It's hard to pinpoint when it was when we fell in love with the greyhound breed, but chances are, it was pretty much love at first sight when Camaro entered into our lives. We had thought about adopting a grey several years before, but got a bit nervous to the idea when visiting a racing kennel near Memphis. We didn't come back around to thinking about greys until we mourned the loss of our sweet Pug, Stella. After several months of reflection, we went and visited a Meet and Greet booth at one of our local pet stores where we met a very gentle grey with her owner. We talked for many days and weeks afterwards and started the process of searching through the Greyhound Pets of America chapter in Wisconsin. After some initial interviews, we looked through the adoptable dogs and selected a few. While Camaro wasn't our first choice, he was the best fit for us and our other doggie when we visited him at the kennel. We began the adoption process with him and shortly afterwards, were able to bring him into our lives and home.
We had lots of great times with him and made a lot of memories. Some of my favorites are when he would get excited over nothing in particular and run around in circles in the living room. Whenever the fire sirens would sound, he would sing along with his signature "roo" and make all of us laugh. He always loved to take road trips, sticking his nose in the open window, all the while filling the car up with his noxious gasses. His favorite treats were marshmallows, gobbling them up whenever we'd give them out, especially the giant campfire kind. No matter the occasion, no matter the day, he would always enjoy the attention and preferred to lay down to get his loving. We would be amused by how he got along with other animals, namely dogs that weren't greyhounds. It was almost as if he developed an attitude that other breeds that were beneath the stately hound. While nuzzling up to other greys and accepting them in his area was the norm, when he met up with a beagle, lab, or smaller toy dog, his hair would stand up and let out a gutteral sound that meant he didn't like them around. But above all that, he was a gentle giant who loved being in our family.
Just a few weeks ago, he began limping and having difficulty getting around. While we initially dismissed it as being a sore muscle from sleeping or something like that, it didn't really become too much of an issue for him. We brought him in for his annual checkup and thought he would just need some pain medicine to help him until the muscle or tendon healed up. Last week, however, it became much worse to the extent that just getting up from the lying position was difficult. I brought him in and was hit with the awful diagnosis of having cancer of the bone. Ultimately, given all our options for his survival, our hard decision to let him go was made and we decided to spend the last day or two with him, making it memorable for everyone. He was a great animal, an amazing family pet, and most certainly, the best friend anyone could ever have. It will be a long time before we're able to give and feel that kind of love again, as his love and kindness will remain with us forever. Please enjoy our tribute film to him and the impact he made in our lives.
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