Easy and Spice

Meet Easy and Spice Mountan-Renzulli.

Littermates Easy and Spice are the most unlikely iPets of the Week. They are 11-year-old whippets, born and raised near Pittsburgh, Pa., in Arnold Palmer's picturesque hometown of Latrobe. Now they live in Lowertown, in the heart of Paducah's Renaissance District.



I got to know Spice and Easy when we lived back east because their breeders and owners, Greg and Carolyn Mountan, were my dear friends. We went to the same field trials and dog shows. My two whippets, Fat Charlie and Mama Pajama, were the same age as Easy and Spice, so the four dogs often competed in the same classes. Fat Charlie and Easy were best buddies.

Easy and Spice had a great life. Greg and Carolyn didn't have children, and in addition to their community involvement and their families, their whippets were their world. The dogs had a five-acre fenced yard for squirrel murdering, ball chasing, daily games of tag, sunbaths and companionship. They kept their humans' laps warm and were excellent kitchen helpers, licking plates and keeping counters clear of crumbs and the occasional marinating steak. Their pack consisted of eight whippets; they were now the eldest.

Carolyn was the very picture of health. Trim, fit, active, bright, involved. She had a fantastic sense of humor, loved her dogs and her husband and family with a passion, and was the best friend in the world.

And she was diagnosed with a brain tumor this time last year. She fought it for all she was worth. In December she went to wake Greg — her junior prom date, her best friend in kindergarten and her husband of 33 years — and found that he had died in his sleep. His heart broke.

Carolyn passed away peacefully in March, a week after her 57th birthday. Her brother, her 94-year-old mom and her dogs were by her side.

Years ago, Carolyn and Greg named three of their friends in their will to take possession of their dogs in the unlikely event that something happened to both of them. They spoke to each of the three of us about their wishes. They knew none of us would be able to keep all of their dogs, but they trusted us to find good homes for them.

Four weeks before she died, Carolyn told me that she was worried about Easy (right) and Spice. Easy's thyroid cancer had come back, they had never been apart and they were used to being part of a fun-loving pack of whippets.

"Do you want them to come live with me?" I asked.
"Could they?" said my friend.
"Of course they could!"
"OK," she said. "That would be fine. Easy will be so glad to see Fat Charlie again."

So please welcome Spice (left) and Easy to Paducah. And learn a valuable lesson from their loving humans. Put your wishes for your pets in your will. Talk to your friends and family about what you want for your pets if you can't provide for them.

If you make plans, it is less for your grieving loved ones to deal with at a time when there's already too much. I was surprised that Carolyn wanted her dogs to come here. My teeny city yard is a far cry from their five acres.

But she knew her dogs best. And Easy and Spice have fit right in. After all, they know me. I'm proud that my whippets have politely shared their beds, their toys and their servants with their old friends.

Easy and Spice are crazy about their daily walks around Paducah’s Renaissance District and they love the Stupid City Squirrels. Easy is sleeping in our bed. We don't know how long we'll have him because of his cancer, so we are spoiling him for all he's worth for as long as we can.

It's a pleasure.

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