Connor from Oxford |
"My beloved Connor was assisted to the rainbow bridge on 9th June 2009. We fought
his heart disease long and hard but we knew that it was a war that we would never
ultimately win. I never understood the term heart hound until Connor. I thought that all wolfhounds were dearly loved and special, certainly the four that preceded Connor had been, but Connor was just 'extra special' and he adored me as I absolutely adored him. Connor was an extrovert wolfhound and he loved everyone, but he was never happier than when he was snuggled up next to me and anyone who tried to get between us was gently pushed aside until Connor resumed his 'rightful' position by my side. Connor wasn't just a loving boy though, he was very smart. Frighteningly smart sometimes. You could see him thinking about things and weighing them up. He found sausages irresistible, so irresistible that he would remove cooking sausages from a red hot frying pan (always without injury to himself). I am sure that the neighbours thought I'd renamed him 'Sausages' as I was forever shouting "Sausages" late at night in an attempt to get him to come indoors. Connor was a great fan of late nights and regardless of the weather he would wander around the garden late at night resisting any attempts to get him to come indoors and go to bed. Frequently he would open the back door himself and come back indoors but invariably by the time I reached the kitchen he would be off back out and all I would catch a glimpse of was the tip of his very long tail as it disappeared out the door. I lost count of those nights I spent ages in the garden in driving rain, snow blizzards, freezing fog, raging winds etc. trying to entice a reluctant Connor that it was time for bed. Oddly they were never the nights when there was a cold sausage or three available to tempt a susceptible hound back indoors. Connor had lots of friends, both human and canine and he took great delight whenever he was out and about in greeting those friends. One particularly good friend was a black Labradoodle called 'Wolfie'. Wolfie used to come and knock on our front door (literally by flipping the letter box up with his nose) whenever he managed to give his owner the slip, which was quite frequently. Wolfie called on Connor along with his next door neighbour, another Labradoodle called Rosie, a few days before Connor's death after a gap of over a year (due to new fencing around Wolfie's garden). I'm sure he came to say goodbye. I have no doubt that Connor and I will meet up again, to think otherwise would be too unbearable. Thank you, Jo, for the most precious wolfhound ever." Julia McKendry |
