Nichols Family 2008

January 25, 2009 Beth Levine

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"] Levi dressed for racing! So to review 2008 for our family is quite the task. But I will keep it as short as I can.

Our beloved Levi “Obailee’s Premiere” that we were so lucky to get from Stacey Davis and Tracy Hite turned 2 years old. We thought we were ready to try our hand at lure coursing. We entered him in the Field Lure Trials being held in Roy, for his certification run in April. It took him a couple of times but the judges were nice enough to give him a second chance to complete his run. We were so thrilled; we never could have imagined way joy it could bring to watch such beauty and strength run like that.

[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"] Levi and Heather

Tragically a month later we would lose our Levi to a unrepairable neck injury sustained doing what he loved best; running. We did elect a low odd surgery to try and decompress his spinal cord but Levi died within 20 minutes of his surgery being completed. We are still heart broken and deeply miss his presence in our lives. There will never be another dog quite like him. We had over 100 different people express their sadness for Levi's early departure from our lives. It was a testament to what an exceptionally special dog he was.

On a positive note we had already picked a puppy out to bring home to Levi before his passing. A litter was born in March by Mary Downing from Rumor and Foster and we were lucky enough to bring home Rico “Whimsy’s Play me a Tune” in June. And then my husband Rob met another puppy that stole his heart: Mojo! From Aaron and Kerie Sweptson; his energy level seemed to match or at least come close to Levi’s zest for life. So there we have it; now we have two whippets.

But our 2008 doesn’t really end there. We joined the WWWA this year and were invited to the attend the fun match at Marymoor Park. Our youngest daughter Hannah expressed an interest in showing Rico. We signed her up and she was having so much fun that she entered all of the clubs that were there that weekend and with my background in showing horses I had to give it a try myself. Well she was hooked and so was I. :)

We have a couple of shows under our belts with Rico. Our first show was up in Canada at Tradex where Hannah took 3rd place out of 14 juniors and Rico took Reserve Winners Dog and in Vancouver at the Clark County Kennel Club show Hannah took 1st place in her 1st AKC show for juniors and Rico took another Reserve Winners Dog.

So our thanks goes out to our Levi; He was the conduit that took us to new events and we made new friends that share our love of whippets and dogs! I can hardly wait to see what 2009 brings for our family and Rico and Mojo.

Happy New Year!

-submitted by The Nichols[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]