I am writing with the sad sad sad news that our beautiful darling, quirky, foppish baby cuddling Ezra was put to sleep yesterday. He was 13 years and 7 months. Devastating decision to make but his condition and quality of life dropped off so quickly last week it felt like the kindest thing – and the vet agreed when they came to our house. He went to sleep peacefully for the last time yesterday afternoon having his ears rubbed.
We brought Ramon home from TIA on his 4th Birthday (6th May). We’d seen him in Hebden Bridge and then picked him up from Wroot. He was in the overflow barn in a crate and looked so very sad there was hardly any light in his eyes. We were so worried about him we brought him back for you to check him over because we thought he had mange (turned out us rookie owners didn’t know what a kennel coat was!!) But we continued to want him to be happy so we picked up Lumin for some girl company a few months later. He never changed, he was always his own dog – didn’t feel the need to please you, rarely wagged his tail – but we knew he was happy from the light that had come back on in his eyes and the way he roached and let his tum be rubbed (often). He had a 50 yard stare – usually through the glass doors to the sitting room when you were in his spot on the sofa. And he was really very clever at creating a diversion to get you up and then he’d be in like flyn! Clever boy, he knew what he wanted. He bit my daughter twice – she didn’t learn her lesson the first time!
He taught my kids the value of caring for something before themselves, to respect him when sleeping and to enjoy the lovely walks and adventures we went on. We never made it back to his native Ireland (we talked about going often) but we managed beaches in Wales and Scotland where he ran and lolloped like a fairy in the sea. He was never any good at running, much better at finding a sofa or bed in super quick time. We loved him – he was our first greyhound. Thank you for letting us take him, he was at the heart of our family and the kids (now 14 and 17) are bereft.
We still have Blanche (now Nikita – Miss December!) with her bionic hip who is now able to take full advantage of 100% of cuddles.
The photo is when we went on a road trip to the Outer Hebrides and if you zoom in you can truly see what peace looks like on a greyhound face.
