Bevd

I'm so exciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiteddddddddd. Ahem. What I wanted to add was that personally, I always ask to be 'matched' with someone from overseas, simply because part of the appeal (for me) is to be able to send and receive items that are probably not readily available here/there. It's great to be able to send my recipient typically british stuff (or a different type of toy/treat thats not on sale in US shops) and visa versa.

Can I reply to this from a (very) multi dog persons point of view? I've participated in every SS since whichever year I joined (feels like decades ago ) and I always have on my 'ticket' ALL my dogs names (thats 11 of them). They are not all greyhounds (four of them are this year). I have never ever ever expected a 'thing' in the package for each dog. The package arrives and whatever is in there is shared. We have always had really really lovely items in our packages (I'm currently drinking my coffee from a greyhound mug that arrived for me in the first years SS package) and the dogs have always enjoyed whichever toys or treats or other goodies made their way to our door. I'm just making the point that not everyone feels it necessary for every dog in their house to get their own specific gifts. We're just happy to participate and get giddy with excitement at both the planning our package to send and the receipt of the package that arrives from overseas.

I am *so* innnn

What a lovely tribute to your girl I'm very sorry to read about her passing On 13th July this year, I lost my four year old greyhound to bone cancer (in his case, a fibrosarcoma). I hope you'll take a very small amount of comfort from knowing that Skye will be rushing around up at The Bridge with my Maddison and all the others who went before and after - biding their time until we all meet again. And now, I've made myself cry

What a tragedy. I'm so sorry to hear about whats happened Night night sweet Hope. Send your Mummy a sign.

I'm so sorry to hear abour your gorgeous baby Zelda You know she'll be in good company up at The Bridge, whilst she waits for you to meet her again

I'm so sorry to read of Fudgie's sudden and unexpected passing to The Bridge

I miss her stories too. She was *such* a character The pics you've posted in this thread are all gorgeous but the ones which really made me giggle are her in her PJ's and her roaching in her mail Priceless.

Always remembered.

Thanks again everyone. I'm a bit worried because I've not had a sign yet

I'm so sorry to hear that Clover has had to leave you Play hard up there Clover, with Maddison & Lucky and all the others who would have been there to greet you.

I'm so sorry Abi. I had the pleasure of meeting Lucky this past weekend and she was a very beautiful and very happy girl. It's so unfair

19th July is your birthday Jessie. You would have been celebrating your 14th today. Just because you are no longer with us in body doesn't mean you're not with us in spirit and today we'll eat, drink and be merry as we think of you. I can imagine you up there in that green field, just this side of Heaven, stuffing your face with all manner of food from the trees and saying 'rarrrrrr' to anyone who has the misfortune to get in your way as you carry out one of your eating missions. I hope you are showing you know who where all the best treat trees are and that you allow him to have at least one sausage (grudgingly). I'm sending you a special ice lolly for you to make faces over Mummy x

I can finally write to express my sympathy. I had just started to reply to this thread on Wednesday and got as far as "I'm so sorry" when I had to rush from the computer to help Maddison. I am very sorry to hear of your loss. I'm sure Bailey would have been there to welcome Maddison when he arrived.

There were three pictures in the camera that I took yesterday afternoon and as I spent Maddisons life showing his pictures, I thought it only right that you see the final three (with Radar) Those don't show the way we'll remember him though. The way we'll remember him has to be more like this:-

Thank you all. As some of you will know, I wrote in Maddison's diary thread earlier this evening that 'something' felt different and I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Shortly after I wrote that, I had to help him onto the settee in the conservatory. He put his front legs on and I lifted his back end up and he stood, debating what to do. After a minute or so he lay down and I said to him "you're not going to be comfy laying like that because you're laying on your bad side". A few minutes later, he tried to reposition himself and he started to cry - not very loud but loud enough for me to know that he was hurting himself. He tried to get off the settee and I shouted for Marc to help. We closed ourselves into the conservatory so that none of the other dogs could come in and we had Maddison standing up - but we had to hold onto him or else he'd have fallen over onto his side. After a few minutes, he was able to stand unaided, but he couldn't (or wouldn't) walk at all. We debated what the hell to do. We didn't know whether to lift him onto the settee....but then what? We knew he couldn't just stand there and after about 10 minutes of him standing and us debating, we knew that we had to make the decision that was going to be best for Maddison. I phoned the vet at 8.35pm and explained the situation and we arranged to meet him at the surgery. Marc carried Maddison to the car and put him in the boot area (it's a hatchback) and we waited for him to lay down...but being Maddison, he didn't, so he stood up all the way to the vets with Marc driving very slowly and him teetering around....but still refusing to lay down. When we got to the vets, we had to wait a while for the vet to arrive so Marc and I sat in the boot chatting to Maddison and giving him instructions about who to look out for when he got to The Bridge and how we would be expecting him to send us a sign and we told him that we loved him of course and that we'd eat a lot of curry and think of him always. During this time, Maddison was quite happy and alert but that lousy leg with its lousy cancer was making it impossible for him to stay with us any longer. The vet arrived and Marc carried Maddison into the surgery. The transition to The Bridge was very quick, very painless and very peaceful. I knew it was a relief for Maddison. He must have been so tired but I never once during his illness did he complain. Not one single time. I've told this before but the time has come to tell it again. Maddison was our first greyhound. Marc and I had always liked the breed (although I did think they were a bit of a funny, skinny shape) but we'd been told by various organisations that greyhounds couldn't be homed with cats - so that ruled us out. However, when we were asked to help find homes for Maddison and his 11 littermates, we thought we'd cracked it - a greyhound puppy who could be brought up with cats. We brought him home when he was 9 weeks old - and the first thing he did when we began our journey home with him was to do a big pointy poo on the floor of the car followed by a lovely pile of puke. We should have known then what sort of dog this was going to be Maddison and his greyhound ways worked their way into our hearts very very quickly and within four months of bringing him home, we had failed at fostering our first retired greyhound (Wallace). Since then, we have added more of this wonderful breed to our happy family - and two of them (Del & Jessie) will have greeted Maddison at The Bridge this evening. Friends who had never thought of a greyhound as a pet have since adopted greyhounds since meeting ours or since seeing pictures of Maddison and his mates on the net. We know that our home and the homes of many of our friends will never be without a greyhound now. That's some legacy for Maddison to leave behind. I'll leave now with a few pictures of Maddison - a very special greyhound. Maddison Doyle 22/05/01 - 13/07/05

Maddison has left us for The Bridge tonight. I'll write more when I can.

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss Night night Eric

You know - sometimes, when we come across belongings unexpectedly, I often think it's our loved one popping in to let us know they're still around us and they're OK

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss Free was very beautiful - just the sort of dog I am drawn to

I'm so sorry to hear of Chip's passing

I've only just seen this I can't think of anything to say other than I'm so so sorry

I'm very sorry

I'm so sorry to read this Go peacefully on your journey Liz and wait patiently