Emma this is such very sad news to read. You gave her the best of love and the best of care and she rewarded that in spades by bringing you all so much joy. When the pain of her passing eases I'm sure you will all have many happy memories to look back on from your 3 and a half years together. We are thinking of you all at this time.
Sleep tight little Frankie xxxx

Such sad news. You will all be in our thoughts.
Love from The New Icemaid Clan xxxxxxxxxxxx

I am so sorry for your loss, frankie was a beautiful girl... Xx

So very sorry for your loss. Run free no more pain. Easy to say but not so easy to feel, i know that all too well. Love to you. Xxx and to your Precious baby.xxxxxxxx

So sorry. Run free Frankie. Xx

So very sorry...God Bless your beautiful Frankie. Thinking of you all. Xxx

I am very sorry to read your sad news about Frankie we are sending our love yo you and your family tinker and manna xx

So sorry Emma. Sending all my love. X

So sorry Emma, she had a wonderful life with you and now she is running free. Lots of love from us all xxxx

Dear Emma and family,
I was really saddened to read about Frankie. It's heart breaking to lose a special friend like this and I'm sure you are all terribly upset. There is nothing I can say that will make it any better but please take comfort in knowing what a special time she had with you and how much love she received from you all.

Oh I'm sorry to hear your news Emma. Frankie had the best home a Grey could ever wish for, surrounded by you and your lovely family. Sending you all our love at this sad time. Mand, Stefano, Gent & Emily xxxxx

A week ago today, my heart was broken completely when we had to say goodbye to our beloved little girl Frankie. She had been poorly over Xmas with protein losing enteropathy caused by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). With the wonderful care of Your Vet Solihull and Willows, they managed to stabilise her, to the point where she had increased her weight, her bloods were fine, and we were reducing her meds with a view to her coming off them altogether. The previous week she was being sniffy about her food, then over the weekend she had sickness and diarrhoea so we took her to the vets and tried some different meds, and after briefly perking up a bit on Mon she went rapidly downhill. Ultrasound showed that her insides were in a mess, and that it was either a massive flare up of IBD that she would be unlikely to recover from, or alimentary lymphoma. Either way things weren’t looking good. We did the only thing we could and, although it broke our hearts, we let her go. She was surrounded by her family and as much love as a little greyhound could ever want, and we talked to her and cuddled her as she slipped away.

I promised her she would stay with us forever and now she’s back home from Heart Of England, I can keep that promise to her always. We may only have had her for 3 ½ years but we gave her a lifetimes worth of love and she repaid it back ten-fold. Sleep tight sweetheart xxx

Oh Emma, I just love that story about the 'fuss' stop, I can just imagine it. Our Greys are hysterical at times! Happy Gotcha Day Frankie. See you all soon. Mand, Gent & Emily xxxxxx

A year ago last Saturday, after spending 4 whole days crying at the mere thought of Sadie's litter sister being at the kennels, my husband finally took pity on me and decided to see if Frankie would fit in the boot of the car. That was the main issue as we couldn't afford to replace the car so soon! Shoehorn at the ready we took the other three up to meet her at the kennels, and after a few polite sniffs, they all jumped in the boot, and although it was a squish - she fitted! Well, that's been the story ever since, Frankie has just fitted in - not just the boot, but our lives too. She's such a cuddle monster and she can usually be found sharing a bed with one of the others. Infact Frankie was my kennel mate when I slept over at the kennels back in June! Not long after we had her she had to have 11 teeth out, and she certainly seemed a lot happier once that was done. It's funny because when she has a shake her tongue usually lolls out the side of her mouth - Sadie does this too but she has no excuse because she has all of her teeth!

When I walk the dogs, I walk them in pairs, Sadie and
Frankie first, then Kev and Moo. When we get to the bus
stop around the corner from our house (now more appropriately named the 'fuss stop') the regulars are always waiting to see the famous (or is that infamous?!) two sisters and have a fuss! The girls happily go along to each member of the queue and have a cuddle. Unfortunately, it now means that if we go walkies at a different time, they insist on saying hello to any strangers in the queue, which means I have to explain that they think the queue is there solely for their entertainment! Thankfully, as I leave I can usually hear lots of mutterings of 'ahhh, aren't they lovely'! And of course I agree wholeheartedly!

Happy (late) Gotcha day my beautiful Frankle-pankle, may we have many more together xxx

Another birthday in your house today? That calls for a party!!!! Happy Birthday Frankie. Mand, Gent & Emily xxx

Happy 6th birthday to my Princess Frankie-pants, I know the date is wrong on here but that's what you get for being an unraced girlie! I'll save the gushing monologue about how special you are for next month when we celebrate your very first gotcha day with us, but suffice to say we are so pleased you eventually found your way into our lives xxx

Well, it's only taken 8 months but I *think* we might have cracked this cat training lark! For 3 nights running, Frankie has lain nicely next to Monty-cat (muzzled of course, Frankie not Monty!) and not tried to eat him! Poppy-cat is still rather sensibly giving her a wide berth, but hopefully the perseverance has finally paid off :0)
Shhhhh, don't tell the other 3, but I think Frankie is turning into the perfect grey - not that she was far off that in the first place:0)

So proud of my beautiful Frankie who did her first roadshow today. I never tire of being told how lovely, well-behaved, gentle etc my greys are, and despite being man-handled by little ones all day, Frankie and co were still on their best behaviour - a credit to their breed if I do say so myself. That is all :0)

So lovely to hear how happy she is in her new home. xxxx

Well, it's been 2 months since Frankie came home and what a star she is turning out to be. Her personality is really shining through now and she is becoming quite a cheeky minx - she loves nothing better than to torment her hound brother Kev into a play fight! She also loves her cuddles (from both her hound and human companions) and she's really playful - Dave is pleased he finally has a dog that he can have a play scrap with! Visitors are greeted with a very waggy tail and she loves her walks. She's an extremely clever and biddable girl and as a result is a dream to train. So far she has learnt 'down', 'wait' and 'bow', however 'leave it' is still proving tricky when the cats are around ;0) Like any cat/dog household in the early days it means that we have to be uber-vigilant, however it IS early days and I have every confidence that she will eventually learn that the cats are part of the pack and not a tasty treat! Frankie seems to be very happy and settled here and I hope if her previous family are reading this, that they are reassured that she is a much loved and treasured member of our family.

pleased to see frankie has a wonderful new home.dogs sometimes pick their new owners,hope you all have a wonderful christmas.

I always wish that there was a 'like' button for some comments on here!

Thanks Emma, we were going to look at the V70 but won't bother as my eldest is 17 and 6ft tall xxx I'm assuming your honda is the estate version, we had one a while ago so will go and have a look at them. Sam is 34kg and Stars not to far behind, she's a big girl ! Belle is little like my fluffy lurcher xxx Thank you for the offer, we can't do kingsbury as we are having lunch with santa, but if we are going to Datbreaks and need a test run we will get in touch xxx Thank you for your kind offer xxxx To be honest I have wrapped Stars xmas pressie......she won't be leaving us xxxxx

Congratulations on the new additon to your family, she couldn't have a better home! xxx

Congrats to Frankie and your adoptive family ..... Brill news Emma .. wishing you all well Jx

Hi Becky - oooh lucky Star! I have a Honda Accord which fits the 4 hounds and 2 kids - however, Frankie and Sadie are little tiddlers (22.5kg and 23.5kg respectively) so this might give you a false impression. I wanted a V70 as I'd had a Volvo previously and loved it, but (and I was shocked to discover this) my 13 year old daughter couldn't fit her legs in the back! I'm tall so have the seat right back and this would have been a problem for the kids who aren't getting any smaller! The Accord has plenty of leg room for me and the girls so is perfect for us. I'm only in Solihull so if you want to meet at the kennels I don't mind popping by for you to see if your pack can fit in? Or I'll be at Kingsbury Walk next Sunday.

Hi Deb - ha ha, my hubby knows better than to try and ban me from doing anything! Seriously though, he's just as thrilled as me with our new little girl - hard not to be though :0)

Emma I guess your husband will be banning you from looking at the website again in case you decide to take any more of Sadie's sisters.

Hi Emma xxx We are fostering Star at the moment, with the view to hopefully giving her a forever home xxx Just wondered what the outcome with the 'boot size' was. She will be our 4th hound, and we have 3 kids, so any suggestions on an appropriate sized vehicle would be much appreciated xxxxxx ps congratulations on rehoming Frankie xxxxx

First of all, apologies - I should have put an update on here ages ago... but... I've had my hands full! After much heart-searching, checking of boot size, financial calculations and cat-training, Frankie (Jet) has decided that she is staying here to live with us and our 2 kids, 3 other greys (including her litter sister Sadie - Chaotic Pearl), 2 cats and 6 chickens!

Frankie is an absolute star, she tells me when she needs to go out and toilet, is gentle with the kids and when taking food, walks beautifully on the lead and, as long as they are polite, is fine with other breeds (so far we have met Spaniels, Labs, Staffies, Beagles, Weimeraners, Borzois, other greyhounds and an over-enthusiastic JR) and she even ended up resting her head on a friendly sheepdog at the Waseley walk! She comes when called, goes to bed when told (which is more than the kids do), is a proper little cuddle-monster and is as bright as a button - it feels like she's been here for years not weeks.

It's not for me to judge why she was returned and I can only guess that this lovely girl must have been so deeply upset at the loss of her greyhound companion to have acted in the way she was alleged to have done. Nevertheless we are ALL over the moon that Frankie is now with us - as Ruth always says things happen for a reason and this is it. Oh yes, and just to prove the point, just like Sadie she has my initials EB tattooed in her ears :0)

we met your reserved family on Sunday I was rather confused when your new mummy seemed to have 4 greys rather than the usual 3 with her!
Hope all goes well for you all and and the reserved sign turns to rehomed.

Aww so glad to see that Jet is reserved. Good luck in your new home gorgeous girl! :-) x

Pleased that Jet is reserved xxxx hugs to her xxxxx

how is jet getting on ? she looks so gorgeous on the sofa hugs and kisses xxxx

Poor little girl, hope she finds a new home soon.....if you can get her off your sofa, she does look very happy where she is! xxx

My last grey girl couldn't cope without her friend when he went to the Bridge ... so glad Jet's back with us and will find a new home very soon :) J xx

my heart really went out to this poor little girl when I saw her today. What an emotional time she's been having poor baby, first loosing her friend, then her home of three years, she must be so shell shocked bless her. Really hope she finds a home soon. (I must say, she does look comfy on that sofa :-) )x

Poor little thing, humans are affected when they lose their friends, so why would hounds be any different ? Hope someones takes her home soon xxxxx She looks tiny on the sofa xxx

Oh Jet even aunty Ruths friends are not allowed on the new sofa! You must be very special. Xx

OH MY GOD!! Not even wispy chops is allowed on the new sofa!!! XxxxxX

oooops... despite not being allowed on our new suite.... guess where I hadn't got the heart to move her from :-(

I have brought Jet home with me tonight as I couldn't bear to leave her at the kennels after having had 3 years in a home. She was homed in November 2008 returned because she has been having toileting accidents in the house and aggression towards other dogs out on walks.

On the way home, I took her to meet Kerry's cats and she was so very good with them. She is at present curled up and fast asleep at ours. She is such a small grey. I was told by the family returning her that they had recently lost their other grey. I guess her toileting could have been due to her upset at losing her greyhound friend.... who knows..... I hope she finds a home soon.

Oh my goodness, this is my Sadie's litter sister! If this gorgeous girl is only half as perfect and loveable as my little girl then she will be a wonderful addition to any family. I shall have to pop up tomorrow with Sadie to say hello! xxx

Poor pretty girl, life is harsh, hope she gets rehomes quickly xxxx

little Jet is very sweet and very pretty, gentle little lady...good luck in finding a home very very soon little girlie. xxxxxx

I was the one holing the lead in the garden! She needs sone to adopt her soon after being in a home for 3 years

I was at the kennels today when this petite little girl was returned. She seems to have had a tough time and I am sure some TLC, socialisation and training a la Boswell will soon have her feeling less stressed and happier. I am sure Auntie Ruth will have her a new home in no time.