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Loved Hound
Your hound can be featured as a Loved Hound, too. Just bid in Greyhound Gang's on-line auction (during the first two weeks of every month) for your chance to be spotlighted. Or bid to feature a friend's hound, as a present. Once you've won, you'll email me 5 - 7 pictures and text, and the following month, this is where you and your hound will be. Loved Hound. Our wish - love for them all.
Segugio - as told by Jan Zulkeski
There is another bright star in the sky. Segugio, the former City Policeman, was called home on 12/31/11. He was only 11.8 and the youngest of my campers. This is his story, and I thank the RBGs for the opportunity to share it here. February is Valentine’s Day. How appropriate to find a perfect heart to begin this story.
July, 2003: Me to the WAG adoption rep: His name is "Segugio!" Oookkayy, but, I have to know...what does it mean? In Italian: The Hound. But what are you going to call him?? I'm going to call him Segugio. Segugio, a funny, funny man whose beauty often got him mistaken for a woman. Segugio, who is KNOT a box of rocks; rather, A Wonderful Gift.
Segugio, a slacker at the track (eight races) who despite being "slow" must have figured out that being non-competitive could reap greyt rewards.
In retirement, he always stood up for himself, but his sensitive manner made him the low man in the order. He was ok with that. Why sweat the small stuff when you can snuggle..especially with Sorella.
Pal was Segugio's mentor and the boys would greet me when I got home from work, always Pal with a stuffy and Segugio with a smile (and those fabulous ears!!).
Until the day I could see the light bulb come on and him saying "She's home! I should bring her something!" and despite the pile of toys what did he offer? The TV remote! When he wanted something and I was slow to respond (now who's the box of rocks?), he would sit and offer "High Four" until he got his cookie or chikken wonton.
His sensitivity made him the ideal therapy dog. He was KNOT a box of rocks, he just learned differently and earned his CGC and Delta Pet Partner honors almost as soon as he retired. Segugio knew where he was needed; he was never wrong about which troubled patient or grieving family member or overwhelmed staff person needed him. It was a privilege for me to be “on the other end of the leash” as it was truly all about Segugio.
Molly was his best bud, how he grieved when she was called to the Bridge.
Segugio was our choir leader. He would hear sirens long before anyone else did and when I'd say "Uh oh, roooooers!" he would sing. A wonderful rooooo. He was not a barker but a true roooooer. He would often stand outside sniffing the air, checking messages older than time, with that soft, faraway look on his softly grayed face. That beautiful kissy spot on his forehead marked his entry into his senior years. Early on he claimed the pillow next to mine, and when he wasn't there he was tucked on my shoulder and under my chin. To say that I miss him doesn’t begin to touch on the depth of the Segugio-sized hole in my heart.
When his sister Sorella (Worldtradecenter) retired and reunited with her brother, there is no question that these littermates knew each other. A litter that had been named in honor of 9/11 (the racing owner's brother was a police officer at the WTC on 9/11), these two were seriously special.
The week before Christmas when our doc told me that we had "Maybe a month" before Segugio's illness would take him, I felt as though I'd been punched in the gut. I felt both cheated and blessed to have had nine days with him. Nine Days. To spoil him with chikken wontons. To visit one last time with his friends at the nursing home. To go for his walk, and sniff the air checking for messages. To try to thank him, for being A Wonderful Gift to all of us.
His passing was peaceful, and as he left I held his head and told him how much I loved him and thanked him for having been such A Wonderful Gift. The morning of his passing I awoke at 1:30 a.m. and found him like this with Sorella.
Rest well my friend, until we meet again. There are chikken wontons and chikken feet at the Bridge, baby. Segugio, KNOT a box of rocks; rather, A Wonderful Gift.
Segugio's song (Morning Bells Will Chime by John Denver)
... the wind will whisper your name to me...