This past week our beloved Bek was taken from us suddenly and tragically. There are no words to describe the depth of our despair; it has taken several days before we could bring ourselves to talk about his passing publicly. We are numb with pain and sorrow.
Most of you had only seen him in the show ring where he successfully represented our Hallam Breeding Program to the Fancy for several years. Bek won Nine Pharaoh Hound Club of America Specialties: Four Eastern Specialty Wins, Two Western Specialty Wins and Three National Specialty Wins. He represented the Pharaoh Hound in the Group at Westminster an unprecedented four times and was one of only a select few Pharaoh Hounds to ever grace the cover the American Kennel Club Gazette after he was retired from the Show Ring. He held the record for All Breed Best In Shows for an American Bred Pharaoh Hound at the time of his passing.
But, as you will see, Bek the Show Dog was only part of who he really was. Bek possessed the most gentle of souls. If you ever had a chance to experience him at home, you would have a better understanding of what we mean. He was always there to greet you with multiple smiles. He would greet his dads and his favorite "peeps" with a soft mouth on the wrist in an effort for him to take us for a "walk"...the ultimate sign of affection. He was "Switzerland" in the home. Always letting puppies play with him no matter which litter it was, sitting calmly and mingling with the "alpha" crowd as well as those lower in the pack. Never engaging in any aggression toward other dogs and a true love bug at his core. Being a Ramsan-Qena son, he had acquired the intelligence of both parents and virtually all the antics that his father was well known for. Falling asleep on our lap half off the sofa with back legs splayed like a frog, moaning deeply with each head rub and walking around proudly in front of you to show you his chew stick are just a few of those antics.
Bek was from our foundation Bitch Qena's last litter. We knew this litter to be extremely special, to the point where Stephen entertained keeping all 6 of them for himself! They all have special qualities which they excelled at over the years...just mention the names Sirus, Logan or Violet and the Pharaoh Hound Fancy will know who you are referring to. They were all blessed with a variety of great attributes and solid temperaments. We have privately (now publicly) referred to this litter as the "Special Edition Kids".
A void has been created with the sudden loss of this special boy and we are truly lost. Why do events like this occur? It does not seem build character (owning a live PH does that). It does not seem to make us stronger since our own spirits are completely drained with this sudden loss. There was no proper "goodbye", there will be no growing old together. There is emptiness and memories. We dislike being forced to live on memories when we were not even close to being ready to do so. We do our best to protect these beautiful creatures but the universe is often an odd and confusing place and nothing, at times, seems certain.
So when we wake up in the morning there will be no "B', "Mr. B", "Beebers", "Bekster" and of course our favorite "Bekums" (Bek's affectionate nicknames). There will be no deep moaning with the scratching of Bek's furry scalp nor the repetitive smiling/sneezing nor the soft mouth wrist walk we are so used to. The pain is excruciating right now. Seven and 1/2 years is NOT enough time.
Unfortunately, there is no happy ending here and we pray that he did not suffer and that his beautiful spirit was met by his Mother Qena, Father Ramsan and Sister Nefer at, what we humans call, the Rainbow Bridge. We know that he will never have to grow old or become sick as the years advance. We know he will continue to live on in his beautiful children and grandchildren and we know he will live on in our hearts. He will always be young, beautiful, and honored for his contributions to our breed and the sport of pure bred dogs.
We will love and miss Bek forever.
God Speed Sweet Bek...until we meet again...
