Hi, I’m Jaime.

I’m the latest addition to the Park family. My daddy said I should write an entry myself so I don’t seem so aloof. As you’ve seen in the previous entries, I love the couch. Now I’m practicing how to jump on the bed from the hallway. I see Stella do it all the time, so I know it can be done. I like my new brothers and sister. My daddy says that Stella is the Queen of the house, and that I should respect that. He didn’t have to tell me. She just exudes it. I like to follow Lucas around. He never really seems to know why he’s running around or where he’s going, so it’s like an adventure every time . Parker just looks at me like, ‘Oh no, not another greyhound that’s staying for good’. I think I will make a Black Dog pact with him, and I’m sure we’ll be good friends.

I love to eat. Girl’s prerogative. Maybe it’s a black dog thing because Parker and I are the first to finish eating, and we wait around to see if Stella or Lucas will leave some tasty morsels behind for us. It only took a couple of times for me to figure out that the squawker means I get a treat if I come inside. I have Mensa-level skills when it comes to food. Maybe they will take me to obedience class to see how smart I am with a treat in front of me. At least show me how to sit and shake hands. That should impress people.

I was a pretty decent racer. I raced a bit in Massachusetts before heading down to Florida. I made it halfway back and ended up in Virginia. I like it here so far. I went to a Meet ‘n Greet the other weekend. Basically, I get to see my other greyhounds friends (i.e. sniff, sniff) and get petted and loved on by all kinds of people. I think they take us there so that we can hear people tell us how pretty we are. My mommy says that since I am a black dog, I will look good in almost anything. We’re going to Greyhounds in Gettysburg in April, and mommy promises to buy me all kinds of pretty stuff. Some might think I’m a bit tomboyish, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like to hear how pretty I am.

I was chewing sticks in the yard the other day. I heard it keeps the tartar off. In one shot, Stella is behind me.

In this shot, Lucas is behind me. I’m just busy keeping my teeth clean.

























This next shot is from my point of view. I was standing next to my daddy when he took this picture, so this is pretty much the same thing I saw. That’s my two brothers in search of something to bark at.

























Parker likes to bark at people. Lucas likes to ‘bark’ at other dogs. His version of barking is doing laps around the yard until the perpetrators are gone. Stella’s specialty is Harley-Davidson’s.

I asked Stella if she was happy I was staying. She just laughed at me.


I think she’ll soon realize that she’s always wanted a sister.

That’s it for now. I think I will go shake the bejeezus out of a stuffie then take a nap.

We finally decided on Jaime.
The name just seemed to fit her. J’aime Jaime. That’s French for ‘I love Jaime’. So let’s see. That makes Parker, Stella, Lucas and Jamie on the canine side. Noah, Greyson and Isabel on the feline side. We like to hang out with people with lots of animals. That way, we don’t seem so crazy.

So how is Jamie spending her time as part of our crew? Well, here is a pic of Stella and Lucas on dog beds on the floor.


Where is Jaime? On the couch of course.

She seems to like the chaise section. It gives her enough space to be a contour roacher. She also seems to be showing some teefers as she naps. It is funny to watch them play musical beds. Downstairs we have about 4-6 dog beds (sometimes we stack them) and the couch. Most times we have two on the couch and two on beds. Then when one gets up, they all get up and look for the next sweet spot.

Today was quite warm outside. It reached an unseasonably warm 80F today. So the kids spent quite a bit of time outside today. Thankfully we have a doggie door and fenced yard. So I don’t even have to get up off the couch if I’m watching tv to let the kids out. But I did a bit of yard work today, so I spent some quality time with the kids. Jaime is turning out to be quite the velcro dog. Will have to see if she changes with time. Here is a pic of the greys taking a nap on the deck.

Parker wasn’t in the picture because he was in the yard looking for something to bark at. Once he finds something, he gives the initial bark alert, and dog beds go flying across the deck as the greys go to check out what is going on.

Note added 3/28: Her name sounds like Jaymee. And it's spelled Jaime. I managed to misspell it once in this entry. I think the French added to the confusion.

Oops, I did it again!
Pass the dip, and call me Britney. We’ve chipped.

A few entries ago, I wrote that Black Magik Lass was returned. She was at her first home for a week, a foster home for a couple of weeks, and her second home for over a month before she came to us. We were going to return her to her first foster home, but something made us keep her here. Now she is here for good. She just fit into our family like she had been here all the time.

















We introduced her to the couch last night. As you can see, she is quite fond of her newly found elevated soft spot.

She is our first smiler. Nothing like being greeted by a face full of teeth when you come home. She roos along with Stella and Lucas, but has a different style. They roo a straight up AhhRoooooooo...... Magik has an undulating AhhRooooAhhRoooooAhhRoooo...... I will definitely have to catch a video of that. As far as her name, we’re probably not keeping Magik. We have always given our kids human names. Not sure what we’re going to change it to. Stella used to be Carol’s Wheel. Lucas was Roar Lucas, so that worked for us. I’m sure she’ll answer to whatever, as long as we let her on the couch.

St. Patty's Day Parade

This is our second time in the Fredericksburg St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Last year was a nice warm day. This year was cold and windy. We still had a decent turnout. A couple dozen or so hounds.

Here is a pic of us getting the kids prepped in the parking lot.
























Doesn’t Dante look so cute in his nifty outfit? I’m sure he hates wearing it, but he loves the attention.
























Because it was so cold, it felt like it was forever before they actually started the parade. We had to find refuge from the wind behind the fire trucks. Those flags were just whipping in the wind.













Rita Mae decided that the wait was just too long for her and decided to take a nap in the middle of the road. Her sister, Louisa May Alcott, is looking back at her like, ‘get up girl, what are you doing’? Her brother Earl is patiently waiting for the procession to begin.

















During the actual parade, the wind was so strong that we couldn’t get our sign to stay straight.
















We were about in the middle of the parade participants. When we came to the end, we watched some of the others as they passed by. Clay was actually in one of the antique firetrucks. You can see him peeking out between the bars.
Stella is watching Clay as he is passing by wondering why she had to walk the entire route while Clay got a free ride. I explained to her that Clay is an 8 year old senior, and that she should respect her elders.



Parker is glad to be done with the parade and going back home. Here he is being my copilot to make sure I don't get lost.

Lucas in the Danger Zone

Sometimes, even if there is enough space on the couch, they just want to snuggle with each other. Lucas just happened to pick the wrong end. Stella has quite the reputation as a ‘gassy gal’. Usually the silent but deadly, but recently moving toward audible but not as smelly. So why would Lucas voluntarily lay down next to her rump?

He laid next to her rump when Stella was roaching.


































Even after she flipped over, he was still there.
























But, by the end of the night, they were ‘butting’ heads.
Stella, Queen of the Couch, was in a generous mood tonight. Please ignore the bed sheets on the couch, the kids were tracking in snow and mud and jumping straight on the couch.

It snowed a bit last night. Left a dusting on the ground. Cold and windy today. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is going on rain or shine. The kids will have to wear their coats. Don’t think we have any green ones. But they will be cute in their hats and party collars. Hope to get some cute pictures.

Black Magik Lass Returns & Roo Video

Black Magik Lass was adopted out about a month ago. Poor girl is back with us now. She is such a sweet little girl. She settled in very quickly as you can see in the picture.
She gets along well with our kids. That always makes things easier. She’s black with white feet and a white chest. She’s also a smiler. I think the first one we’ve had. She’s still a bit on the thin side, so we’ll have fun fattening her up.

Saturday is our local St. Patrick’s Day parade. We will have fun dressing the kids up and walking in the parade. It was quite warm and sunny last year. Lucas can attest to this as his bare rump was sunburned by the end of the parade. We probably won’t run into that issue this year as it is cold and rainy today, and the forecast for tomorrow is in the 40’s, partly cloudy and windy.

Here are a few gratuitous shots of Lucas. He is always so proud after he’s run around the yard with a stick. Fortunately he picked a small stick today. We always worry when he tries to run around the yard with a log or a 5 ft long branch. Lucas likes to sleep with his head at a 90 degree angle to his body.
As he falls asleep, gravity takes over and his lower jaw starts dropping.
Sometimes his tongue even manages to slip out.


Since Needle Noses and FastGreyz have both started uploading video, figured I’d jump on the bandwagon. This is a video of Stella and Lucas roo’ing. Some of you have seen it before, but I still find it cute to watch. Sometimes I use it to instigate another roo’ing session.

Aubry leaves, 8 Greys arrive, & the Kitties are Hungry

The kids will miss their Aunt Aubry. Saturday was her last day here. Here she is drinking a glass of wine and snuggling with the Parker dog while watching tv one final time with us.
Now she is on the way to Santa Fe, NM. The movers came earlier this week. Aubry and her mom are probably halfway there now. It’s about a 25 hour drive. I’m sure her two kitties are enjoying the roadtrip. Once she gets settled in, we’ll definitely have to make vacation plans to visit her. Here is a pic of Stella after she has been told that Aubry is moving.

VAGA adopted out eight dogs this weekend. One in North Carolina and the other seven in Virginia. The weather was beautiful for an adoption. Most were first-time greyhound adopters. They were so excited. Seeing the looks on their faces makes it all worth while. I still remember the awe of getting Stella. She didn’t know what was going on, and neither did we. A second grey and a couple dozen fosters later, we sometimes forget that giddy excitedness of getting your first grey. The pics have been sent and will be on the VAGA placements webpage soon.

In the latest issue of Celebrating Greyhounds on page 48, there is an article by a VAGA member on the use of muzzles. The picture of the three greys in the car on their way to their forever homes was a picture I took a couple years ago. Though no credit is given, that makes it my first official picture in CG Magazine. I was also lucky enough to get a picture of my Lucas in the CG desktop calendar for the week of May 20-26. They will be deciding on pictures for next year’s calendar, so will have to print out some of my latest pics and send them in.

Following is a picture progression of the kitties telling us they are hungry. First they end up sitting next to each other.
Then they start to groom each other.

As they get hungrier, they start to take it out on each other. Noah takes a swat at Greyson.

Realizing what he has just done, he waits for the retaliation.
Deciding they are not going to let their hunger get the best of them, they decide to respect each other’s space.
Definitely time to feed them.