Lacy
Too
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Her
life
Lacy Too came into my
life as a young puppy. I was still grieving from my loss of Big
Jake and my room mate had convinced me to go look at the litter
and possibly come home with a puppy to help me get over my moping.
When I visited Mari Cower's home I found myself face to face with
a large litter of puppies, parents and grand parents.
I went with a lot of
hesitation. I was unsure if I could provide enough affection to
a puppy so soon after loosing Jake. But I looked into this little
female weaten's eyes and saw a sweet gentle soul. She was the female
pick of the litter as well as the pick of my heart.
She came home with me
and settled in very quickly. Housebreaking was quick as she instinctively
wanted to please. Within a couple of days she was climbing up onto
my water bed to sleep next to me during the night and trying to
be a couch lap dog in the evenings. It took a few sessions for her
to get the concept of leads and walking on leashes but soon we were
going for short walks together.
My previous female Wolfhound
was a wheaten named Lacey. The new puppy looked a lot like her and
somehow became Lacy Too.
The only problem I had
with her is that she is a finicky eater who doesn't have much of
an interest in food. She turned her nose up at most prepared dog
foods, wouldn't touch canned dog foods, dairy products nor raw meat.
Cooked meat and a very few brands of cheap dry kibble is all she
would eat. I kept trying to switch her over to higher quality dog
foods but she would have nothing of them. Over the years I donated
a lot of mostly full bags of premium dog food to others .
As she grew, she went
through obedience training, we slowly lengthened our walks and we
started going on Land Rover camping trips together. Also, during
that time I was working at Apple Computer. During days I did not
have meetings scheduled she spent the day with me in my office.
I added vacation time
to my five year Apple sabbatical and Lacey and I went on a 3 month
long camping trip in the Land Rover. She quickly learned how to
behave on camping trips and while I have the tripod out taking pictures.
She became a seasoned off road traveler and dearly loved to go camping.
During the first two years of her life she spent almost one fifth
of it camping on the trail and living in the Land Rover.
Lacy has walked beaches
all along the California, Oregon and Washington costs as well as
parts of the British Columbia and Vancouver island coasts. She has
walked on glaciers in the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, walked
parts of the Oregon trail in Wyoming and the Mojave trail through
the desert in Southern California. She has walked the streets of
San Francisco, Cheyenne, Tombstone, Jackson Hole, Deadwood and Carson
City. She has sniffed ancient Bristle cone pines at 12 thousand
feet elevation in the White mountains and the salt encrusted dirt
in Death Valley at the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. Lacy
has walked through sand stone arches in Arches National Park, walked
along the Merced river in Yosemite, watched Geysers in Yellowstone,
followed John Wayne's footsteps in Monument Valley, visited Anasazi
ruins in Canyon de Chilly, visited several old Calvary forts, walked
along the shores of several of the great lakes on both the North
and South sides, walked through forests in upstate New York, New
Hampshire, Montreal, Quebec, the Olympic rain forest and several
ancient Redwood forests.
During this time Lacy
and I became inseparable She always tired so hard to please and
was always there to provide lots of love. After I started working
at home we were hardly ever apart. On days we were home we walked
either in the nearby redwood forest or along Sea cliff State beach
for a couple of hours every day it was not raining.
People who know me know
we came as a pair and where one of us was the other was close by.
Joined at the hip and never farther away than a quick cry "LACE"
followed by the yellow streak of an Irish Wolfhound racing the wind
to return to the one she loves.
She has seen and done
a lot for during her five years and has been my constant companion
primary source of joy during that time. I have loved her dearly
as she has loved me.
Five years of age is
way too young for a Wolfhound to die.
Pedigree
information/ Conformation/ Health details
Lacy Too
Reg # HM609217/05
Born: 14, November,
1995
Died: 21 April
2001
Breeder: Mari
Cower of Penryn, California
Lacy Too:
Reamonn's
Kelly Brogan |
Connemara's
Miles Kenyon |
Ch
Connemara's Finn of Rathkeale |
Ch
Killarney Muldoon O'Balor |
Ch
Killarney Kelsey Mckrae |
Martha-Brae
Mciver |
Kilarney
Mickey Mciver |
Tessa of
Buffalo Creek |
Kelsey
Blarney Stone |
Ch
Major Acres Blarney Castle |
Ch
Major Acres High Class |
Ch
Major Acres Kelleegh |
Steppenwolfs
Shooting Star |
Steppenwolfs
Ragnor |
Maggie
Cu Tir of Steppenwolf |
Reamonn's
Lady Cassidy |
Fleetwind Guinness McKenna
Sold by breeder with no breed contract. Had bad bite
Last breeder heard he changed homes at 8 yrs
2 littermates died age 11 |
Ch
Dieter Von Der Oelmuhle
Died 6 heart problem
|
BIS Ch
Ger. Ch Int.
Maevrick's Zippy Zodiak |
Dt Ch
Longleg's Brid |
Fleetwind
Vanilla |
Ch
Fleetwind Magnum |
Ch
Fleetwind Bonnie Brae Magic
Died 12 yrs
|
Reamon's
Lady Fiona |
Connemara's
Miles Kenyon |
Ch
Connemara's Finn of Rathkeale |
Martha-Brae
Mciver |
Kelsey
Blarney Stone |
Ch
Major Acres Blarney Castle |
Steppenwolfs
Shooting Star |
Conformation:
Lacy Too was structurally
very correct, with an excellent head and ears. She stood thirty
four inches at the shoulder but only weighed between 110 and 115
pounds. As such she seemed a little on the over refined side of
the Wolfhound standard. This may have had something to do with
her not being an eager eater. I would say her real physical faults
were that she was slightly over refined for the breed standard
and that she mostly carried her head even with her shoulders or
lower. I'm not positive but I strongly suspect she was far sighted.
Personality wise she
was very loving and devoted and never showed any sign of aggression.
She was a little more shy than she should be according to the
breed standard for personality but otherwise spot on.
Health
Details:
Lacy had a very good
immune system and was never sick a day in her life until she came
down with bone cancer. She quickly healed from all small wounds
and did not seem to have any noticeable allergies.
She was diagnosed with
bone cancer at her right rear hock a month after her fifth 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.
Pictures
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And
they called it Puppy Love
Spring of 1996,
Lacey was about six months old.
On days I didn't
have meetings scheduled Lacy came to work at Apple Computer
with me. Here we are in the courtyard of Apple Computer's
R&D complex in Cupertino.
I had a second
ID badge made up and clipped it to her collar.
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Who could gaze
into those puppy eyes and not fall in love?
To know her
was to love her
1996 at about six
months of age
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Lacy
and me in Monument Valley, 1998
Me & Lacy
in Canyon de Chilly, 1997
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Asking to come
in
1998, on her second
of three visits to Canyon de Chilly, Az
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Most people
who met Lacy thought she was a white Irish Wolfhound.
Except for her
black wheaten markings her light blond hair faded to a dirty
white by the time she was a year old.
Lighthouse field,
Santa Cruz, 2001
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Lacy
and me In Portland, Oregon, 1999
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Lacy taking
her turn behind the wheel of the Land Rover, Montana, 1998.
She was an
avid off road traveler who loved to go on extended camping
trips.
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Starting the
year out right
Morning camp on
the Mojave trail New Years day 1999.
The Mojave trail
is an old covered wagon trail that brought settlers into Southern
California through the great Mojave desert.
Lacy slept inside
on her chase lounge pad. My bed is a fold out at the roof
line. It's the farthest we every slept from each other except
when I went on business trips.
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Though she traveled
extensively through North America and Canada, she never became
a jaded traveler. There was always something there to fascinate
her. She never tired of traveling, seeing new places and
meeting new creatures.
Life was always
fascinating
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Where have all
the flowers gone...
Across the rainbow bridge
A last picture
taken of Lacy on St. Patrick's day 2001 less than one month
before she crossed over the rainbow bridge.
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