DOGS

Meg, Shadow and Merlin, the greyhound/border collie lurcher and two smooth collies are all large dogs and most people think we are crazy to have aquired them. However, all of them are taken for runs in the local Cheshire countryside most days and the hiking is good for us. Although family members, they have become accustomed to staying in kennels so our holidays and other trips, although more expensive, are not interrupted. Shadow's dominance has made him a difficult dog to train, but he and the others are now well behaved. They are registered as PAT (pets as therapy) dogs and we regularly visit a day centre nursing home.

On 17 April 2009 Meg had to be euthanised. Her breathing had become progressively worse due to closing of the breathing valve. She still wanted to run but soon started gasping. The Vet believed she would have a good chance of recovering from a standard operation whereby a 'flap' in the valve is stiched open. She did indeed make a rapid recovery over the first 3 days, but then suffered a critical collapse of the spine. Meg had now to be kept sedated because of the extreme pain and we quickly came to the conclusion that she should be put to sleep. She was 13.

On 16 June 2010 Shadow died. We had recently entered one of the woods during a routine walk and both dogs had been behaving normally since leaving the car. Looking round for Shadow, who normally ran in front, I noticed he was behind me and walking slowly. He wasn't limping but, as a precaution, I attached his lead and headed back to the car. Part way back, he insisted on sitting and a few seconds later, lay down and started to whimper in pain. Merlin recognised what was happening and went down and cried with him for a few seconds before Shadow died. It was a moving experience for me!
Fortunately, two friends came into view a few minutes later and they helped me to carry Shadow back to the car. I took him directly to the vet, who confirmed that Shadow must have died of heart failure. He was 8.

On 2 August 2010 a litter of 7 was born to greyhond Meg and greyhound cross border collie Kubla Khan at Hancock, the lurcher breeder. Having previously specified a bitch, It took us several weeks and 3 visits to decide whether to have the red merle or the brindle coated pup. However, the decision was made and, on 28 September, we brought home the brindle, whom we later decided to name Bracken. After a couple of weeks Merlin became attached to his new house friend and couldn't live without her now.

A good start

Geyser in Iceland

Cheeky elephant