"First Steps"

When we first brought City Boy home, he did not know how to climb steps. We had four steps going into our house, and it was a little awkward for him. When I took him out for a walk that first day, he would fall going up the steps and jumped down them in a panicky sort of way. Later that night, he learned how to do steps. I was upstairs, and he knew it. Although Jen was there, and my mom was visiting, he only wanted me. He stood at the bottom of the stairs whimpering and crying with front legs on the 3rd step. He kept trying to get up the steps to find me. At one point, he had all four paws on one step; It was the funniest looking thing to see this big dog trembling while standing on one step. He finally made it to the top, so I went down the stairs; he had to do it all over again. I kept repeating the process until he was comfortable enough to do it on his own.

Good Night City Boy!

City boy used to have his routine. Treats at 9:00pm, a walk at 10:00pm and bed after that. If Jen and I were staying up, he would stand at the bottom of the steps and look over at us, almost as if to ask permission to go to bed. I used to snap my fingers a couple of times and say "Go beddie-bye", and he used to run right up. He would sometimes come back down to see what's going on.

Doggie want a treat?

City boy used to get two Milk Bones every night at 9:00pm. He started looking at me at 8:00pm acting like it was time for his treat. I would always say, "It's not time." and he would go lay down. By the time 8:45pm rolled around, he was drooling as he would look at me. Once again, I would have to tell him no; "Fifteen more minutes" I would say. Finally when 9:00pm came, he would bark at me as if to tell me "It's time!!!!!".

Once in awhile, I used to give City Boy an extra treat. I would take a few of the broken pieces of Milk Bones and hide them around the house (Places like the stair case, in a shoe on the floor, under the coffee table). He would always check the normal hiding places, then go sniffing around the house to see if he missed anything. This used to keep him busy for a good hour.

City Boy's Great Escape:

One rainy May evening, I had to work late, so I called Jen to tell her to take CB for a walk before bed (Usually I did this). When I got home at around 10:30, Jen and CB were not home; City Boy's retractable leash was also missing, so I assumed they were out. When they didn't return by 11:00, I knew something was wrong. I grabbed my coat on and was going to go out to look for them. As I was heading towards the door, Jen came in and she was frantic. She had dropped the retractable leash which spooked City Boy; he took off running. As the retractable leash continued to bang around behind him, he kept trying to run away from it. Jen had been out walking around looking for him for an hour, and she had two sets of neighbours driving around looking for him as well. We called NGAP (National Greyhound Adoption Program) in case someone finds him and takes him there.

I got in my car and drove around the area almost all night without finding him. It was about 3:00am and still raining when I called it quits and came home. I just prayed that someone found him and took him in for the night, and that we would get a phone call in the morning.

I didn't sleep well that night. What little sleep I got was disturbed by the doorbell at 6:30am; it was the police. They told us that our dog was on Roosevelt Bvld and hurt. We jumped in the car and went to him. City Boy was laying in the grass on Roosevelt Bvld. He was soaking wet, and had a mangled up retractable leash still hanging from his collar. When he saw us, we could tell that he wanted to get excited to see us, but he didn't have the energy. He had a relieved look on his face like he knew this ordeal was over. As far as him being injured, he had run so hard, that he actually wore the pads off of his paws. The pads were all but gone; worn almost down to the bone. His toe nails were ground down as well, most of them bleeding. We took him home first and cleaned out his paws. When our Vet opened, we took him there. He had us use gauze with antibiotic, cotton for cushioning and vetwrap. I had to change the dressings on his paws twice a day. He was not able to get around all that well, so for weeks, I had to carry CB to the car, drive him to the park, so he can do his thing, and drive him back again. He made a full recovery and was as playful as ever.

Thanks to Saint Francis and Saint Anthony for keeping him safe, and for finding him!!!!

Saying goodbye to City Boy:

His limp started after we were playing hard. I thought he may have pulled a muscle so I took him to the family Vet. He told me to give him an aspirin with each meal and keep him from over exerting himself. Although I have since read that aspirin is not good for greyhounds, it did seem to alleviate the pain temporally. After he didn't get better, the Vet put him on Rimydal. This worked, but only temporarily. I called NGAP and they told me that it sounded like cancer. I took him to our Vet and the worst was confirmed via x-rays; City Boy had bone cancer in his shoulder.

Jen and I were devastated. We both believe in a quality of life for dogs, and knew that we couldn't let him suffer. We took him home that day so we could spend one more day with him. We upped his dosage of Rimydal, and gave him a great dinner and breakfast. We took him for a walk in the park so he could play in the creek one last time.

Jen waited outside of the Vet's office. I was with him when he passed. I cried for days.