Bob Bradley
"Over N Back"

Bob is the Bradley's favorite (and only) boy. He is a wonderful addition to their home, and a great meet & greet dog, winning friends wherever he goes.

Update: It has taken a month for me to be able to write this and I still don't know what to say.

Bob was not a GEM dog but did attend some GEM meet and greets and home visits and was the reason a number of families decided to adopt a greyhound. He was definitely "Greyhound Ambassador Extraordinaire."

Two weeks after we adopted our first greyhound, Heidi, from 2nd Chance in January 2000, we decided to take Bob in as a foster. He was a casualty of divorce and we hoped his presence would help ease Heidi's separation anxiety. Indeed, it made a great difference. He was the gentlest soul I've ever known - truly a gentle giant - and was respected by all of our canine residents. Whenever we took him to a prospective adoptive home, we always (and I mean always) heard the same thing: "We want one just like Bob!"

He loved the grandchildren, all of our relatives, friends, neighbors, strangers, everyone... My youngest grandson Daniel was his favorite, though. Daniel said it was because he knew just how to "twiddle" Bob's ears. :-) He hugged people by leaning on them and would frequently shove his nose under a hand or arm for pets. He never put one paw on the furniture and was content to hold down his bed in the corner away from the flurry of younger dogs.

There was a "Ritual of Roo" in our household. Whenever Bob would hear a siren, whenever someone left the house, whenever someone arrived and whenever he felt like it, he would start rooing. The other dogs would all run to him and join in. When he was finished he would bark three times and the other dogs would stop and go about their business. It was so funny to watch! None of the other dogs ever started rooing on their own and they won't do it for either John or me. The silence in our home is deafening...

On Thursday, November 11, Bob started limping a little on his front foot. I called the vet first thing the next morning to get it x-rayed as I didn't want to wait over the weekend in case something was broken. We were devastated to find out it was bone cancer. We came home with pain meds and had to make the decision whether or not to put him through surgery, chemo, etc. Bob would have been 13 years old in January, his eyesight was failing and he became frustrated with any changes in his daily routine. So, we promised him that would be his last trip to the vet. During the next week it was getting more and more difficult for him to get around and he was getting tired. He let us know it was time...

We are so fortunate to have two vets - a holistic vet who comes to our home and an allopathic vet that has state of the art diagnostic equipment and superb surgical abilities. Bob loved them both but had vacationed at the home of our holistic vet several times and she and her family became very attached to him. She came to our home on Thursday, November 16 and with broken hearts, we sent our big old boy to the bridge. He went so peacefully and quietly, with one final nudge for a pat on the head.....

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