Rainbow Bridge - Pepsi

It's with great sadness that we have to report that Connie Brown had to send Pepsi to the Rainbow Bridge. Pepsi had been diagnosed with bone cancer at the end of October. It was a blow to all of us as Pepsi had been through so much and had found such a wonderful home.

For those who don't know Pepsi's story, he was dropped in a shelter in May of last year along with his lab friend, Buddy. We got the call about Pepsi and Buddy and we went to the shelter and got them both out. Buddy had liver cancer and did not live but we managed to get him into a lab rescue and with loving people who spent time with him during his last hours. Pepsi was not in good shape. He needed vaccinations and his mouth was quite a mess. He had a twisted foot that caused him to walk with a limp. And he was eleven years old. He had been taken to the shelter by the husband of his owner who had died. She had taken him from a farm as a puppy. He had not been tatooed.

We took care of getting Pepsi well. He lost all but eleven teeth during a dental. But he was quite a dog! We loved him immediately as he had such a wonderful spirit and was so funny. We placed him on Craiger's List after he got a little better, but we didn't expect to find him a home very soon. Who would want an eleven year old greyhound that was not tatooed, had a twisted foot, and hardly any teeth? Connie Brown! Connie saw Pepsi's photo on Craiger's List and read about him and she submitted an application to adopt him.

We could not have asked for a better home for Pepsi. From the moment Connie took Pepsi home, he was greatly loved and showered with attention, food, toys, many collars, coats and anything else that Connie might think he needed! She truly loved him. She called or emailed me at least once a week and we laughed at his many exploits (like how Connie could not figure out how her foster dogs were getting out of their crates until she found that Pepsi had learned how to unlatch them!). He was always doing something funny.

We had fun at Dewey Beach in October when Connie stopped by our vending area many times to show us all the wonderful things she had bought for Pepsi. We also saw her and Pepsi at the GPA picnic in late October.

At the end of October he started limping and a vet visit revealed that he had bone cancer. It was unbelieveable that now that Pepsi had found such a wonderful home that his time would be cut short. Connie decided to do pain management for Pepsi and watched him very carefully.

He did so well over the last two months that we often wondered together if Pepsi had been mis-diagnosed. He had good days and less good days but never bad days. But it all finally came to an end the last two days when it was clear that things were changing. Connie held Pepsi in her arms as she let him go to the bridge.

I will miss Pepsi more than words can say. I am so grateful to Connie for keeping him in my life. I made a friend that I will miss talking to about a wonderful greyhound that we shared.

But we know that Pepsi had a wonderful life and even much more than we could have ever hoped for. We are grateful to Connie and thank her for giving Pepsi the home he deserved. Run free sweet boy; your fan club is waiting at the bridge. And you will never be forgotten in the hearts and minds of those who knew you here on earth.