Hello – after a long time

[Vally]

Ha ha, I’m glad you were finally able to outwit her. Yes, I think every single one of us who has been touched by this disease will always be over protective and over cautious.

xxx

[Sheena]

Well, long time since I posted too! Just to let you know we adopted two ex-racing greyhounds from Levriers en Detresse here in France. They came from the UK (Retired Greyhound Trust) – us British should be truly ashamed of ourselves at how many of these beautiful dogs are killed, sold for vivisection or exported to China & elsewhere for a life of absolute misery, painful death. I was COMPLETELY ignorant of just how bad things are, so the least we could do was adopt a couple. Star is 3 in April – she is the black girlie – Nancy is the white & black girlie & will be 5 in April. They have both waited a long time for a home & are settling in slowly.

The house was horrible without Ollie & Worzel – I bet they would have fallen in love with these two beauties – we certainly have! Nancy is quite a chilled out lass, but is NUTS when she wakes up! Star is quite nervous, despite being very friendly greeting people. She needs a lot of coaxing to get her confidence going, bless her. I am truly amazed at how well they have adapted to being in a house after only being in a kennel & caged.

Our hearts are still broken after losing our boys, but having two sweethearts to help heal the pain is wonderful.

Lynda – I am also off my rocker about vaccinations – it’s hard to get your head round things after what happened. Nancy & Star will follow Jean Dodds protocol only. We had to get their initial piroplasmosis vaccinations done – Star had a reaction – stiff & sore – just like Ollie used to. Needless to say, I was pretty upset, even though I know this happens to some dogs. It’s a nasty disease in this area, as our ticks are rife with it, so is a necessary evil as I know a couple of people whose dogs almost died from it – we are a red zone for infection. But I still fret – frantic with worry. She was fine after a dose of metacam (one hour recovery ) same as Ollie was. Phew!

Hope I-Nam is doing great, Lynda. You have a heart of gold & she could never find a better home than yours.

Love to all, especially my dear friends Vally & Saba, Linda & Sadie, and anyone else who remembers us

Sheena, Nancy Fancy Pants & Twinkle Twinkle SuperStar xxxxxx
Uploading photos in a minute

 

 

[Vally]

Nancy and Star

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[Vally]

Sheena, thank you for sharing your lovely girls. They are such beautiful girlies and so very very lucky to have found their home with you and Phil.

Vally & Saba
xxx

[Lynda Birke]

Hi Sheena – how fantastic to meet your two new girls! They look wonderful. Nancy in the morning sounds like she charges around – that is just what Honey used to do, throwing the dog beds into the air in the process.
Sadly, though, we lost our beloved Dora while we were on holiday. Thank goodness our son and his girlfriend were here to be with her. She was fine one day, just old. Then she went off her food and declined rapidly; our vet said to take her to the hospital. But the hospital phoned me and said she was unlikely to make it through the night – and she passed over a few hours later. We were devastated. It seems like it was kidney failure (though there were no signs before that) perhaps because she was old. At least it was very quick. Needless to say, the other two miss her as much as we do

It looks like Nancy and Star have a fantastic home; and thank you for rescuing greyhounds. They do indeed have an absolutely dreadful time.
lots of love – and enjoy the new arrivals!
Lynda & Consuelo xxxx

[Sheena]

Hi Lynda & dear Consuelo too,

We are terribly sad to hear about Dora & send our love to you both. Losing them hurts so much. I think we all “appreciate” that old age is a bonus for our dear animals, but we miss them dreadfully, regardless of age. It gets to the stage when there really is nothing more we can do & we have to let go. I am glad you had your son & girlfriend looking after her – a huge comfort to you both, plus Dora having a long, comfortable & happy life of course.

Knowing you, you will be adopting again …….. can’t seem to stop ourselves, can we?! We adore greyhounds – gentle souls – except ungentle clumper Nancy in the morning!!!!!

Keep in touch when you can & take good care, all of you
Love
Sheena, Phil, Nancy & Star xxxxxx

PS A massive thank you to Vally (my dear friend who keeps me sane with my IMHA paranoia) for putting the photos on.

[Lynda Birke]

Oh yes, Sheena, we will be adopting another friend for Bella and I Nam soon. We are waiting until we have visited Germany in a couple of weeks time (horses again…). After that….. big decisions….. local rescues? Candy Cane (who rescue greyhounds from the jaws of hell in China)? Galgos del Sol (who rescue greyhounds from awful fates in Spain…)? Dear me, what a decision…..
Yes, we miss Dora dreadfully, but do take comfort in the fact that she had a wonderful 10 years with us. We got back from Mexico in time to collect her ashes from the crematorium…… that was so hard. But now she is in the summerhouse, with several others – including, of course, Honey and Shona. I say hello to them all when I go past to shut the chickens up at night.
Do keep in touch and let us know how your new babies are doing! They look so at home already!

love,
Lynda & Consuelo xx

[Sheena]

Ooooh Lynda – the lady we got our greyhounds through (Cathy Madry of Levriers-en-detresse.org) goes to China with Kerry Elliman of Candy Cane (Birmingham Greyhound Rescue) – they are good friends indeed & brave ladies to see such suffering. I heard from Cathy some terrible things which stopped me sleeping for days & photos I can’t unsee. Galgos are also in dire need, but not in such huge numbers as greyhounds. Whichever you decide on, you are saving an angel. We did think about galgos too, but they can jump really high, unlike greyhounds who run very fast & don’t jump to that extent – Cathy’s website shows the galgos enclosures with netting over the top! Not so, the greyhounds. Interesting differences in the breeds actually, that I didn’t know about beforehand. Anyway, our “choice” was made by our shock at sheer numbers of greyhounds plus Aunty Cathy’s advice – 2 greyhounds – she has both breeds, plus podencos & romanian rescues too.

We are all snuggled our respective beds, comfy & quiet …… until Nancy’s morning exuberance of course!

Please have a great time in Germany with the horses & show us the new adoptee (s) when you decide – take good care

Sheena, Phil & the girlies xxxxxx