June 8, 1998 - July 26, 2008
Stephen and I let our beloved Travis go tonight. Animals are so good at hiding how bad they feel. Travis was no different and kept his game face until the end. Its so hard when they still look at you with those beautiful eyes and perky ears. But we knew Travis was feeling very ill when he lost interest in eating. He LOVED food and we knew that it would be time when he no longer looked forward to meals. With little energy to participate in the activities he loved, we felt that his quality of life had diminished significantly already and meal enjoyment was just the final straw.
It has been a painful month of grieving for me. Maybe it helped to have Travis here for the process. There is a big sense of relief and peace now. I always said I could not imagine Travis growing old. Being so beautiful and youthful, I never wanted to see him become arthritic or suffer from a long, drawn out illness. He lived hard, played hard, and now he is done. Although this month has felt like a year, it really was just one bad month out of 6.6 fantastic years with the most amazing greyhound. He and I were the most perfect match. In those 6 years, he got to do so much..... hiking, swimming, dock jumping, obedience, tracking, and most of all... agility. He had a great life and he added a lot of greatness to mine.
Travis insisted on never being left behind. Even today he wanted to go on one of our usual outings, but did not have the energy once we arrived. Tomorrow morning we will take our greyhounds for a hike. I am sure Travis will be right there with us again..... with health, strength, and energy restored.
Please remember Travis like this. This clip is from early May.
