Stevie

Handsome Stevie in full flight

Robs Diamond (2 July 2002 - 24 July 2014)

Stevie joined our greyhound gang on 27 April 2008.  Despite thinking that Mina would always be a one-dog hound, our preconceptions were challenged on a greyhound walk back in March 2008 - another momentous occasion that led us to a handsome blue hound called Stevie.


It's fair to say that Mina picked Stevie.  We visited the local kennels of Lincolnshire Greyhound Trust and met several hounds, none of whom Mina really gelled with until she met Stevie.

Stevie had been returned to the Trust as his previous owners were leaving him for 9-10 hours at a time and quite naturally, he was in a bit of a state - especially when it came to toilet training.  This big blue lad soon stole our hearts and was cat trainable - a must for living with Chivers and Tazzie.

Stevie's cat training took a while.  There was one incident where he had his chops around Tazzie after a certain someone - not me - forgot to shut the utility room door! But as he is so food motivated it was easy to train a 'leave it' around food and then apply the principle to the cats.

Stevie's our gentle giant. He loves nothing more than coming up to us and burying his head in our laps and he's so used to our cats now that they often snuggle up together!

Whenever we're out and about, people always come up and say hello to Stevie and at a lot of greyhound meet and greets they want to adopt him.

Stevie raced under the name of Robs Diamond and he won several of his races before retiring.  His racing owner is still in contact with me and shared some of the footage of Stevie's racing days.

Stevie's racing days

Stevie has found his forever home with us and I can't imagine our home without him.  He'll do anything for food and is such a happy boy. 

RIP Stevie, 24 July 2014

During June/July it was apparent that Stevie wasn't feeling himself.  First of all, I wanted to put it down to the hot weather but my gut instinct told me it was more than the heat that was making Stevie feel off colour.

We went to the vet and it was confirmed that Stevie had lost around 4 Kg of weight.  Medication was prescribed, bloods were taken and we waited for the results.  The results came back clear.  However, Stevie's health continued to decline.  We were back at the vet a week later, and were seen by Stevie's favourite vet (who knows lots about greyhounds).  She was shocked by how much weight he had lost (he had lost more since the previous visit) and, upon examining him, discovered he had a lump on his liver/spleen.

Due to his age, I wasn't prepared to put him through a battery of tests.  I made the heart-rending decision to let him go with dignity and love.  He came home and was spoiled rotten for the next day and a half.

On Thursday 24 July 2014, Stevie passed away peacefully at home.  He may be gone but he will never be forgotten and is now reunited with Mina.