Monday, March 4, 2013

Unexpected departures

Within the span of a week I have learned of the passing of two sighthounds that I have chanced to photograph: one Greyhound (Arrow), and one Saluki (Parker). Both died unexpectedly.

Arrow was a Greyhound that I met after he'd been returned to Fastfriends in 2011 because of food-aggression issues that became too much for his initial adopter (who loved him very much) to overcome. He was a striking brindle boy -- maybe I should say "half-brindle" because he carried most of what little stripes he had on his left side. His head was split right down the middle: stripes on the left half, nothing on the right.


He went to the foster home of a long-standing volunteer, who diligently worked on his issues. Eventually, the volunteer adopted him to add to her pack.

It was today when I saw a picture of Arrow roaching for the camera that in the caption were the words "final picture." I was puzzled at first, then I realized and understood what she was saying, although I did not (and do not now) know the circumstances of what happened to him. The suddenness of his passing took my breath away. His stay in his new home was much too short, but I try to dwell on the fact that he was home and with people who loved him.

Parker was a Saluki that I am pretty sure I had seen at a previous Solvang Greyhound gathering. His owner introduced herself to me last year, and reintroduced herself to me this year. She told me that she was writing a travel piece about the gathering for the website Dogster, and so asked me for permission to use some of the photos that I was to take during the Gathering. I had photographed Parker being blessed by Fr. Gerald Barron of Santa Ines Mission in Solvang during the Blessing of the Hounds on Friday:


Later that afternoon, at the pizza dinner, Parker and his owner sat close to us. I grabbed a few shots of him as he was curled up on the grass underneath the party tent where we all ate:


He was a little shy and kept to himself.

Towards the end of last week I was told that a few days after returning from Solvang, Parker had died from hemangiosarcoma. He was full of cancer, but he gave no outward sign that he was in trouble. His owner will still write her travel piece, only now it has turned into a remembrance story. Perhaps a couple of my pictures will accompany her article in Dogster.

I've been thinking tonight about these two. Perhaps there is some comfort in that their passings were short, but I think that it is small comfort nonetheless. There are two big holes in two different households now, and though there will be others to take their place, their holes will not be filled.

13 comments:

  1. Such sad news and yesterday we lost Remington. We will say a little pray for all the people they leave behind.
    Best wishes Molly

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    1. i am sorry to hear that about remington, molly. and thank you.

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  2. Hate such sad news! We have had a rash of dogs we know die very recently. Just when we think it is over, we get another call that someone suddenly lost their pup. Stop it, just stop it!

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    1. whether they come in ones-and-twos, or in a bunch, it stings.

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  3. I got to know Parker and his mom during the Solvang weekend ... he was such a sweet boy ... bravely hiding his suffering. None of us had any idea. Fly free, Parker.

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    1. i chatted a bit with cori about the article she wanted to write. i never really got close to parker -- it looked to me like i would've just made him uncomfortable.

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  4. What beautiful pictures of both Arrow and Parker. I know their families will treasure them. My deepest sympathy to all who loved them.

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    1. thanks, lori. both of them taken much, much too soon.

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  5. Such lovely photos. This has not been a good year for the hounds. I hope the trend changes very soon. I love the markings on the brindle baby. Amazing how it does look like they are split down the middle.

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    1. it was a distinguishing characteristic of him. i think i only saw him two or three times. i remember how hard his first owner tried to make it work for her. he was even in a music video (although the band's name escapes me now). she felt like a failure for not being able to work through arrow's food aggression, but she really did the right thing in returning him to the adoption group.

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  6. There's no good way to lose a loved one, regardless of who and what it is. They were both gorgeous dogs and we are thinking of those who loved them tonight!

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    1. thanks, carrie. more than the usual number of losses lately. i am sometimes haunted by the photos i've taken of those no longer here. i hope my pictures did them justice.

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  7. Just happened to see the Arrow tag admiring other work, Steve. Thank you for the sweet words about him. When I had a cat, it was just me and the cat, and I rarely heard about the health of any other cats. Adopting a greyhound brought me into a community of many hundreds of people and many more dogs. Who knew the side effect was going to be so many more tears?

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