MilliesMom

So very sorry. What a beautiful girl! (And she even let you put on a hat!!)

I've never heard of that paw print before. Lovely.

So sorry for your loss. Roo was very fortunate to have belonged to such a loving family.

My heart goes out to you. To have only a short time to love them and then to lose them so closely together is beyond words. I'm very sorry. Know that you did a mitzvah (a good deed) by providing wonderful, loving homes for them, even for such a brief time. Just for fun (and for comfort, I guess), I watch the Pet Psychic on Animal Planet. She said something last week that made me feel much better. (I'm mourning my Millie who passed 5 months ago.) She was counseling a lady who had lost her dog. The psychic said that the dog passed surrounded by love, and many animals don't. It may not make a difference to you, but to them, they lived with people who loved them while they were here and are mourning them now they're gone. For Rocky and Victor

I don't think you should be blinded by her age. Millie slowed down around 13, but she didn't seem to be on borrowed time until she was 14. She went to the Bridge 5 months ago today, 10 days before her 15th birthday. Every dog is different, just like every person is different. Appreciate her for what she is now. No, she's not a youngster, but that doesn't mean you won't necessarily have a few happy years together. When Millie started to slow down, I'd cry and start to mourn because I knew what was happening, and I was powerless to stop it. In your case, you've done a brave and wonderful thing by giving her a loving home. Just be there for her. The older I get, the more I know that we're ALL on borrowed time.

I feel the same way about Millie. I know that she lived a long life--I mean, she was nearly 15--and that she had a good home and that she's not hurting and that her spirit is always with me, but I can't see her and it hurts. I look at where she used to rest, and she's not there. All I can say is you're not alone. It's nothing less than a miracle the strength of the bond that joins us all, even after death.

Thank you, stickgoat.

Half of my dogs have been boys, half have been girls. Nearly all my cats have been female. I think we're all weary of getting any more boys because of the leg-lifting thing. It's okay if they're mostly outside dogs, but of course, greyhounds are totally inside. I heard boy greys are more the velcro-types. True? Millie used to wake us up, too. She'd put her nose right next to ours and start to roo to wake us up. It was hard getting a full night's sleep with her sometimes, though, even when she was younger. She'd be on a bunch of blankets next to me on the floor, and all of a sudden she'd startle and her claws would go onto the wallpaper and geez! What a noise! Then sometimes she'd go from room to room. I'd rubber band her tags together (her name/phone and rabies), but she'd still manage to make noise. One early morning, she shook, and one of her tags went flying across the room. As she got older, it got harder because she'd pant so loudly that I'd have to put a pillow over my head, and then she'd have to go out in the middle of the night, too. It was really hard on the two of us. People say it's hard to have puppies, but I think it's almost just as hard in another way to have an elderly dog with a health condition.

Thanks, Ms. Dash. What a sweet face your furbaby has!

Dash: You are very wise. I think it hasn't just been Mil, but facing my illness more alone. No matter how bad my day was, I'd get up and give her a big hug. (Just try doing it to a teenage boy!)

Strider Sis and lisa73-- Your words touched me greatly. Thank you. I've been doing much better since then because an angel did come into my life, but in a different way. I fell in love with a big boy with Millie's coloring (white and brindle) in Dallas. In fact, I posted his pix on another board as "A Face To Die For". It showed me that I actually could fall in love with another dog. I had been keeping in touch with his foster mom and really had considered bringing him 2 states over, but I knew I wasn't quite ready yet, and we really preferred a little girl like Millie. Anyway, I heard today that his foster mom may have found him a perfect home with a family that lost a grey to cancer last week. They have another dog (a female Aussie who's been depressed since her pal's death) and a pair of cats, and I'm thrilled for him. Of course, I'm a bit sad he's not coming here, but I still have his picture on my desk. His face captured my heart the minute I saw him, and I know that my girl will, too.

4hounds3Iggies and Houndmom Thank you for your kind words and sorry for your losses. A beautiful male in Dallas has caught my eye. We're in Phoenix, and we wanted a girl, but just looking at his pix and talking to his foster mom has been very therapeutic. I really love his coloring (white and brindle, like Millie.) When I began putting the Xmas things away, I looked at the couch and just new another grey would be there next year, and it no longer would be Millie's couch. BTW: If either of you know of a home with a female dog and they're looking for a super male, and they're in Texas, please have them go to look at Xpress on the Greyhounds Unlimited site. The guy was found wandering in a parking lot and really needs a forever home.

So very many! My condolences.

My deepest condolences on the loss of your special boy.

Thank you. Truffles is such a cute name!

I'm sorry about Grace. I know you're right. It's kind of like thinking of my Aunt Pearl. She lived by herself until the month before her 96th birthday. Then she got sick and went downhill, came up a bit, and then passed away. I've tried not to think of the last few months and focused on her washing her own floor when she was 90+, but I think the big difference is that I never saw her in pain.

Thank you for your kind words and sorry for your losses. I know I'm fortunate because I got to say goodbye but to feel so helpless and have both "my kids" in such pain was nearly unbearable. I think that perhaps I've been telling myself that I've got to have another dog now because I'm in pain emotionally without her. Maybe the thing to do is let nature take its course. I'm okay for a few days, and then it floods back. Having both your "kids" grow up at the same time and then have them "leave" about the same time (Millie die, Steven getting ready to go off to college) is empty nest, plain and simple. It just makes everything else more complicated.

It's been 4 months since we've lost Millie, and still, everytime I watch Animal Planet and hear a dog scream or see one that's sick or injured or one that might be fine but not physically perfect, I find myself just shaking inside. (I don't go for Emergency Vets or anything, but this just happens to come up every once-in-awhile in their usual shows.) Just seeing dogs is therapeutic, but the night before we had to have Millie put to sleep, she started screaming at the top of her lungs and wouldn't stop. It was just awful. When my son and I got her into the car for the emergency vet's, she'd emit these blood-curdling screams, and she'd only quiet down for a few minutes. My 17-year-old son was sobbing as he held her in the backseat and pleaded with her to stop. We had her for over 13 years, and I would think that by now, I wouldn't be so affected, but that's not what's happened at all. On one hand, I like playing with other people's dogs and reading other people's posts and looking at greys available for adoption, but if I were to get one soon and something happened, I don't know how I'd react. Had Milllie not had such a traumatic couple of hours before she was on an IV for pain, it wouldn't have be so bad since I've lost about a dozen pets before. I've never felt so helpless with one of my furkids. Any advice?

Thank you for posting such a memorable tribute. My sincerest condolences.

He was a beautiful boy. These osteocarcinoma stories are simply heartbreaking. I've only had one grey who went to the Bridge from old age, and until coming here, I had no idea that so many greys developed this type of cancer. Although I want another grey when the time is right (Millie died 4 months ago), all this talk of osteocarcinoma makes me nervous.

My sincerest condolences. I'm sure you were very special to her, too.

She must have been so special to you. Millie only could be a therapy dog because of her sweet presence. She went to the Bridge in August and it was hard this season. I only can imagine how difficult it is for you. My sincerest condolences.

Aw, cuties. Sorry for your losses.

Happy New Year's, all! I simply felt that I couldn't be really happy. All I kept thinking of was: a/My Millie had now died LAST year; and b/my son was going off to college THIS year. Talk about empty nest...

My sympathies to all of you. Our picture of our latest Bridgekid, Millie, wearing her reindeer antlers (which she hated for all of the 3 seconds we'd make her wear them!) is on the fridge. This is the first Xmas in 13 years that she hasn't been here, and it hurts. Her favorite bear is wearing a big gold bow, though, and is perched on Millie's favorite side of the couch. I'll never forget our other pooches: Daisy Mae, Duke, Ginger, Elke, Heathcliff (aka Little Heath), and his parents, Tasha and Ringo (aka Ding). Nor will I ever forget our cats: Boo-boo and her boyfriend Merlin, Sylvester, Captain Hook, Snooks, Whitey, and my first kitty, Tiger, who was hit by a truck and died in the veterinary hospital on Xmas Day.