Over the past few days I have been reminiscing about my old mate Zeph who I miss immensely. Zephyr was an adopted Greyhound obtained through GAP the Greyhound Adoption Programme way back in October 2005. It took him no time at all to weave his magic and become a very precious member of our little family.
My Lovely (Linda) and I had the pleasure of enjoying his company for 5 wonderful years, even though there was 2 walks a day, every day, usually 5.30am and 9.00pm and hundred of dollars worth of chicken chops (raw chicken wings and drumsticks).
Zeph was born 28/1/1998 and was christened Greenlea Prince. He was raised and trained to run and win. Sixty seven starts, Fifteen first place, Fourteen seconds and Eight thirds with a total prize pool of $39,115. As with most Greyhound raised for racing, once their time has come and no more races took place either due to injury or old age they are disregarded and given up for the next pup with potential. Zeph or rather Prince as he was known, then moved onto the the University of Melbourne Veterinary Hospital in July of 2003 and became their live in blood donor where he spent the next two years saving the lives of many other dogs with his precious blood. Eventually he became a retired "Blood Donor Dog" and made his way to GAP, then to a foster home in August of 2005. A wonderful older lady by the name of Trish looked after him for a month or two until we put our hands up and said "yes" in October 2005.
Now that he was the Lovely's and mine, we decided Prince was not the name he was to keep and we re-christened him Zephyr, (a gentle, mild breeze as the dictionary defines)we thought it more of a rushing wind and I also thought that any name starting with a Z is way cool, and I've always liked the name in relation to Zephyr Cars. He gave us much joy with his peaceful and lazy personality, he also caused grief and financial loss with his natural ways. I once let him off the leash whilst on a walk and he spotted a little dog, a Shiatsu or something, in the far distance and raced as he was trained to until he caught it and pretty much shredded it. Cost me about $1600 and nearly a conviction not to mention the horror and grief to a little old English lady who's little Shiatsu was destroyed. Gotta thank Broadmeadows legal aid for their help on that one. He was never let off the leash again in public.
He was spoilt and loved, hugged and patted, walked and fed. He had a bed in the lounge room, bedroom, laundry, shed and in the middle of the backyard, he chose which ever bed he wanted depending on his mood and wondered freely between them.
Eventually in February of 2010 old age mingled with bone cancer in the hip got the better of him. We tried battling all this with medication and loads of love but in the end that slow walk to the vet and the big needle was the best thing to do. As he got the shot of relaxant that would gently put him to sleep forever, we hugged him holding back tears and on the radio Eric Carmen's "All By Myself" was playing. I'll never hear that song again without thinking of Zeph. We paid the big bucks and had him cremated. His ashes were returned to us in a wonderfully ornate wooden box which is now proudly displayed on our mantle and will soon be part of a shrine which is in the making. Zephyr, Skinny Pup you will always be in our hearts.
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