Raven Samantha Slattery, 2010ish - 2026

In late October 2011 a family - mother, father, daughter and son - huddled disconsolately in back of the Sterling VA Petsmart. They had just lost out on a chance to adopt a dog as the result of a name-out-of-a-hat draw between them and another equally-deserving family. It had been just over a year since the loss of their previous dog, and they were looking forward to bringing another furry ward into their lives.

The full story is here but suffice it to say that Raven entered our lives at precisely that time. She also brought thousands of unexpected friends with her as well as kennel cough, but we all made it through that (except those friends of course) and Raven became a sweet, playful and frankly uncomplicated dog.

Raven lived up to her Whippet heritage by delighting in leading other dogs at the dog park on high-speed, high-maneuvering chases. The only dog that ever caught her was a purebred Whippet who saw Raven zooming across the dirt, seemed to think for a moment and then basically teleported into Raven's side, sending our dog flying. True to her nature, Raven didn't care.

When Scout entered our lives the two got along very well, and teamed up from time to time to hunt rabbits in the back yard. At the time two young girls lived next door so I often had to move fast to avoid having to explain away the "sleeping" bunny. Most of their time, though, was spent lounging on various furniture.

As she got older Raven became (in)famous for her interest, however polite, in other dogwalkers' potential treat supplies; it didn't necessarily help that several neighborhood friends and acquaintances proved to be a soft touch. Indeed, anyone we passed, whether with a dog, just walking by or even getting out of a parked car was a potential snack source.

In fall 2024 Raven began to suffer from extreme balance/vertigo issues as well as plain advancing old age. When we took her to the vet they said "Raven isn't an old dog..." That was unexpected but then they continued "She is a REALLY old dog and there is no science for her" since so few make it that far. At that time we knew Scout wasn't doing well so we steeled ourselves for a rough 2025 dog-wise. At that time of course we had no idea of the everything-else-wise aspects of the coming year.

However, Raven rallied and medication helped with the immediate issues, to the extent that we were able to stop medications later in 2025 with no ill effects. Frankly the drugs were having adverse effects in other ways so in some sense were exacerbating the problem, but again, no science to fall back on for that.

Time, as we learn over and over again, eventually runs out and the dreaded phrase "quality of life" becomes unavoidable and undeniable. So it came to pass with Raven and we said farewell on March 31.

We had so much time with her, but it is never enough.

Raven Slattery runs free across endless grass. She was and is a Good Dog.

Scout Simon Cheezit Slattery, 2012ish - 2025

Scout came into our lives on January 4, 2014 after we met him at an adoption event. While he very quickly settled in to life with Raven and the household humans, he was never fully comfortable with outsiders. Similarly, among his canine peers he got along fine, although he had his favorites and, on the flip side, was not big on puppies or younger, more rambunctious dogs.

For most of his time with us Scout was the self-deputized head of yard security, patrolling the perimeter while Raven waited patiently on the patio to see if anything would pop out of the bushes he was working. One of his favorite spots was a clump of tiger lilies from which he could survey the neighbors' yard and our driveway.

What are the neighbors up to

A few years ago we discovered Scout had heart disease as well as a growth on one of his heart valves, with the vets advising us that this could cause trouble at almost any time. Scout held up well during this, although he recently joined Raven in being essentially deaf; like Raven, though, he did not seem to mind. Finally, a few weeks ago, we had to take Scout to the ER and were told we didn't have much time left with him. Even then he seemed to recover pretty well until this past week, when the dreaded phrase Quality of Life could no longer be ignored.

Scout began the next leg of his journey at home on Saturday, March 28, 2025, following a hearty meal of burger and chicken nuggets. The end was peaceful release from his suffering.

Scout Slattery runs free across endless grass. He was and is a Good Dog.

Raven Reflects

This weekend marks the end of Raven's antibiotics regimen and we have also been cleared to take her on walks outside of the back yard. Raven's first excursion through the neighborhood was a sensory overload experience, as there are (or had better be) vastly more smells out there than in our back yard. I also sense that she does not have a whole lot of leash experience, but she is making progress there as well.

Last night Raven spotted her first Arlington rabbits*, in the yard of a house down the street. That must have been great for her whippet side, as the breed was designed to run down small mammals, and the rest of the walk was spent on the lookout for more small furry things. (I wonder if her Lab side would then cause her to bring back the rabbit gently in her mouth. Best not to find out.)

Some of the streets in the neighborhood are short on street lights and sidewalks, and since Raven is almost entirely black Laura went out and got her a new reflective pink and silver collar, to which I transferred her various tags this morning. Here she struggles mightily between showing off her bling and scooting over to me because she had not had human contact in at least thirty seconds. Fiona indignantly denies this but I am becoming convinced that Raven is a cat in a dog suit.

 

*She may have seen other rabbits before coming to live with us. Arlington rabbits are easily identified by their iPhones and brown flip-flops.

Meet Raven

As most of you know, we lost our dog Gracie about a year and a half ago, and it has taken a while to recover from that loss to the point where we considered bringing another furry ward into our lives. In the past few weeks we had begun looking at shelter/rescue websites to see if there was someone out there we might like to adopt, and the week before Halloween we found a beautiful young husky mix who would be appearing at an adoption event that weekend.

Well, it turned out that there were other families interested as well (she was a really neat dog), and after the interview round resulted in deadlock, the winner was drawn from a hat and it was not us. That was harder than I had thought, and I thought I was prepared for disappointment; the kids, meanwhile, were in tears.

Right about then, however, we noticed a skinny little dog -- a Whippet/Labrador mix (or Whipador!) -- and introduced ourselves. She was extraordinarily gentle and really sweet, especially with the kids, and after a bit of discussion we decided to make her part of our family. On the way home, we went through a number of possible names until we hit upon Raven, both for her color and for the impending holiday.

 

Raven's first week with us was a bit rough, as it was soon determined that she had not only kennel cough but a couple types of intestinal parasite into the bargain. We loaded up on prescriptions and began treatment, but the kennel cough medicine, which has to be taken with food, causes upset stomach as a side effect, so near the end of the week Raven stopped eating. As a result, we ended up checking her in to the vet hospital for a long weekend of IV antibiotics and general care.

Raven came out of the hospital much perkier and is recovering nicely. Unfortunately, since kennel cough is highly contagious among dogs she is quarantined for another three weeks. We are looking forward to getting her energy burned up on long walks and at the nearby dog park, where we are eager to see how fast she can run; I have seen references to a top speed of 35 MPH. For the time being, she is getting acquainted with our back yard, not to mention comfort-testing all of our furniture, but her chief occupation so far is asking for attention:

 

 

Please pet me

We are looking forward to introducing Raven to our friends and, yes, even their kids, as Raven is the complete opposite of Gracie who, beloved as she was, did not take kindly to visitors. For the moment, though, JWT, we'll go light on the barbecued chicken.

Run Free, Gracie

Gracie Oaxaca Hatfield Slattery 1998 - 2010



I'll compose something more when I'm more composed. Right now we are just crushed.