The Adventures of Zoe and Kallie

We fostered Lucky Jennifer way back in Feb of 2006. She was a pretty blue brindle. Just a sweet girl.
That fresh off the track look.Lucas and Stella checking out the new fosters. Lucky Jennifer and her blue sister Lucky Patsy Ann didn’t want anything to do with the initiation to the clan.We got one of our biggest snowfalls a few days later. Even though she had just come up from Florida, Jennifer didn’t mind playing in the snow at all. She was running around with Lucas, with Stella playing ‘Fun Police’.Who says greyhounds don’t sit.She was renamed Cleo, and not too long after her adoption, her family moved to New York. It’s a bit colder up there.We recently found out Cleo had succumbed to bone cancer in her shoulder. She was only 7 years old.
After her family heard that the rescue kennel in Orlando had two adorable sisters waiting for their forever home, they decided that the girls needed to stay together. They drove down from New York to Virginia to meet the hauler. Meet Backwood Diva (Black) and Backwood Sondra (Fawn). So happy to be on their way to their new home.Daddy gave them a bath, so they would have a fresh start to their retirement.Zoe (Sondra) and Kallie (Diva) have never been separated, even having crates next to each other at the track. Can you tell?Zoe seems to be settling into retirement nicely.After a bath and a bit of rest, the girls enjoy some time in the yard.Arion and the kitty welcome the girls to their new home.

Kids Get A New Treat

Stanley has been wearing a boot everytime he goes out now. While his mommy was in Denver the other week, he managed to slice his toe webbing in the yard.Eek!That didn’t stop us from taking the kids to Barrel Oak Winery. A recent adopter was singing there on Saturday and bringing her grey, so we took the kids to go check it out. After the tasting, we took a bottle out to the patio to enjoy the fire.The kids were laying on a blanket and enjoyed the warmth from the fire.Parker was being his usual busy self. By this point, Tristan had had enough of all the commotion, and was happier to go rest in the car.I made another trip to North Carolina for work, and was able to stop by and pick up some bully stix. That’s six bags or 72 feet of bully stix. That’s a lot of chewing.Also picked up a new bed for Parker. That Stella quickly claimed.Stanley showed how to squeeze into it.Murphy said it’s not too big, not too small, just perfect.Stella thought it was much more comfortable after the removable pillow insert was taken out.I also picked up some beef trachea. Thanks Aunt Susan. The kids are always looking to expand their treat menu.Everyone goes to their treat-eating beds.Tristan and Parker thought the lighting was better in the dining room.Finally, Alex’s painting of Stanley and Stella made it to my house. We will find a frame for it, and proudly hang it on the wall. Thanks so much Alex. And to Angela and Debbie for the ‘GUR’ to my house.

New Bed & It Takes a Village

The kids got a new bed from their Aunt Susan. A super cushy bed, but neither of her English Cockers felt comfortable as they sank in the middle of it. So I brought it home to test on my kids. I think it passed with flying colors.
As always, Stella is the first to claim a new bed.Stanley takes his turn.Jaime enjoys the bed and another treat from the visit. The bed is now in the bedroom, and Tristan and Jaime rush upstairs every night to claim it first.I picked up foot-long bully sticks at the Costco by Susan, as our local Costco only has chicken jerky. The kids thought it was Christmas.A couple of weeks ago, we heard from one of our volunteers that a greyhound was at a local shelter. After getting the tattoo numbers, we asked all the local groups if they knew anything about this dog.
We picked him up from the shelter, and he stayed with us for a couple of days. Kris called him Kip. He was quite dirty, so Kris gave him a bath. The brindle stripes help cover up the fact that he is skinny with a rough coat.Standing next to Sunny, who is a big girl, you can see the difference.He is a happy-go-lucky kinda guy. Got along with everyone, and fit right in. He’s a rooer too. I wasn’t able to get a shot of his smiling.He does his best meerkat impression. What a sweet face.Even though he was eating upwards of 8-10 cups of food plus treats a day, he’ll need a bit of time to fatten up.GPA-NoVA was kind enough to open up one of their foster homes to Kip. He still has his doodads, so he will be making a trip to the vet to get snipped along with an overall checkup. Usually greyhound groups are pretty independent, but it’s nice when they can come together to help out. In the end, it’s all about the dogs.