FOR HAMLET (2000/2001-22/12/2014)
Cherish the memories, they say. He had a good life. And it’s true. Every day he would explore the woodland sniffs, drink from running streams and rain puddles, sometimes pausing to mindfully take in an exquisitely scrumptious wild scent magically embedded in some ordinary-looking clump of grass, lips quivering in ecstasy. Or he would interpret with his nose the secrets buried in the depths of a fern a plant which held endless fascination for him. And he wouldn’t be hurried, ever as we waited (sometimes impatiently) for him to ‘come on, Ham, we have work to do!’ as he explored the mouth of a fox hole checked out another fern waited for some friends spotted on the horizon or simply held his nose to the wind, reading the breeze and its messages. For that was his life’s work and his gift to us to enjoy life as deeply as any dog could, and be seen to do so. He was a true professional. Slyly checking the scene for spectators (best of all if fat, slow Labradors, unable to keep up) he would gleefully take off in one of his wild, circular high speed chases after nothing in particular, just for the joy of it Showing off, looking sideways to check you were watching taking absolute delight in the admiring glances of walkers who would pause to watch as if at a tennis match heads bobbing left to right just to keep sight of him until he would do just one final lap and catch us up Smiling broadly. Sometimes, he would disappear after foxes, rabbits or badgers always returning just before I started to really worry. And one day, when young, he chased a full herd of deer in Richmond Park, setting a bad example, all the other dogs in hot pursuit but not quite keeping up (We found him holding the lead stag at bay, unharmed and just for the fun of it, as we pelted him with treats to get him back, and were scolded by the Park Warden). Another time, in March, he took off after a deer that had taken flight into the cold North Sea pursuing it fully clad in his existentialist black jumper realising only after a few moments that the sea was cold, and he didn’t like being cold so swam back in a hurry to my panic-stricken but relieved embrace and a warm towel. Everything in life was wonderful and interesting to him… Staring in disbelief at the seals sunbathing on the rocks at Jura Howling with his unseen ancestors at the sight of passing herds of deer from the back of our blue van Going along with us in each and every adventure, curious and big hearted Running on Camber Sands, his favourite beach for over a decade Playing hide and seek with his human Dad around the gorse bushes on the Common, literally smiling with delight at the sound of our laughter. Picking up one of those forbidden delicacies, a fat green sheep turd he would shake it at me mischievously and as I approached sternly to remove it he would wait until I was a hair’s breadth away and then take off at high speed giggling to himself knowing I could never catch him. As a young dog, he sat so quiet and still next to his baby human ‘niece’ Gently allowed unknown children to surround and stroke him Never forgot a face, be it dog or human. People would greet him: “Hello, Hamlet!” and I would not have a clue who they were. Patient, serene, stubborn, and in his later years both wise and grumpy in turns Muttering to himself in his sleep, sometimes scolding the two lately arrived young greyhounds, his new siblings to assert senior privileges on sofa or bed just so they knew who he was, which they did. Yet patient and generous also with them, in his gentle, noble way. Calling to be carried upstairs when he could no longer gallop up them Prodding you hard with his paw for attention and head butting your hand insistently to demand to be stroked. So many, many, many moments. Hanging now suspended like dewdrops frozen in my memory as I revisit them time after time, pulling them back in and seek to touch you through them and make you real again, my golden boy Here, Now. (Isobel Deeley, Christmas Day 2014)Tags: adopt galgos, adopt greyhound, adopt rescue dog, adopt rescue greyhound, adoption, adotta galgo, adozione levriero, lurcher, maltrattamenti, pet levrieri, Pet levrieri @en