![\"Gumbabefore\"](\"https:\/\/swiftcreek.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Gumbabefore.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNovember 29th, 2014 was one of the worst days of my life.\u00a0 I had to say goodbye to my heart dog.\u00a0 While you’ll notice I have shared my life with many Whippets, Guido, or “Gumba” was extra special.\u00a0 He was moody, loyal, kind, assertive, competitive, smart and my best friend.\u00a0 He had not been feeling well for longer than I had thought.\u00a0 I feel awful for not knowing he wasn’t well, but vet visits he’d had in 2011 and 2012 weren’t showing anything was wrong.<\/p>\n
Guido did everything I asked of him.\u00a0 He ran NOTRA starting in 2008 at the age of 4, and the several meets we entered, he was always top scoring “non-race bred”.\u00a0 He also humored me and went through obedience and rally and got his CD and RN at the age of 9.\u00a0 He sired two litters, his first produced two top 10 ASFA runners, and his second litter is currently only 4 months old with great potential for the show ring and the coursing field.<\/p>\n
I learned summer of this year that he had something terribly wrong going on inside.\u00a0 Blood tests showed a high and severe protein loss in his system, but no enzymes were showing as off.\u00a0 We put him on a prostate shrinking drug in July, and he was like a new dog.\u00a0 After that, he was neutered in August.\u00a0 I thought for sure we cured him, and an enlarged prostate had been the problem.\u00a0 Guido had a great summer and fall, playing with his son, loving his new house and yard, and going to some state parks with his friends Steve, Argo and Gloria.<\/p>\n
Then right before Thanksgiving, he changed over night.\u00a0 He was hurting, he didn’t want to eat.\u00a0 We went in for a check and they drew more blood.\u00a0 His kidneys were in failure.\u00a0 My heart was broken.<\/p>\n
I fed him hamburger for two days, but after that nothing interested him anymore.\u00a0 He spent Thanksgiving at home with our family and he liked having us all close.\u00a0 Friday after, I knew I couldn’t ask him to hold on any longer.\u00a0 I made arrangements with “MN Pets”, an at home “end of life” service for animals.\u00a0 On Saturday the 29th at 1:10pm, Guido left his broken body and his soul soared up and over.\u00a0 He’s with Adrian and Eddie, Willie, Walter, Peepers and Ace, plus many other Whippet friends.<\/p>\n
I picked up his ashes on December 4th.\u00a0 He’s home again, physically and spiritually.\u00a0 Guido left a mark on my heart when he shared his life with me, and a hole when he left.\u00a0 I miss you, Little Man.<\/p>\n
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