Barbara - Our Sweet Girl - Sept 1990 – April 2004

Barbara was one of several dogs who came into the care of Mandy Hooker at Northants GHD rescue after the closure of a kennel in Sussex.

Mandy and Gemma brought Barbara down to us on 17th January 2004. She was a rather frail old lady who settled in very quickly with the other dogs living here. She was determined to enjoy herself right from the start and wanted to be involved in everything that was going on. She refused to accept her mobility problems and within 24hrs she was negotiating the step at the back door and the two steps leading to the front garden with ease. It was all very strange for her, as this was the first time she had ever been inside a house, having lived in kennels all her thirteen years.

The following day we took Barbara along to our vet for a check and to get her registered. She had the usual bad greyhound mouth and her ears were still quite mucky. Her muscles were quite wasted through lack of proper exercise over the years and her heart was weak. The vet also thought she probably had paralysis of the larynx – a condition that we had come across before. The following week Barbara had eleven teeth out and while she was under anaesthetic the vet examined her throat and did an X-ray of her chest which to our relief was clear. However she had very severe paralysis of the vocal chords. The space for air to pass down to the lungs was seriously restricted. The operation to correct this problem is not always successful and often leads to complications. It was also out of the question for Babs in view of her age and weak heart.

Babs never stopped to consider whether she should slow down a bit but was always so excited when her walk was due. She loved to prance along the footpath watching the rabbits, which are everywhere down here. When she reached the fields she would stop and look from side to side and seemed to be taking in the views and the sight of the sea. She had two good walks a day and enjoyed every minute of them. The second walk in late afternoon was with the rest of the dogs (except those unable to go far) and she marched up and down the dunes and along the sandy paths like a youngster.

Babs was joined by her old kennel friend, Kenny and another old greyhound, Bluebell on February 21st. Gradually the walks became too much for Barbara as her old legs started to ache so she went for gentle strolls instead and stayed with Kenny and Ambrose while the others went out.

Towards the end of February Barbara started to have digestive problems and the vet gave her a betamox injection to try to settle things down a bit. We started using cemetidine to keep her stomach comfortable and theophylline to keep her airways clear though we knew it was not really the solution to the weeziness. Poor Babs had trouble sleeping at night as she often struggled for breath. We propped her up on cushions, which seemed to help her to breathe more easily.

Barbara never gave in to her problems and still danced around excitedly when a walk was due. She was such an affectionate old lady and trusted us to help her when she needed it. She could now only potter along the path at the back as her back legs were becoming worse. Her brain never accepted that her legs were so weak and she would try to bound towards the back door only to collapse with the effort. She used to have her dinner in the lounge with Kenny and when she had finished she would wait by the door into the kitchen. As soon as the door opened when Lopez (Dopey to his friends) and Bluebell had finished their meal, Babs would rush in to see if they had left anything tasty. She always did everything at the gallop!

By the middle of April her mobility was very poor and her left back leg became so weak it was unusable. The vet gave her injections of cortisone and a morphine derivative for the pain. During the night of the 26th April, Babs was unable to sleep at all because of the pain. She was unable to move and screamed when I turned her over as gently as I could. I knew with that horrible sinking feeling that I could not allow this to go on. I knew she was distressed as she wanted a wee and even now would not wet her bed. George carefully lifted her out into the garden and held her while she went. We then made her as comfortable as possible supporting her gentle head on some cushions. She had been in kennels all her life yet even when she felt so bad she still wanted to be clean. When the vet arrived he said the words which we knew already. There was no more anyone could do for our old girl. The only kind act was to let her die peacefully where she lay. She left us quietly at noon on April 27th 2004.

It is a great sadness that Barbara came to us when she had so little time left. It is totally unacceptable that dogs are left in kennels for years – until they are very old - without a chance of finding a home. Barbara stubbornly refused to accept that she was an old lady and behaved like a puppy inside an old body. Maybe if she were calmer and more dignified she would have had more time with us - but who could blame the old girl for trying to enjoy all the things that had been denied her for thirteen years of her life. At last she had fresh air, space to play and run and the fields with rabbits and foxes to watch and smell. It is a tragedy that she had only little more than 3 months of freedom yet so many dogs do not even get that and live and die in a bleak concrete kennel, never knowing the joy and comfort of a home of their own. I so hope Barbara is somewhere out there, invisible to our eyes, but running and playing, with her body restored and free from pain – hopefully now reunited with our dear Kenny. You will always live on in our hearts dear Barbara. All our love until we see you again some day...