Mstie (1996 - 2009)

Mstie (1996 - 2009)

That old King was a friend of mine

Never knew a dog

that was half as fine

I may find one, you never do know

'Cause I still got a long way to go.

Neil Young, Old King

Mstie lost her 2 month battle with bone cancer today. Pat and I were there with her. I can't yet tell you what a great dog she was but believe me she was. Unlike me she raced professional and was pretty good, making it to a Track "C" which means she won some races. Her racing is hardcore. You win you race against other 1 year old greys and you prize is avoiding euthanasia. You make yourself a regular on the scene and you move up to a "D". "B" is national level and "A" is top dollar, e.g. million dollar dogs. She raced until 4, which is like playing lineman in the NFL until 41. We recused her at 4.5 years in 2000 when the kids were still in grade school and had a great time since. She could run 500 m faster than the world record for Men's speed skating, sub 32 seconds, steal food off you plate before you could move and winnie like a thoroughbred when happy.

Just found out the boys used to call her "Knifedog". Yeah, how appropriate, even in retirement she barely gained a lb or 2 over her racing weight. She was real big for a girl, usually they top at 60 lb but she was 64 lb of muscle. And in greyhound racing you don't have age groups or races divided by sex, the girls race the 90 lb boys straight up. She was a trainer's favorite as she had less of the shy personality most greys have and let everyone know how she felt about a situation, and no stranger was safe from getting sucked up to for pets.

No more pain, girl. Love you to pieces.