In late August of 1998, this Borzoi was found on the 3300 block of Kostner in Chicago. She had no collar, no tags, no tattoo, and no microchip. She was clean and friendly.

The people who found her could not keep her, so they put an ad in the lost and found section of the Chicago Tribune. It read "Dog found: tall, white, thin, possibly a Borzoi." We decided to buy the paper on 8/29/98. It is something we very rarely do. We saw the ad. It was kismet.

They told us that they had put posters up in the area and driven around with her, asking if anyone recognized her. No one called. No one knew who she was.

We brought her home on 8/31/98. Joe named her Tina. She got along well with our alpha Borzoi Olly. She followed us everywhere in the house.

The next day we brought her to the vet. Tina was not spayed. She had no dewclaws. She was 72 pounds and over 29 inches at the shoulder. She had a tiny scar on her nose.

One vet said Tina was 4-5 years old. The vet who spayed her estimated her to be 6 or 7. She was so playful and active that we guessed her to be younger.

Tina had some odd habits. She hung her nose off the far edge of the bowl when drinking water. She licked the floor or the furniture after eating. She liked to cover her eyes when resting. She backed up to defecate. She loved ice cubes. She ate snow, grabbing mouthfuls at a time. She stole anything sweet. Once she broke into a box of donuts and ate 4 plain, 4 powdered, and ¼ cinnamon donuts.

Tina never seemed to be able to sit down. Instead, she always stood or laid down, often gingerly. When we x-rayed her hips, we found she had 3 cerclage wires in her right leg.
Tina's front legs had an east-west fault, her hind end had a lot of angularity, and her eyes were straight on rather than oblique. But to us and to everyone who saw her, she was heart-stoppingly beautiful.

She had a great life with us for 4 years. Days spent gnawing bones in the sunny yard, nights lolling upside down on the sofa. Vet trips to meet new friends. She was always happy.

In October of 2002 she began having trouble jumping on the sofa. We took her to a substitute vet, who said "she's probably just full." That didn't sound right. We insisted on an abdominal x-ray. It revealed a large mass. The needle biopsy was inconclusive, but surgery on 11/5/02 showed the mass was hemangiosarcoma. It was attached to her lumbar muscles and made the surgery long and difficult. The surgeon said that the tumor would have burst and killed Tina if we hadn't insisted on an x-ray. Kismet. Again.

Tina recovered quickly and enjoyed life fully until late January of 2003, when she began having trouble getting up on the sofa. On 2/1 we had her x-rayed, fearing the tumor had regrown. To our elation there was no large mass visible in her abdomen. But an ultrasound on 2/5 revealed dozens of small tumors growing in her abdomen. They were everywhere. There was nothing more we could do for her except to "spoil her." 

Joe began cooking Tina chicken livers and gravy every night. She enjoyed Dixie cups and frosted cookies. But on 2/16 she stopped getting up and we knew that we had to let her go soon. Still, she wanted so badly to live. She never gave up.

On the morning of 2/20/03 her vet came to "Tina's house" and administered the final injection. Tina was lying on the kitchen rug with our hands touching her. We told her we were sorry and that we loved her and that she would be an angel soon. In a few minutes, Tina jerked twice and stopped breathing. The last thing she felt was our touch.

Just like that it was over. 4 ½ golden years had come to an end. The life force that had animated her pointy pink ears, moved her coal-dark eyes, and coursed through the veins beneath her silky fur was extinguished. The ethereal light was gone from her soul---and from ours.

We had arranged a same-day cremation for Tina. At 4 PM we arrived at the crematory and saw her for one last time. We kissed her again and told her we loved her. As she was being consumed, we read from the journal we had kept, chronicling her life. We laughed as we read about incidents long forgotten. We looked at her many pictures and wept that such a beautiful and gentle creature no longer graced our lives.

Good night Tina, our sweet white snow angel. We love you and miss you every day. In the arms of an angel, fly far and fast away from here into the sky. Spirit will guide you. Run free with the wind. We will be with you again. 

Tina was with us for far too short a time. She came, was loved, and left.

We wish we knew more about Tina. Did she escape from someone? Or was she discarded? Did she ever have puppies? How long was she on the streets before she was found? What was her name? Who bred her? How old was she?

We are offering a reward of $200.00 for her identification.


If you know who this dog is, please email us at: stargirl1991@yahoo.com
We only want information and do not wish to blame anyone.