Post by sassysmom on Jan 6, 2014 13:47:00 GMT -5
We are sad to share the news of the recent passing of our dear whippet Malachi. He was known to some of you when we attended the Greyhound walks at Springbank park and the annual picnics. We went to see Bill in the summer of 2006 on the advice of Jim & Kathy (owners of many greys) and we found Sassy (aka Palmer's Sassy).
She displayed many of the same traits as Malachi so we chose her as a companion for him.
We chose Malachi from a litter of 7 pups. He was literally the "middle child" of the family. He came home with us in Sept 2000 and took his place as a member of our family. He was the official greeter when we arrived home with our first born son in 2001. He laid constantly at his side and played along with him as he grew. They were best friends.
Malachi had the most gentle demeanour in a dog and we loved that about him. He was kind to all those he met, both human & canine and he loved attention. He was motivated mostly by food & treats, not so much by praise but that's what kept it fun for him.
He took a while to accept a new canine (Sassy) in to our home. He demonstrated this by sleeping on his dog bed outside our bedroom where he knew she could not go. He gradually changed his mind about her and moved to our TV room but he remained on a chair or couch and Sassy stayed on a comforter on the floor. It was beautiful to see them grow old together.
We noticed a change in him early last year. He was not responding to us..My husband would use the phrase "cut your nails" and he would promptly leave the room to escape the clippers. One day when he said it, Malachi stood in front of him like he was ignoring him but we continued to speak and he didn't respond to us.
We immediately scheduled a vet appt to have the deafness confirmed. It was also discovered in the blood work that he had early stage kidney disease. We invested in heart meds, special diet food and at one point a steroid to induce appetite.
He held his own for some time but started to deteriorate in December. He continued to lost weight and have less energy and had lost interest in his favourite things. Sadly, our family didn't get much attention from him but he still allowed us to sit close and cuddle and hug him when we wanted.
His final checkup on New Year's eve morning brought very bad news. The kidneys were in chronic failure and no amount of home cooked meals and meds would keep him going. He was not going to survive much longer.
We made the informed, heartbreaking decision to have him put down on Jan 2 so he would no longer have to suffer and lose any quality of life that was left in him. We were joined by our oldest son to say our goodbyes. It was very tearful and emotional for all of us and difficult to comprehend that he had to leave us after 13 years. He was our very first dog and we loved him deeply. We miss him every day.
We are still happy to have our Sassy girl. We feel that she has noticed his absence but we don't know to what degree. She will be 13 in May and we are so glad that she and Malachi had each other for company.
Jodie, John, Cameron, Caleb & Sassy girl
She displayed many of the same traits as Malachi so we chose her as a companion for him.
We chose Malachi from a litter of 7 pups. He was literally the "middle child" of the family. He came home with us in Sept 2000 and took his place as a member of our family. He was the official greeter when we arrived home with our first born son in 2001. He laid constantly at his side and played along with him as he grew. They were best friends.
Malachi had the most gentle demeanour in a dog and we loved that about him. He was kind to all those he met, both human & canine and he loved attention. He was motivated mostly by food & treats, not so much by praise but that's what kept it fun for him.
He took a while to accept a new canine (Sassy) in to our home. He demonstrated this by sleeping on his dog bed outside our bedroom where he knew she could not go. He gradually changed his mind about her and moved to our TV room but he remained on a chair or couch and Sassy stayed on a comforter on the floor. It was beautiful to see them grow old together.
We noticed a change in him early last year. He was not responding to us..My husband would use the phrase "cut your nails" and he would promptly leave the room to escape the clippers. One day when he said it, Malachi stood in front of him like he was ignoring him but we continued to speak and he didn't respond to us.
We immediately scheduled a vet appt to have the deafness confirmed. It was also discovered in the blood work that he had early stage kidney disease. We invested in heart meds, special diet food and at one point a steroid to induce appetite.
He held his own for some time but started to deteriorate in December. He continued to lost weight and have less energy and had lost interest in his favourite things. Sadly, our family didn't get much attention from him but he still allowed us to sit close and cuddle and hug him when we wanted.
His final checkup on New Year's eve morning brought very bad news. The kidneys were in chronic failure and no amount of home cooked meals and meds would keep him going. He was not going to survive much longer.
We made the informed, heartbreaking decision to have him put down on Jan 2 so he would no longer have to suffer and lose any quality of life that was left in him. We were joined by our oldest son to say our goodbyes. It was very tearful and emotional for all of us and difficult to comprehend that he had to leave us after 13 years. He was our very first dog and we loved him deeply. We miss him every day.
We are still happy to have our Sassy girl. We feel that she has noticed his absence but we don't know to what degree. She will be 13 in May and we are so glad that she and Malachi had each other for company.
Jodie, John, Cameron, Caleb & Sassy girl