Howie Wowie - RIP. You will be missed

On December 5th, my family and I had our world rocked with the unexpected sudden passing of our greyhound Howie. AKA Howie Wowie, Handsome Howie, Sir Howie; Lord Barkington, Earl of Cookie.

My family and I were fortunate to be available for Howie when he was returned back to our rescue group GSGA. He was 4 when he was returned and lived with us for another 8.5 years. Howie had a tough medical life with having a splenectomy, pancreatitis, trying to pass a 3cm gallstone, and most recently, living with a mild level of degenerative myelopathy. We gave him all of the opportunity to get through them and he did.

Howie was our first male dog. He was our third greyhound and as greyhound owners know, they all have different personalities. Howie was so friendly, gentle and easy going. He loved it when people greeted him and came to the door. His only demand was a mile walk everyday. Rain, hot, cold, it didn’t matter. He would march along sniffing and dragging our other greyhound. “Hurry up” he would say. “I have another bush to sniff and pee on”. He also apparently knew how to read the clock. At exactly 7:00PM, dinner had better be ready or he was up in your face reminding you. Howie was a connoisseur of snacks also. Cheese, chicken nuggets, beef, fish, etc… It didn’t matter. No veggies though.

I could go on and on with stories of Howie. However, the sudden passing has left us with a huge hole in our hearts. I told him I hope we were able to be half as good to him as he was to us. The bumper sticker that reads “Rescue greyhound. Who saved who?” was so true with Howie. Howie was a dog that everyone would have wanted.

We will see you at the bridge buddy. Run free and painless. Say hi to our other dogs who are waiting for us. Belly rubs are coming!