Ambitious Amy
Greyhound ex-racer
(WD's Santiago x Honest Angel)
Born: June 11, 1997
Died: September 10, 2009
Amy is a retired racing greyhound, originally from Arizona. She began her career in Phoenix, and ended it in Tucson. From there, she was sent to Greyhound Pets, Inc. in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho where she was adopted by my brother and sister-in-law on September 8, 2000.
We took Amy into our home when, after a few months, she proved to be "too much dog" for my brother and his family. We had adopted Icy on the same day that Amy was adopted. It wasn't until November 24, 2001 that I found out Amy and Icy were littermates.
Amy was a dog that fully enjoyed life and her retirement. She was a "counter-surfer" and couch potato. She also enjoyed going out into our fenced acreage, running whenever she wanted, and then coming inside to sleep on a couch or bed.
Like her sister, Amy succumbed to osteosarcoma and was humanely euthanized on September 10, 2009.
Atomic Ice Queen
Greyhound ex-racer
(WD's Santiago x Honest Angel)
Born: June 11, 1997
Died: January 12, 2009
Icy is a retired racing greyhound, originally from Arizona. She began her career in Phoenix, and ended it in Tucson. From there, she was sent to Greyhound Pets, Inc. in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho where we adopted her on September 8, 2000.
A few months later, we ended up with Amy and on November 24, 2001 we found out Amy and Icy were littermates.
The Final Race
What a day it was when we decided that we wanted to adopt a Greyhound. We had researched the breed and on September 8, 2000 we traveled from Spokane to Hern Iron Works in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which was also the headquarters for Greyhound Pets, Inc. There were so many sweet, beautiful dogs; which one did we want? Little did we know that we weren't there to adopt, we were there to be adopted.
After some looking our new owner found us: Atomic Ice Queen (Icy), born June 11, 1997. She was a beautiful brindle with a long overbite, but we bonded immediately. We brought our Chihuahua with us as the "designated cat" to see how they would be together. They hit it off, but I'm sure Icy thought that was one of the weirdest looking cats around.
Icy loved her couch and bed where she could relax and "cockroach" (lay on her back, legs in the air). She also loved her squeaky toys and pig ears. When in the mood, she loved to run. At some Greyhound get-togethers there were mock races and she did whatever it took to win, even tripping up another dog in front of her.
She was a runner; she was a winner.
On Thursday January 8, 2009 Icy was diagnosed with OsteoSarcoma, a very rapid and painful cancer of the bones, and was given at the most 2 months to survive. She was on potent pain killers and Prednisone in an attempt to keep the pain at bay. By Monday morning January 12, 2009 she was in such pain that she couldn’t even eat. Unfortunately, Icy finished her final race on Monday January 12, 2009. Dr. Randy Scott at Mt. Spokane Veterinary Hospital humanely euthanized Icy at around 3:45pm.
The house and our lives will forever seem empty without Icy. She will be sorely missed, but we know that she will be waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge, and she is with our other friends who have left and are waiting for us: Mandy, Gabriel (Gabe), Natasha (Tasha), Honey, Eclipse, and Cocoa.
Goodbye Icy: you have run a great race.
Written by Steven Voorhees
