Dog Blog: Thank You….

20th January 2012

Lynx dictated his diary to me on the night before he died - I haven't the heart to publish (yet) but he had a lot to say about why he needed such a big bath when he'd only rolled in such a little poo!

This is a heartfelt “thank you” to all those people who’ve been in touch since we published the news of Lynx’s tragic demise – we’ve been overwhelmed by the sympathy and support that we’ve been offered – it means the world to us. We had an astonishing 1000+ hits on the blog in just a few days – we’ve had nigh on 200 messages of condolence via the various social media that Lynx was involved with (he was very talented!). We’ve even heard from his fans in Australia!

Greygal wryly commented that the rainbow bridge has broadband, and that the hits were from Lynx, checking what people were saying about him! He would certainly have been flattered (insofar as dogs understand these concepts – better expressed in sausages rather than words really).

Your words of comfort have consoled us enormously, even as they have astounded us with the scale of our loss – I don’t know how we’re all going to manage without Lynx’s diary.

Many of the messages have made us smile – we particularly like the thought that Lynx, like many superstars, lived fast, died young and left his fans wanting more – it’s one way for us to make sense of what’s happened.

The last week has been excruciating – although we can console ourselves that Lynx had the best possible life (and death, arguably), the painful reality of his absence is acute and dreadful. Lou and Ty are coping well – on Monday they spent the day upstairs in bed but on Tuesday they took it in turns to sit downstairs with me. Looking after me is obviously exhausting work because they arranged a ‘shift change’ every hour or so, with the off-duty dog running upstairs immediately to catch up on their snoozing. Tuesday must have been so tiring, in fact, that they’ve given up on it and gone back to their more or less permanent snoozing mode 🙂

Moving on……

Now, we’ve always said that we have a solemn obligation to rehome a rescue dog if it’s within our capability – there are just too many needy hounds out there for us not to…..

Being wrapped in a blanket by a warm radiator with a slice of pizza was some compensation for the whole b-a-t-h debacle....

So, taking nothing away from our love and grief for Lynx, should we consider going back up to a pack of three?

First of all we want to see how Ty, in particular, adapts to the new situation – will he stay the same, will he come out of his shell, will he relax more without a top boy to spur him on (obviously Lou is still THE top girl) – we really don’t know. Then what do we do – go out and seek a dog or wait for fate to take a hand – goodness knows there are enough sad hound stories to snare us. Will we find another hound that will take to boating and cope with our summer cruising lifestyle – or is that not a worry – after all, Greygal has found eight!?

I’m afraid that I feel a bit fatalistic after Lynx’s untimely death (coming so soon after Blue’s) – it will be a while before I stop prodding the sleeping Lou and Ty to check that they’re still breathing (much to their annoyance). And this is the rub – how can we even contemplate taking on another hound, to whom we will eventually have to say goodbye, when the pain of losing Lynx has nigh on broken me (As Bruce in Sanity so aptly quoted)?

It may take a while to find the right hound (not a replacement – you can never replace them – they’re all unique) – when people go to rescue kennels they might ask for a particular breed of dog, colour, size, age, temperament – but we’ll be asking whether they can write and whether they’ve shown any trace of literary talent……

If Lynx’s life has inspired you to take on a greyhound then we are looking here and here – they have already suggested that we look at Ben and Alex plus they have a great collection of girls (Richard being a sucker for blues liked Lola) but would Lou let a girl in? Do also look on the Retired Greyhound Trust site both for links to RGT Branches closer to you and also for dogs available for re-homing.

Note about the rainbow bridge:

Many comments we’ve had mention the “rainbow bridge” – it’s a comforting thought. For those not in the know here’s the ‘poem’ at the heart of it – the author is unknown so I hope they won’t mind my reproducing it here:

Rainbow Bridge

There is a bridge connecting heaven and earth
It is called Rainbow Bridge because of its many colours

Just this side of the Rainbow Bridge there is a land of meadows,
hills, valleys with lush green grass

When a beloved pet dies, the pet goes to this special place
There is always food and water and warm spring weather

The old and frail are young again
Those who are maimed are made whole again

They play all day with each other
There is only one thing missing

They are not with their special person who loved them on Earth
So each day they run and play until the day comes
when one suddenly stops playing and looks up !

The nose twitches !
The ears are up !
The eyes are staring !
And this one suddenly runs from the group !

You have been seen, and when you and your special friend meet,
you take him or her into your arms and embrace
your face is kissed again and again,
and you look once more into the eyes of your trusting pet

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together, never again to be separated