My Best Friend
******************************************************************

My present whippet ‘Jess’ was 5 years old and had suffered a career ending injury so I decided to breed a litter of pups, with a view of keeping a bitch pup.
Jess is line bred Sooty Sam and is quite strong boned I wanted to breed a little more pace into the pups so I used a stud dog from the Parkstone kennels ‘Parkstone Buttons’. After a successful mating I was at tender hooks for the first four weeks wondering if she was in pup. However after four weeks she started to show,
Mark who owns the stud dog visited me and noticed straight away she was in pup and in his own words ‘she has a right belly full’.
Well on July 17th 2005 Jess had her pups all ten of them. 7 bitches and 3 dogs what a fantastic litter I was overwhelmed. Jess turned out to be a great mother to the pups feeding them really well and keeping herself in good condition.
There were 4 blue/white 1 black, 1 champagne fawn, 1 blue fawn/white bitches. 1 blue/white, 1 fawn/white, 1 fawn dog.


I had no real problems finding homes for the pups apart from one timewaster all went to really good homes.
I decided to keep the largest blue bitch ‘Tilly’ I named her.
From day one Tilly was a real gem and she stole a place in my heart.
It may sound funny but she knew she was special to me.
Ever since I was a child I always wanted a blue whippet I first saw one when I was 10 and at that moment I said to myself I’d love one of those when I’m older.

Tilly was kennelled outside with her mother Jess, my dogs are working dogs as well as my companions, however I always give them 2hrs or so in the evening in the house.
The dogs are usually with me most of the day whilst I’m out and about, so there learning what’s expected of them from an early age.

Everything was going really well with Tilly’s training she responded well to the ferrets and was very interested in the rabbits that Jess had caught whilst out on walks.

When Tilly was 6 months old I met Dawn and Richard Mason at a dog show at Newark. Dawn & Richard breed and show whippets and they asked if I was going to show Tilly as they thought she looked really well. The thought had never crossed my mind, I bred Tilly to work not to be a show dog but I thought it wouldn’t’ hurt her.
As long as I didn’t have to show her in the ring.

When the pups were 9 months old we held a reunion at the Lancashire pedigree Whippet Racing Club where 7 of the 10 pups were reunited for the afternoon.
It was nice to see them all together with a few having a short run.


.It was a nice afternoon with the Lancashire although
the rain never stopped we never let that spoil the day.

After seeing Tilly chasing the lure at the Lancashire club I decide to take Tilly racing to Manton wrc although it’s for non pedigree whippets they made us feel really welcome and Tilly proved more than capable of racing, she ran at 28 lbs.

A couple of weeks after the reunion I spoke to Dawn and she mentioned there was a companion dog show on at Laxton near me on the Sunday and did I want to enter Tilly as she would handle her for me. I jumped at the chance and myself and Nathan(my son) went along, we met up with Dawn and Richard and we entered Tilly in the pedigree puppy class. There were around 18 entrants to the class I had to hide as Dawn was handling Tilly and Tilly kept looking at me so I was told to go away!!!.


Tilly looked fantastic.

Dawn handled her superbly. When the judge made the cut Tilly was in it, she was down to the last 5. The judge then had another look at them all and I couldn’t believe it when he went straight over to Tilly she had won. I couldn’t believe it. Tilly knew she had won too you could see it in her eyes. Dawn was speechless, although Tilly had never been shown before and never trained to stand etc Dawn said she handled the show superbly. All that was left was to wait for the best pedigree in show class. Tilly again looked great and she was awarded the best puppy and best pedigree puppy in show the judge commented’ that it was nice to see a whippet that looked capable of doing the job it was bred to do’. I was on cloud nine and we walked away from the show with 2 15kg bags of dog food 2 rosettes and a shield.


A couple of weeks later (July) I went to the Staveley and District Lurcher Club show at Pikehall for the weekend with my son Nathan. We were meeting up with fellow moochers.com members and were staying the weekend. I entered Tilly in the Moochers.com show on the Saturday and she was second.



T hen on the Sunday morning we had a little race between Tilly and Jack sparrows ¾ whippet ¼ bedlington ‘Storm’ the race was over 120 yds and was hand slipped,
Tilly fell at the start and Storm was away with a lead of 10 yards or so,
Tilly got into her stride and was level with storm and the half way stage.
Tilly eventually won by around 5 lengths.

On the Sunday afternoon I entered the moochers.com show again with Tilly
she was Reserve Champion

I have never been as proud about any of my dogs as I was that day she looked amazing it was nice to hear peoples kind remarks about Tilly. Nathan even said he felt proud of me and Tilly. Although Tilly was bred to work it was nice to see other people enjoy seeing her at the show.
Sadly whilst out walking Tilly close to home someone whistled her and I never saw her alive again. I searched for 6 days and nights, put over 200 posters up, phones local radio and television. The whole of the k9 community and Moocher.com members were printing posters and out looking for her too. Auctions were taking place on both sites to help with expenses that were mounting up with advertising etc.

I found Tilly’s body next to a train track about 3 ½ miles away.
I was heart broken my little blue bitch had gone.
I felt sick and angry at the same time.
I moved Tilly’s body to a safe place where I could pick her up later as I was on foot.
I walked home, after making a couple of phone calls.

I fetched Tillys body and buried her in my front garden I planted a nice tree above her, She may be gone but she’ll never be forgotten.

'There is one best place to bury a dog,
if you bury her in this spot, she will
come to you when you call - come to you
over the grim, dim frontier of death,
and down the well-remembered path
and to your side again.

And though you call a dozen living
dogs to heel, they shall not growl at her,
nor resent her coming,
for she belongs there.

People may scoff at you, who see
no lightest blade of grass bent by her footfall,
who hear no whimper, people
who may never really have had a dog.
Smile at them, for you shall know
something that is hidden from them,
and which is well worth the knowing.

The one best place to bury a good dog
is in the heart of her master.'

RIP Tilly.

With the money raised from the auction on k9 community the money has been put into

The Tilly Memorial Rescue Fund,

which will be used for helping any whippet that is in need.

The money raised from the moochers.com auction is going to be used to help anyone else who finds themselves in a simlular situation.

May I take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped me when I needed them,
it wouldn’t be fair to mention individual names but you know who you are,
I’ll be forever be in your debt,

**************************************
Mally