This is a tribute to our Greyhound, Brody, who we lost to liver cancer three months ago. It has taken me a while to write this because it has been so difficult to lose four of our five dogs over the past three years; two in the past year. We continue to grieve.
We adopted Brody over seven years ago, from Greyhound Friends for Life (GFFL), NorCal, in September 2016, after we lost our Greyhound, Wilma, to Osteosarcoma, a few months prior. Barbara, from GFFL selected Brody for us. He was a big, goofy, sweet boy, rescued by super GFFL volunteers, from the horrendous race track in Tucson, AZ.
Brody was a big boy — the largest Greyhound we’ve ever had, at 75 lbs. We called him our, “Gentle Giant”. He truly was. He had a very excellent temperament, and was so easy going. He loved to play with tennis and doggy balls, and he loved to fetch. He would hide the balls in corners and behind objects in the yard so that the other dogs wouldn’t take them. He ran like the wind in our front and back yards. He ate like a horse and loved his treats. He was such a happy soul. His favorite place was on our sectional sofa, lying upside down, sleeping with a big grin on his face. As he grew older, sometimes he couldn’t hold it and would go into one of our bathrooms and aim to pee in one of our toilets. Hilarious!
He started to get picky about his food in October, 2021, and we knew that something wasn’t right. Later in the month, we took him in for an exam, then to a specialist, thinking something may be wrong with his heart. The ultrasound revealed that he had lesions on his liver, which indicated the very worst type of liver cancer that a dog can get. We ordered the recommended herbs to help support him, as we knew that this was best for him. Brody made it until mid-November. We went out for a bit for dinner. When we came home, he was lying by the Christmas tree, almost comatose. He had been bleeding from his mouth. We knew that it was time to let him go, so we called the emergency vet. They took him in right away and very gently and kindly put him to rest. We know that he would not have made it through the night.
We cried our eyes out that night and beyond. We so miss our big boy every day. A few days after his cremation, we received the plaque with his paw print and a few bits of his beautiful black and some white fur.
Since he left us, we adopted a beautiful Borzoi rescue from South Korea, Joy. She has helped heal our hearts from, yet another, loss of one of our beloved dogs.
Brody, we miss you so much. You were taken way too soon. You deserved to have more time here with us. But we know that you are in God’s loving arms, waiting for us to hug you once again, and to throw your favorite ball so that you can fetch it. We love you forever, sweet Brody.
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