I opted to wait another day...just in case she was having an "off day". But no...she was ready...and she took matters into her own little paws.

I guess we were thankful for the recent storms in that the ground was soft. Victor dug a hole in one of the little landscaped areas and she was laid to rest this evening. Now back with her beloved Nigel.