Rainbow Bridge Memorial

Dearly missed by Cliff, Lili, Anabel and Saffi

We wanted to let you all know that, suddenly this morning, Skippy passed over the rainbow bridge to the great greyhound race in the sky. We will miss her terribly, but we know that she will race many clouds up there. She left us quickly this morning by cardiac arrest, during a follow-up visit to the vet.

Skippy was born on March 1st, 2002, and joined us in May 2007 after an illustrious racing career as BB’s Skip-a-rope, where she averaged over 38 mph for a third of a mile, and had 23 1st’s and 24 2nd’s out of 124 races. Physically, Skippy was small for a greyhound at around 60 lbs. and had very delicate skin. However, she had an expressive face and a caring personality, and would contentedly sit close to you if you were feeling unwell and in all cases wanted to be with her family as much as possible.

Things that we learned from Skippy:

Enjoy the good things in life. Peanut butter is like liquid gold (sticking your head inside the jar is acceptable behavior). Wool, feathers, spiders, yogurt, cottage cheese and canned pumpkin arent bad either. Wear dairy on your nose proudly. And chewing is for wimps.

When you are going to relax, relaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaxx. It’s okay if you should slide off the chair.

Keep in touch. Help others to relax by conveniently locating yourself for petting. Use the tush-push move for butt-noogies.

Take the time to listen to good music. However, if a soprano is singing the Queen of the Night’s aria, stand behind her to get out of the line of fire.

Claim your space appropriately. Sofas are really dog beds, just longer.

You can express a lot without saying anything. Just use your ears and eyebrows. Smile big. It can also help to have a long pointy nose.

Live in the moment. Occasionally sit in the sun. Just sit.

Snow and rain are best avoided. Ice-skating is not everyone’s strong point.

Find comfort in your friends. Saffi is a good pillow/mattress. After all, one is never too large to be a lap dog.

Encourage education. Read a good book with Anabel on the sofa (dog bed).

Protect what is yours (sort of). Squirrels and cats should exit the yard immediately. However, hide behind someone else if a raccoon should appear.

If you take care of your toys, and don’t squeak them too hard, they will last a long time. (Her original fuzzy moose is still intact).

At the same time, have fun with your toys. Toss them high and slam your front legs on the ground to make a loud noise!

Have patience. Dinner will arrive soon enough. However, it never hurts to remind someone by resting your chin on the table, or poking them in the armpit with your nose.

Get enough rest. 20 hours a day ought to do it. After all, you need to recover from running races 5 years ago.

Only bathe once or twice a year.

When you are a sprinter, effectively communicate that long walks are not for you. Instead, exercise by running laps around the back yard, for about a minute.

Redefine games to make them your own. Fetch becomes race-the-ball.

When someone brings you a gift (like kibble), dancing is an appropriate activity.

Be a visionary, dream of what you love. Let your paws flicker and jowls puff as you race across… wherever you are dreaming about…

When everyone sings together, joining in is appropriate. However, if you don’t practice using your voice, howling becomes more difficult. Howling always leads to coughing when you are, in practice, silent (and only occasionally bark at cats in the yard).

Greetings are very important, for everyone. Await them by sitting regally with crossed legs, then rise to offer them a paw to shake.

Walk softly, leave only fur.

Love, Cliff, Lili, Anabel and Saffi