The Hounds of Heaven NewsAll the news that is fit to chew. January 1, 2009
The Hounds of Heaven NewsBreeders are responsible for their dogs from birth to death. Any dogs chosen for breeding or not adopted out live here throughout their lives. A lot of dogs bring a lot of joy, but the inevitable consequence is that they don't live forever, unfortunately.
This year the inevitable happened.
Ian, at 9, developed DCM, probably from Taurine deficiency, and was placed on a number of meds.
The manufacturer of one of them, Digitek,
accidently doubled the dose and that resulted in a toxic dose for Ian. He was 1 month short of his 10th birthday.
Nuala died of complications of Anaplasma. Aoife bloated and Alana had lymphoma. They were all in their 7th year
However, there was plenty of good news.
Ciara-Maeve and Liam, the remaining members of the Valentine litter are getting older, but doing well.
Here is Liam running in the back yard and then taking his ease, waiting for a snack.
Ruairi and Roisin (Presidents') completed their Rally Advanced Titles
Granuaile with her buddy, Sassy, and doing what wolfies do best.
Paddy and Keeva chasing through the snow.
Then there was the mystery of Zephan.
It started last summer. First there was Zephan's bunny.
A bunny decided to hang out in the grass outside of Zephan's pen.
And then the bunny decided to hang out inside of Zephan's pen.
This was followed shortly by Zephan's butterfly.
The butterfly was in Zephan's pen for a long time, for no apparent reason.
Then there were Zephan's flowers.
However, the crowning touch was when a parakeet (budgie to non-US readers) flew down and perched on his fence.
The parakeet had a broken beak and was in need of care.
The parakeet is now doing well and lives in the living room with Zephan, to whom he talks.
The circle of life goes on.
Rhianon almost completed her championship (she needs 1 point !!). She went into season early and
we decided that now was the time to breed her with Paddy.
