Dundee was born on 5/22/1998 in Yelm, WA, in the shadows of Mt.
Rainier. He came home to live in Colorado, in the shadows of the Colorado Rocky
Mountains. Thus, his registered name had to have Mountains involved.
As of 5/22/2008, Dundee will be 10 years old! He is a very happy whippet, loves
his walks and playing fetch with a tennis ball or running around with a soccer
ball.
He is, unfortunately, an epileptic. He has been having seizures since he was 18
months old. It's a struggle, but the Phenobarbital and potassium bromide provide
some control. Seizures were starting up every 1 1/2 - 2 weeks, so recently, we
started acupuncture. Hopefully, this will gain him some better control, without
adding more drugs.
And, as if the epilepsy isn't enough, Dundee also has a heart murmur.
Thankfully, that has stabilized.
Aside from his health issues, Dundee is a hoot. He's always the first to play,
but also one of the first to cuddle. Tasha was his mom and Nakita is now his
sister.
Dundee
passed on July 1, 2010. To ease the pain of his loss, Nakita and I
joined Dave and Tim at our cabin west of Creede. The fresh air and
different atmosphere has helped, but this will be a long healing time. :(
I want to share a little bit about my boy with those of you who knew him, one
way or another.
Dundee 5/22/1998 - 7/01/2010
About
13 years ago, I fell in love with Whippets, when I met the Sun Run Whippets,
owned by Sally deBeque-Smith, when she opened her pet boutique, Bark Avenue.
At the time, I had Greyhounds Cody and Tasha. Whippets were like
Greyhounds, but in smaller packages and they intrigued me.
Unfortunately,
there wasn't a Whippet pup available in Colorado and almost none in rescue,
unlike our beloved Greyhounds. So, the hunt took me to the
Whippet mailing lists and I soon "met up" with Tommie Porter, of
YNOTZ Whippets. Her girl, Fergie had been bred to Ch Surrey
Hill's Firing Line, FCh,
Barkley. Tommie put me on the list for a puppy!
On
May 22, 1998, the litter was born. Then the wait came to
see if there were any pet quality pups. But, one little
fellow caught my eye...the only brindle in the litter, an Irish marked red
bindle boy. Turns out Tommie decided this boy could be mine
and I will thank her forever for this wonderful Whippy boy.
I wrestled with names and finally decided upon YNOTZ High
Mountain Son, CGC, aka Dundee. The name, High Mountain Son,
because he was born in the shadows of Mount Rainier in Yelm, Washington and
was going to live his life in the shadows of the Colorado Rocky Mountains,
outside of Boulder, Colorado. However, the name Dundee was
not after the movie, but Dundee, Scotland, since Dave visited Scotland a
couple weeks after I flew up to Seattle and brought this sweet pup home.
From
the start, Dundee was a little spitfire. Tasha became his
canine mom and was the only creature Dundee would immediately listen to.
But, Dundee was first and foremost a "Momma's Boy" and
totally mine. While he could always be counted on to help
wake up a teenager reluctant to get out of bed, he always looked for me.
Where Tasha was the true Alpha B, Cody, the elite regal boy,
Cooper, the protector and Nakita the perfect dog, Dundee
was the comedian and brat of the family. Oh, he could be
really sweet, but turn your back and he was eating something that shouldn't be
eaten or grabbing and running with something he shouldn't have. He
was a wonderful jogging partner, but take him on a walk or hike on a hot day
and he would search for the shady spots. And, oh, how that
dog loved to cuddle. I was his favorite, but anyone who sat
on his couch would work.
Unfortunately,
Dundee's health was less than perfect. When he was about 18
months old, he had his first seizure. About 4 months later,
he started having cluster seizures. Me, being the geeky
engineer, tried to find a pattern, so kept a spreadsheet. Over
Dundee's life time, he had a total of 199 seizures that I or a family member
witnessed.
Life
became a series of 12 hour periods...making sure Dundee got his medications on
time, whether we were at home, at the cabin or traveling on the road.
We left him 1 time with a non-family member, only to have him drop into
a long painful series of seizures. So, if we couldn't take
him with us, we just didn't go. And, over the past couple
of years, I didn't even leave him over night, because he was always stressed
when I wasn't around for a few hours out of the ordinary. A few years ago, we
discovered he had a heart murmur on top of these seizures. Thankfully,
he never had any symptoms, but you could eerily feel the murmur if you put
your fingers on his chest.
Then, in April 2010, Dundee got very sick. He
had been having some diarrhea, but it just got worse. Dundee's
white blood count was really high and he was lethargic. With
the help of Amoxicillin and subcutaneous fluids along with TLC, he rallied.
But, that was the beginning of the end and we all knew it. It
was up and down for the next few months, though Dundee did make it to his 12th
birthday.
Unfortunately, the diarrhea just wouldn't stay away.
After a couple of weeks trying to get it back under control, Dundee had
dropped down to 30lbs and his back bone looked like dinosaur ridge.
Despite woo-wooing at me for meals, he was just worn out. It
was time.
So,
late in the afternoon of Thursday, July 1, 2010, Bob came over and helped us
let Dundee go to the Bridge. Dundee is
re-united with Cody, Cooper and especially Tasha.
Dundee,
I know you are once again chasing that ball. But, darn, I
miss you little man. I miss your sweet kisses, woo-wooing
at me for dinner, whining at me to take you out, pulling me around the block,
even how you would be bad while I was in the bathroom. But
most of all, I miss your sweet little head with the angel's kiss on the back
of your neck resting on my leg.
Till we meet again, my baby boy...
