my lurcher leo crossed the bridge last thursday. he would have been 14 in june.
i adopted leo from a rescue centre when he was 18 months old. he had been taken there 4 months previously by his 'owner' who then lied through her teeth about him. said he couldn't be left alone as he howled. said he hated cats. said he was terrible at travelling in the car.
leo proved to be none of these things. he lived happily alongside 2 rabbits and a various number of cats. he would curl up on the back seat of the car and i wouldn't hear a peep out of him for the whole journey.
after quickly discovering from leo's fear of being in the back garden, that he had been left outside for a considerable time, that he did have some issues with being left at home.
he would chew up any items not nailed down. i remember that i had started leaving him for short periods of time. about the 3rd time i came home and he was not at the door to greet me. however, the cot mattress i had left for him was in a million pieces on the hall carpet! leo was at the top of the stairs looking terrified. his tail between his legs, looking at me as if to say 'go on then, hit me.' this dog would flinch if you so much as scratched your head. he had been hit i would think many times.
it took me around 2 years of mass destruction on leo's part and me just picking up the remenants and saying 'what did you do?' to sort out the problem. he was so terribly insecure. we got there in the end though. the occasional item would be left in the middle of the lounge floor undamaged, but a reminder to me of the distance we had traveled together.
i have many, many stories particularly around stealing food. right up to the end leo had a fantastic appetite. food = love to him.
sadly the nature of lurchers and greyhounds mean they put an incredible amount of stress on their hip joints. for the last 18 months leo's back legs have deterioated quite massively. he has also been in kidney failure for the same amount of time. he has remained happy and his spirit was strong.
last week he collapsed while he was out in the garden. he was panting and obviously in some discomfort. at nearly 14 he was unable to walk more than a few paces without dragging his back legs. i had to make a decision for my friend.
wednesday was a bad day for leo, he collapsed each time he went outside. i stayed up with him all night but he was reluctant to even try to go out. he did make it out around 7.30 thursday morning. the rest of the morning was spent lying on his blanket while i cuddled him and fed him all his favourite things, cat biscuits and dog chocolate. i know he was happy, his eye (he had the other eye removed 7 years ago due to cancer) was bright and he responded normally to me. barking for more food.
the vet arrived at 11.20 and my faithful friend, my silly, scruffy, funny lurcher fell asleep in my arms hearing soft voices saying goodbye.
it was as perfect as i could have imagined, so peaceful but the house is quiet and empty without him. dylan, my border collie misses him as much as i do.
RIP leo, janet, sinbad, daisy and thomas are with you now.
i adopted leo from a rescue centre when he was 18 months old. he had been taken there 4 months previously by his 'owner' who then lied through her teeth about him. said he couldn't be left alone as he howled. said he hated cats. said he was terrible at travelling in the car.
leo proved to be none of these things. he lived happily alongside 2 rabbits and a various number of cats. he would curl up on the back seat of the car and i wouldn't hear a peep out of him for the whole journey.
after quickly discovering from leo's fear of being in the back garden, that he had been left outside for a considerable time, that he did have some issues with being left at home.
he would chew up any items not nailed down. i remember that i had started leaving him for short periods of time. about the 3rd time i came home and he was not at the door to greet me. however, the cot mattress i had left for him was in a million pieces on the hall carpet! leo was at the top of the stairs looking terrified. his tail between his legs, looking at me as if to say 'go on then, hit me.' this dog would flinch if you so much as scratched your head. he had been hit i would think many times.
it took me around 2 years of mass destruction on leo's part and me just picking up the remenants and saying 'what did you do?' to sort out the problem. he was so terribly insecure. we got there in the end though. the occasional item would be left in the middle of the lounge floor undamaged, but a reminder to me of the distance we had traveled together.
i have many, many stories particularly around stealing food. right up to the end leo had a fantastic appetite. food = love to him.
sadly the nature of lurchers and greyhounds mean they put an incredible amount of stress on their hip joints. for the last 18 months leo's back legs have deterioated quite massively. he has also been in kidney failure for the same amount of time. he has remained happy and his spirit was strong.
last week he collapsed while he was out in the garden. he was panting and obviously in some discomfort. at nearly 14 he was unable to walk more than a few paces without dragging his back legs. i had to make a decision for my friend.
wednesday was a bad day for leo, he collapsed each time he went outside. i stayed up with him all night but he was reluctant to even try to go out. he did make it out around 7.30 thursday morning. the rest of the morning was spent lying on his blanket while i cuddled him and fed him all his favourite things, cat biscuits and dog chocolate. i know he was happy, his eye (he had the other eye removed 7 years ago due to cancer) was bright and he responded normally to me. barking for more food.
the vet arrived at 11.20 and my faithful friend, my silly, scruffy, funny lurcher fell asleep in my arms hearing soft voices saying goodbye.
it was as perfect as i could have imagined, so peaceful but the house is quiet and empty without him. dylan, my border collie misses him as much as i do.
RIP leo, janet, sinbad, daisy and thomas are with you now.
