A Heartfelt Thank You For Your Support

[GreyKnight]

I wanted to start a new thread for this because I'd like to keep it separate to Merlin's sympathy thread (still ongoing at 72 posts!) which you have all contributed to in your own ways with astonishing kindness. Thank you very much from me and my family for this show of compassion, it has meant a lot to me to hear the thoughts of other understanding whippet owners and I'm certain Merlin has been delivered safely to his new home by your words and thoughts :thumbsup: .

I'm starting to come to terms with Merlin's passing now, although the sadness at losing him won't ever dwindle completely of course and will be strongly with me for a month at least. I'm going on holiday to Cyprus at the start of August with friends which will be a little bit less enjoyable now that I'll be thinking about Merlin, but I think I need the break. It's really my mum who's still suffering the most as she was probably Merlie's "favourite" since she was always here at home with him while me and dad were out working. I have bought mum a large flowering Orchid plant which I have said is Merlins Orchid and she needs to take care of it.

I was upset this morning when I woke up to my first morning without him, then later on in the day I had to go on a long drive for work and was able to talk to Merlie properly for a while and also go through all the events of the past few days in my mind. It's amazing how methodically recording things in your mind helps to make you feel better. The good news is that I'm still in no doubt that we did the right thing for Merlie.

So, my questions involve a number of issues concerning Merlin's successor or successors. We won't be ready to get another dog for a couple of months at least, we believe in giving our pets a decent period of respectful space, but there will certainly need to be the pitter patter of tiny paws around the house before Christmas!

So, firstly, breeders. I mentioned a few weeks ago that Merlin was bought from a retired vet called Gillian Usher who passed away a few years ago. Someone mentioned later in the thread that Gillian Usher was well known in whippet circles. We would like to try and find out where Gillian Usher's whippets went after she died and whether any breeding line was continued. Can anybody help with this bit of investigating? If Merlins papers would help identify his lineage I can probably post up the details. Essentially we would love to get a dog who we knew was at least a little bit related to Merlin, that would be great.

Regardless, some recommendations for breeders in the Midlands area would be good and also some guidelines on how much we should expect to pay for a whippet puppy these days.

Secondly, I am going to be campaigning for the possibility of us having a pair of whippets rather than one this time around. My folks are at the moment sitting on the fence on this one, although they are erring on the side of having just one again. Aside from the obvious matter of increased cost of ownership, can anyone shed any light on how owning two whippets is different to owning one. My main concern is whether you develop less of a bond with two dogs compared to one since one dog is probably going to be more dependant on it's owner for emotional support and your attention won't be divided between two dogs.

Many thanks for your help and advice.

Graham

 

[dolly]

Graham, i have PM'd you

 

[Susan]

You would love each dog like you do your children :thumbsup: ,,,

Merlin will always be in your heart's but a little new whippet can mend the broken bit's.

When BJ died at 14 months old in a feak accident, we were all heart broken, but a little puppy 3 weeks later did help heal the kids hearts,,took mum and dad a bit longer,,,but it does help :thumbsup:

Time is the healer, you will never foget, but the love you and your family could bring to another dog is timeless :huggles:

I do hope you and your family get another dog to love, but when you decide as a family the time is right, and yous will know when :thumbsup: :huggles:

 

[imperative]

So sorry about your loss.Our boy Jack died 11th Dec 2005. Christmas was sad.We were gutted mainly because he was only 18months old and always seemed so healthy! Anyway on 05th Feb our boys arrived. Stirling and Kai two blue brothers.Jack is the handsome one,red collar, in middle of our sig.Will never forget him,ever.Was such a crook! (w00t) Our pups will never replace him.Many peeps on k9 were so supportive and this helped.Have your period of respect and get yourself another little munchkin who can benefit from all that love u ready to offer.

God bless xx :huggles:

 

[Trish]

well all i can say is two is much better than one,the only hang up i would have was if they was the same age,what would it be like when they are older,and the possibility of losing them both very close together,dont think i could cope with that.

im still thinking of another myself,but not until next year.

so i say get two its twice the fun.

 

[jok]

Whippets love their own kind, it's lovely seeing a pair of them snuggled up together. My two truly are best friends :huggles: Maybe an idea would be to get one pup and then another a few months later? Pro's and con's to both really. But you may find that they bond better with you, rather than just each other. Frankie came here first and is extremely loyal and bonded to me in particular. Holly arrived 2 months later and again, she has formed a strong bond with us, but is absolutely in love with Frankie too. :wub: I couldn't imagine just having one now, they love each other so much.

As i write, Holly is out on a walk with my husband and our Dobe, but Frankie is at home with me as we're off to a show soon. He hasn't settled down since they've been gone, he's missing his girl!

When the time is right, good luck in your search for a new (or two!) companion. :luck:

 

[Whippets Rule]

I agree that two whippets is a great number,you get double the unconditional love and twice the fun.

I have two pedigree whippets,we had Badger first and nine months later got Woody....they are inseperable...the only downside for me is that Woody and Badger are both the same age.

In some ways i don't mind too much if i lost them around the same time because atleast that way neither boy will have time to miss the other and mourn.

The change in Badger when we added Woody to the household was incredible,they were like long lost friends and played and chased all day long and slept together at night too....they can now just about bear to be seperated for a little while though.

I think the choice of how many is a very personal thing and has to be right for the circumstances you live in....i haven't personally had any problems with multiple dogs(i have five) other than obviously the slight increase in vets bills and food and nice coats and colars etc

For me personally i would never just keep a single whippet,having seen how much they love their own kind.

 

[Whippets Rule]

Clever me i double posted :b :b :lol:

 

[Rae]

Two is better than one for me too - but it does mean more noise! They play, pounce, roo roo, roar etc together . I do find it wonderfull to watch, but cant remember the last time we watched TV in peace!

We have 6 dogs and love them all as much as each other, and they are all very bonded to us, as well as each other, but none of them were from the same litter. However, I know several people with litter mates and they have bonded with their humans - you get out what you put in I suppose.

Cant help re Merlin's line but if you post some of Merlin's pedigree I'm sure someone will know. (If he was a show dog perhaps post in that section?)

 

[lalena]

you are doing the right thing, absolutely. some people think its disrespectful to the memory of a beloved lost pet to replace them, but i personally think that there is no greater tribute to honouring their memory. every time the young un does something like merlin used to, it will tug on your heart, but it will also keep him alive in a way.

i wish you luck in your search, and i'm glad you take comfort in knowing you did right by your special wee man. no doubt he is smiling down on you and wishing you with all his heart that you find what you seek :luck:

 

[kris]

whatever you decide i wish you the best of luck. :luck: to find kind,caring, loving owners like yourselves is wonderful. any dog you decide to take on will be a very lucky and happy dog. :huggles:

 

[ecknnelly]

so sorry to hear of your loss. we have had two whippets now for just 7 weeks, eck was 14months when we got nell now 14 weeks. Whe we got eck we could have had two brothers from the same litter, but I was unsure as i really wanted a girl and I thought that having two from the same litter would make them more independent of us somehow.

it was about six months later, when we decided to get another pup, eck was wonderful, he was already 14 weeks when we collected him, but he settled in great, we did find he seemed a bit forelorn at times, even though we are very fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time at home.

getting nell was a long process, but it happened in the end. having two is fantastic, it has given eck a new lease of life, company and he gets lots of attention from nell (whether he wants it or not) :huggles:

He also has matured incredibly since nell arrived. they both like there own space at times, but generally the sleep together, play together and eck is very gentle with her when visitors are around. nell on the other hand is always trying to tease eck, but they are wonderful. nell will sleep on us at night until she goes to bed and is very affectionate. eck has different ways for showing his affection, he'll whimper when you leave the room and loves to bring us presents of wood, shoes anything, but i think because he was 14 weeks when we got him he had already learnt so much with his litter, as daft as it is, those few extra weeks of puppieness seemed to have really made a difference in bonding.

we are so happy with our two, but I can't really say what it would be like getting two from the same litter. I guess it's a bit like children, we had one to one time with both, but if you have twins you work that out too. :thumbsup:

good luck, hope everything works out whatever you decide. :luck:

 

[GreyKnight]

Thanks folks, it's all food for thought. I would have to agree that I like the idea of two whippets better than one if only from the point of view that ever since I was born (27 years ago) our family has only had one dog at a time (Pip and Merlin in my lifetime). I'd love to experience having two dogs as I'm sure it's very gratifying. Like I said though, my folks are very focused on the cost aspect and the recent vet bills for Merlin have probably not helped in this regard (he wasn't insured). Obviously I would contribute my share of such costs, but my folks aren't that easy to convince...

We've been out all day today to visit my sister and her family for a BBQ down near Cirencester. My sister is very keen on Italian Greyhounds and has so far had five including her past dogs Mario, Percy, Dido and the two she has currently Brutus and Sonny. I would have to say that seeing Brutus and Sonny was quite therapeutic for me, especially since Sonny (only 18 months old and crazy) loved Merlin. Brutus (about 8 years old) was a bit more moody when he saw Merlin, but only because Merlin was a BIG whippet and Brutus who's an older chap now probably felt threatened. My sister's parents-in-law were also there with their 10 year old Boxer called Amber, so we had a very doggy day despite Merlin's absence - it all helps.

The hard bit was explaining to my 7 and 6 year old neices why Merlin wasn't with us...

Anyway, we're back home now and mum & dad have got a bit upset again (not really sure why they aren't dealing with it like I am, I feel okay right now, just talking to Merlie now and again) but I guess it will all get better with time.

Thanks

Graham

 

[oakmoorehill]

We lost our GSD a few months back and although we have 4 whippets and a greyhound my husband has decided the loss of Beethoven (stupid name but he came to us with it and it stuck) has left a huge gap and he would dearly love to replace him. It has become obvioys well never get another GSD like him so are looking for an irish setter or a cocker spaniel although last night he did mention a greyhound bitch. We are starting to look at possibilities but are in no rush.

On the subject of 2 from the same litter we kept 2 from our litter then had another come back so for 6 months we had 3, 1 dog and 2 bitches all out of the same litter .We had no problems Blaze bonded with my OH and Rosie with me Maggie who came back to us bonded with us both .Maggie and Blaze have now gone to new homes as I was getting to have more than I could cope withand Blaze and his dad were having some fallings out

:luck: in whatever you and your family decide to do and in your such for a new four legged friend

 

[Janimal]

We lost Chip on 29th February 2004, our 2nd whippet and life seemed quite unbearable to the point where I thought - NO MORE DOGS.

I only went 8 months and life without a dog was unbearable too ... so I started searching on K9 and eventually we got Oscar from Veredon Whippets and Ive never looked back, then along came Kobi in May 2005 - It is the very first time we have ever owned 2 dogs (a very first for us both) we would never be without them now.

Dogs never replace previous ones, only help to ease the hurt and fill in a large gap where the other dog was, and in return give us unconditional love. :huggles: the departed ones live on in our hearts and minds.

have a look at this website where I put Chips memorial - it really helped me.

www.pets2.rest.co.uk