Saying goodbye to Angel

A week ago we said goodbye to our sweet Angel.  She developed a sarcoma in her mouth, and we could  not manage her pain.  As you can guess it was hard.  We knew when we agreed to take Angel that she was 10 years old and we were her retirement home.  Her life had been a series of kennels and handlers.  She had to be obedient, her weight was monitored, she had to do whatever was expected of her all the time.  Her life was one of work and constant movement.

At first we were just another in a long line of places she had been deposited.  Being petted and cuddled were not normal to her.  The treats were nice, but you could tell she kept waiting to have to work for that morsel.  Slowly, she began to settle into her life as a pampered pet.  She learned to expect warm blankets on demand and nightly cuddling.  Her new pack mates learned that you can never catch a whippet.  Retirement got good to her.  Everywhere she went she was adored.  Angel found home.

We are missing her quiet present and deep soul searching gazes.  Her few years  with us were just not enough.  Wishing our sweet Angel a good journey to a place where she always catches the bunny and the treats are endless.

Angel Stays

Some have heard already, but just so everyone knows Angel is no longer a foster dog, she is home.  Natalie and I decided to keep her.  She is a very sweet dog, so how could we not keep her.  I must admit having her here is different for me.  I realize that I truly am a cat person.  But I keep saying to Angel, just because I am a cat person it doesn't mean I am not an Angel person too. 

Angel's life is very different with us.  She does not live in kennels, but on my futon.  We walk in parks together and she gets to go to my knitting group with me.  I have been going to this group for years now and I have no assigned seating.  However, Angel has her own spot on the couch.  She is much made over by the group and she patiently lets all of us faun over her. 

Natalie has even went as far as knitting her a sweater.  Whippets get chilly and a sweater for her is a must. I am sure there will be more sweaters being knit for her in the future. 

Angel the Whippet Or Crazy Cat Lady No More

As I have blogged about in the month of June I lost my cat, Dante.  I  losing him has been hard, but being catless has been even harder.  I have had cats since 1985.  I have no desire to go back to having 8 cats, but lack of feline companionship is a little lonely.  However, I decide to take some time off from having cats, losing them is just so painful. 

That said, Natalie and I were talking about the possibility of adding another dog to our household for me.  I want to stress the word talking.  My wife is not one to let the sunset on a problem and with that idea and a conversation with her mother she came up with a solution.  The solution was to take in a retired show dog from her mother's kennel.

Things went very quickly and suddenly I have Angel, a 10 year old whippet.  I have not agreed to keep her, I have agreed to foster her for 13 weeks before we make the decision if she stays.  Angel is a very well behaved and sweet dog.  I have yet to hear her bark and she comes immediately when called.  I walk her in the evenings and she never pulls at the leash and always heels to the left.  In other words she is a good dog. 

Please don't think badly of me for this, but after 2 weeks with Angel, I realize I am a cat person.  I have 11 weeks to get use to co-habituating with a dog.  I want to say to you, I will get there.  I do.  I just don't know.  Maybe I was just born to be a crazy cat lady, wish me luck in changing my cat loving ways.