Alex & Flo

Been out of town all week, so haven’t been able to get any good pics of Alex. He’s been here about a week now. Though still a bit hesitant around people, he really seems to be enjoying himself playing with stuffies or running around with the other kids. I did manage to get a couple of pics last weekend.
He’s not sure what the tv is, but he wants to know if he can join this roving band of meerkats. Not sure if he would be happy with a scorpion and centipede diet.

He seems much more assured of himself out in the yard. He and Jaime had just been bolting around the yard.
Flo came up in the same haul as Alex. She is at her forever home, but just needed some babysitting for the weekend. Look at that face. You can just tell she’s got a devilish wild-child side. Stella and Murphy are done playing in the yard and ready to go back in.

VAGA Picnic

Stella’s an old timer when it comes to VAGA picnics. This is a first for both Jaime and Stanley. We were also fostering Show Power who we will swap at the picnic for Alexander. Here are the newbies waiting anxiously for us to pack the car and get on with the picnic already.
Following are a few random shots from the picnic.
Kris was one of the nail cutters. We have a slightly unorthodox style. That’s me with a doggie in my lap, while Kris cuts their nails.
One new event was the Fun Run with radar. People were cheering the dogs on.
All for a plastic bag and a squawker.

I was holding onto the kids during the fun run. At this point, we had swapped Show Power for Alexander. They would yelp and squeal during every run. Kris stood with them in line for the run so I could get some pics.
Stanley easily beat Jaime and Stella. When we watched videos of his races, he was almost always first out of the blocks until the first turn. He was clocked at 34 mph.
Tempest was leading Roxie while Sidney takes his own path in the back.
The kids were pooped after their run.
The only thing that could get them up was doggie ice cream. This was Stanley’s first time with ice cream, and he of loved it.
Jaime has had doggie ice cream before. She loves it. She managed to eat three or four by the end of the day.

Parker stayed with Murphy and his grandpa for the day. Kris was busy doing VAGA Staff stuff, and I already had four greyhounds to keep track of. When we went to pick Parker up, the kids tried to make a Great Escape through the sunroof.

Botanical Gardens & Pete

We took the kids down to Richmond for an SPCA event at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Show up with your dog, drink a glass of wine, and listen to the live jazz band while laying on your blanket in the grass. The weather was perfect for the kids to lounge around for the entire event without overheating.
Here are Jason & Trina and Kenney & Amanda with some of the kids.


I went to the top of the hill to get an overview.

Of course the kids couldn’t resist the greys. Cali says you have to be this tall to pet me ☺
Stanley. Don’t turn around. I think there is a baby head growing out of your back.
Pete’s Flash went to another foster home. He was a good boy. With so many fosters in this haul, we are trying to spread them out. He should have no problems getting adopted with this sweet face.
What a cutie.

Dozen Dog Haul & 'American Omo'

On Saturday, we did a fundraiser walk for the Fredericksburg SPCA. Parker and Murphy were both from the Fred SPCA, so we decided to take all the guys for the two mile walk. It was getting a bit toasty near the end, and Stanley was starting to poop out. He kept looking at us like, ‘I’m a sprinter, not a marathoner’. He needed a nap on his mommy’s shoulder.
We got up at 3:30am on Sunday to go meet the hauler. I don’t think even Katy gets up that early for work. We managed to divvy up the seven girls and five boys among three cars, and the convoy headed back for my house. They got a break in the backyard before heading to the vet with another group of volunteers.

It was getting pretty warm around midday, so some of the kids were hanging out in the shade under the deck.
All this traveling was making them quite thirsty.

We decided to let our guys meet the newbies. The greys all greeted each other quite cordially. But the newbies were quite interested in the little black dog that didn’t smell like no greyhound. Parker had a little refuge on the deck as most of the newbies didn’t know how to do stairs, but he just couldn’t resist coming down to meet them. Of course he got assaulted before he could make it down the stairs.
We picked up two of the boys from the vet. Flying EightBall is white with black spots. Pete’s Flash is white with brindle spots. And we still have Baron too. 8 Ball only stayed one night with us. Pete will stay till the weekend. He and Baron will go to a forever home on Saturday. The adopters will see how each fits into their household, then one will come back to stay with us for a while longer.
I have been calling 8 Ball, Omo sometimes. Not only do their colorings look similar, 8 Ball also spent extra time under the knife while they stitched up his abdominal hernia. Being a little sore, he decided resting in the crate was not such a bad idea.
Pete, on the otherhand, is a bit wilder. He is just over two years old and has beaucoup energy to prove it. When I tried to get a shot of him in his crate, he gave me the stinkeye. He wanted out!

8 Ball striking a regal pose in the yard.

A closeup of his ‘Perry Comover’

Couch-Snuggling

I’m not into posing the kids for pics. I like to get them just being themselves. ‘Au Natural’. So I always jump for the camera when they are being particularly cute. Stella and Stanley were already on the couch. Then Jaime decided she wanted to be in the middle. So all the greys were on the couch and touching each other. Parker wanted nothing to do with this and was at the opposite end of the couch.

Jaime is loving this. Stella is tolerating it.
Well, it was bound to happen. Poor Baron has been hanging out with our kids for too long. He has been afflicted with ETS.

Labor Day Get-together

Our kids are resting up to go to Trina’s Labor Day get-together. They managed to segregate themselves with black dogs on one side, and brindles on the other. Stanley has his head up stella’s rump.
The sunroof in our Outback opens up into the back row. Baron was enjoying the wind in his face as we were heading to Trina’s. “Hey mister, can we stop at that Mickey D’s and get some fries?”
Cali loves to play with her toys outside. She truly looks like a hunting dog that is retrieving a pheasant.
She can stop on a dime (and two feet in the air) to catch a stuffie.

Stanley says, ‘hey, wait for me guys, I'm almost finished here’ as Anna and Blue take off.

Looks like Blue is still in the lead.

The kids had fun chasing balls in the yard. They love getting to see their buddies. Notice that none of my guys are in there. Lazy bums.

Blue plays ‘Jump the Dachshund’. Dante is not amused. Though he does enjoy the momentary shade.

Midge, Maggie, and Baron

I was trying to get some shots of Midge, Maggie and Baron in the backyard yesterday. The weather was so nice, and everyone was milling around. Then a kid on a skateboard went rolling by. Stella could not just let this transgression pass. Skateboarders are the bane of her existence! She strikes a wide stance, ears and tail up, and pounds her feet on the ground and barking. Guess she was calling in the troops, in case this juvie decided to come into the yard.

After he turned the corner, Stella decided to let someone else take over guard dog duties while she got some sun.

Baron is a return. He came up on the same haul as Stanley. They seemed to remember each other. He is a real sweetie, and has been no trouble at all here. We think he may have already found another home. A couple who adopted from us last year is looking for a second grey. He’s such a good boy that people will be lining up if this doesn’t work out.
He has that look like, ‘does this bone come with the bed?’ ‘Can I keep it?’
Clay is back with us for the weekend. We weren’t going to see him again until Christmas time. But his family was visiting friends nearby who have two chihuahuas. Clay is not cat-friendly, and yappy chihuahuas might look a bit too close.
Maggie finally decided to trust me enough to lay down and let me get a shot of her.
Because she was always on the move outside, I wasn’t able to get any good shots of her in the yard. But inside, Midge decided that it was time to pose for her glamour shot.
Midge and Maggie are so sweet together. They run around the house chasing each other and pulling toys out of the other’s mouth so the chase can go on. They will lay down on adjacent beds and mouth each other. They are just best buds. I wonder if being littermates and essentially never being separated from birth has anything to do with it.