10 points, 2 majors
Bred by Pam, Travis, and Steve Murphy

Shannon was a typical Whippet: intelligent, clownish, faithful, and athletic. He was also a quirky, eccentric Momma's boy, who loved Mel and was loved by her dearly. Shannon ran with visible glee and an effortless ground-eating stride, and nothing made this boy happier than to jump into the van to take his Mom to a show.

Unfortunately, Shannon's show career (and ultimately his life) was cut short when he was diagnosed in 2003 with a monster called diabetes insipidus, a sniveling and cowardly leech of a disease that drains the life from your beautiful dog's body slowly and insidiously, while you watch but can do nothing to stop it or even delay the process. Like a balloon slowly losing its air through a pinhole, you helplessly watch your once-oh-so-lovely boy sink deeper and deeper into himself, eventually losing his desire to run or to play, always wanting only to try desperately to quench the thirst that never stops driving him to drink until the very act of drinking exhausts him. The constant drinking and urination literally seep the life out of him, making even his skin so frail and fragile that a bump any other healthy Whippet wouldn't notice will lay open wide another excruciatingly painful sore on your boy's body, a sore that will take agonizing weeks or months to heal.

No more thirst, Shannie-Man. No more pain. No more sores, no more scars. No more fear of the next wound, no more dread of the next vet visit.