JULY 9, 2021: GOODBYE DRUMMER

Sadly, Drummer had to be put to sleep. He was ten days away from his 10th birthday. He finally succumbed to what is old age for an Irish Wolfhound.

Drawing my Govinda Holtby       

 "Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul in unawakened."

Anatole France

MOTHER'S DAY, 2021

Drummer with my nephew Damon's daughter Maliah on Mother's Day.

 

MAY 2021

 A few days ago Mr. Drummer was eating grass, presumably because his stomach was upset. He did throw up later in the day, including a rather large rock.

 That night I woke up to a horrible smell at 4am. Drummer had explosive diarrhea all down the stairs, even on the wall. It took me two hours to clean it all up.

He has also been having problems with his back legs and hips. He gets up with more difficulty, and literally fell out when trying to get out of the truck.

I took him to the Double Bluff beach, walking just a little farther than usual. On the way back he needed to lay down and rest every 60 feet.

Drummer will be ten years old July 19th of this year, outliving the average Irish Wolfhound by 2-3 years. But his clearly an old gentleman at this point.

APRIL, 2021

 Drummer enjoying the coming of Spring on Whidbey Island, where he can hang out in our back yard all he wants. For the first time in a long time he doesn't have some health issue going on. 

MARCH 2021: Drummer's New Friends

Liesel discovered me through our both being in the Whidbey Island Arts Guild called the Island Bohemians. She and her parents, Luther and Tricia own two Irish Wolfhounds named Katie and Clare. They are 18 months old, and as it turns out they live only five minutes from Drummer and I. The two of them ran around like the adolescents they are, while Drummer chewed on their bones, and acted like an old man- but his usual gentle, friendly self.

 

Wolfhound Puppy - One Month Later

 Drummer and I were again at the Double Bluff beach dog park, and by coincidence ran into Grim and his owners Boone and Katy. All the more incredible because they live in Seattle, but they came to stay overnight on Whidbey for Katy's birthday. Amazingly Grim is noticeably bigger in just a month. Drummer hasn't changed in a month, but has overcome his latest bout with inflammatory colitis with an even more rarified and expensive diet. We had some drama when another dog grabbed Grim's ear and wouldn't let go. Katy was the only one who drew blood in the scramble to get the other dog to let go. 

FEBRUARY 3, 2021: WOLFHOUND PUPPY

On the first sunny day in a week Drummer and I go to Double Bluff beach on Whidbey Island, ten minutes from our house. There we meet Grim, a 13 week old Irish Wolfhound puppy owned by Boone & Katy, who had come over from Seattle. They had to go all the way to Arkansas to get him. He was one of a litter of eleven, but finding a Wolfhound proved to require a cross country trip.