Lady
Irish Lace of Eaglewood
Her
life
I had decided that I
tended to live in places that were a bit too cold for Great Danes
and spent some time reading up on different breeds of dogs in an
attempt to find a good breed to fit both my personality and my life
style. I had a Great Pyrenees at the time who was somewhat less
person oriented than I would prefer and had been giving idle thoughts
about getting a second dog. From my reading it looked like an Irish
Wolfhound would be the perfect breed for me. They seemed to have
nice people oriented personalities and prefer the same temperature
and climate ranges that I do.
One day I saw an add in our local paper about a Wolfhound for sale. Someone local was selling
a wheaten female Irish Wolfhound that has just turned five. I called
and went over to visit the owner and dog. Lacey's people were getting
divorced and neither party wanted to keep the family dog. We went
out on the back deck to look at Lacey and to discuss what a living
with Wolfhound was like. During our talk, Lacy walked over and laid
her head in my lap and stared up into my eyes. She kept this up
for the duration of our talk. Well, she saw, she conquered, and
I brought her home, saving her from a broken family situation.
She started out a little
shy but calm and quickly became friends with Bear. Soon she was
sleeping on my bed and keeping me company while Bear stayed out
guarding the livestock. I quickly discovered that Lacey was an excellent
people dog and was indeed everything I had hoped the breed would
be. As she learned the house rules, became more comfortable with
all the changes and learned to love me she blossomed as a companion
dog. Since she was a good citizen when I got her and didn't have
any neurotic habits, I assume she had a normal life with her previous
family. I DO know that she got lots of love and companionship with
me and seemed very happy with her life.
She did have to go to
work once. We were having frequent coyote raids during the night
where the coyotes would kill and run off with small livestock.
Since Bear, my Great Pyrenees, was not allowed to run loose
unsupervised, he was in a fenced in part of the yard. The coyotes
also tended to double team him. One would draw him away and
another would come in from behind for the kill. When I awoke
from a ruckus and let him out of a fenced in area at night he
could not catch the coyotes. This was an ongoing frustration
that was costing livestock lives.
Lacey was much faster
than Bear. I let them both out after a coyote attack and they headed
off over the ridge in hot pursuit. They came home a bit later that
night with blood on their coats that did not belong to either of
them. That was the last night we lost livestock to coyotes. We no
longer heard the coyotes sing from the next ridge after that incident.
Sometimes a dog has gotta do what he or she was bred for. A massive
livestock guardian dog and a fast Wolfhound can make a formidable
livestock protection team.
Very soon after Lacey's
8th birthday she came down with bone cancer in her front leg. This
cancer ravaged her quickly. It was my first experience with canine
bone cancer and I did not know what to expect. I feel I held on
to her too long trying to keep her with me and not wanting to face
the loss of this wonderful loving heart hound.
Once again a dog taught
me something about life and the virtue of unselfish love. To balance
the quality of life against my need to hang on to one I love. Another
lesson to carry on that can make parting with a future canine companion
better for the dog. I just wish my lessons would not come with such
pain.
Pedigree
information/ Conformation/ Health details
LADY IRISH LACE OF
EAGLEWOOD
Reg # HD412646
Born: 10, JULY
1983
Died: September
1991
Breeder: Lauri
Porter
Sire: Major Acres
Landon AAragon CD
Dam: Portauprince
Kelly Ann
SS: Major Acres
High Class
SSS: Major
Acres Vanguard
SSD: Major
Acres Elegance
SD: Major Acres
Gloreegh
SDS: Major
Acres Xcalibur
SDD: Major
Acres Just Plain Cush
DS: Fun-e Finn
of Swords
DSS: Bernard
of Roscrea
DSD: Beatrix
of Swords
DD: Celia of
Murphree
DDS: Sunset
Bragg
DDD: Gidget
of Murphree
Conformation:
Lacey was a little narrow at the her chest, the hocks pointed
out a little and her rear legs tracked a little to the side of
her front legs. While she did not have any structurally debilitating
problems she was definitely not show quality. She stood 32 inches
at the shoulder. Basically she was a reasonably sound pet quality
Irish Wolfhound.
Personality wise she was very loving and devoted and never showed
any sign of aggression. Her personality matched the breed standard
even if her body did not.
Health Details:
Lacey had a very good immune system and was never sick a day
during the years I owned her until she came down with bone cancer.
She did not seem to have any noticeable allergies.
She was diagnosed with bone cancer her front lower leg a month
after her eighth birthday. Considering her age I believe she had
an inherited genetic predisposition to bone cancer. This, unfortunately,
is way too common in the Irish Wolfhound gene pool.
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