First MnG of the Year, Fosters Jassy and Roady

        We had our first Meet ‘n Greet of the Year. It was held at a brand new PetSmart in Fredericksburg. We had quite the turnout with about 20+ greyhounds. I love the fact that we always have a great turnout. I think it’s because it’s as much a meet ‘n greet for the furkids as it is for the humans. Of course I forgot to take my camera with me. Trina brought hers, so she has a couple of pics on her blog, Fastgreyz. Here is one of those pics of my Stella and Lucas. Some people think we are being cruel by putting a hat on Stella. Unlike Lucas and Parker who actively try to remove any headpiece we put on them, Stella will actually seek you out if you are holding one of her hats.
        We went from zero to two fosters in one weekend. We got Jassy Gal on Saturday. She’s a sweet girl. Kinda built like our Lucas. Stocky body with a big head.
She’s just come around to using the dog beds. Not quite to the stage of squeaky toys. She has a serious case of happy tail. Both Stella and Lucas have broken their tail and sprayed blood everywhere from too much happy tail. She was just spayed this past week, so I’m sure her personality will change as she starts to feel better.
        Our second foster, KB’s Road Test was a surprise. He had also come up over the weekend, but his foster home decided they couldn’t foster more than a day. So off he comes to ‘Hotel Park’. He is quite a handsome fella. Also very rambunctious. He always seems hungry. He’s either countersurfing for food or sticking his head in other kids bowls after he’s done woofing down his food. He will be going on a home visit this week, so he may have a new home by the time I get back from my week-long meeting in Orlando.
        I will be in Orlando all week. Just minutes from the Sanford-Orland track and GPA rescue kennel where we get our dogs. But I hear that they have after-hours activities planned for us every day. So probably won’t be able to sneak out to watch the doggies run. Oh well.

Whip Cream & Snow Zoomies, Both Fluffy & White

        We’ve been fosterless for a couple of weeks now. You can see it in Stella’s face as she relaxes on the couch. No new greys to boss around, ahem, I mean, show the ropes. This has given our kids a chance to bond with each other again.
I removed the blanket off Stella and Parker to find this. Parker had been snuggling with the dangerous end of Stella. Stella is known for her ETS and being gassy. Parker was definitely taking his chances on this one.
        We tried an experiment with whip cream and the kids. Sometimes we stick peanut butter to the roofs of their mouths just to watch them walk around trying to lick it off. How would they do with whip cream? We first tried to shoot it on their noses, but that didn’t quite work out a planned. So we shot some out in our hands, then smothered their noses with it.
Lucas’ tongue had a mind of its own in search of the elusive whip cream.
Stella is going cross-eyed in her attempt to focus on the white stuff on the end of her nose.
Without any fosters, Noah has come upstairs to see what is going on. Whip cream is what is going on. Taking a nap nowadays includes Stella, Lucas, Parker and Noah. He likes to lay on my chest and purr while I nap. Sometimes I wake up to see his cute little face. Sometimes I wake up to his other end.
        Some greys don’t like snow. Our kids love it. They were getting frisky a good hour before the snow actually fell. They knew it was coming and couldn’t wait to get somma that action. They know that it would be all melted in a day or two.
Lucas was running around the yard with his usual big stick in his mouth, or with the hedgehog stuffie which is still his all-time favorite. He always has a crazed look in eyes when he’s ripping around the yard. With such focus and determination, you would think he would’ve been a good racer.
Stella loves the snow. She’s not one to just race around the yard, but when it snows, she doesn’t bark as usual, she actually runs.
They were racing around the yard together. Stella wasn’t going to let her brother win the zoomie race. Stella and Lucas were picking on Parker, so we put them inside so Parker could have a bit of time to himself.
He loves running in snow. Especially without Stella and Lucas stalking him.
        Let’s play a game of chicken. Lucas is usually oblivious to his surrounding when he’s running. Lucas was zooming around, and Stella thought she would cut him off. Let’s play Chicken.
Game On.
        Here he comes.
        I can see the fear in his eyes.
        Oh jeez. He’s not gonna stop.

        Not gonna flinch? Well get a whiff of this?

Alexi Goes, Bella Comes Back

        We had Alexi as a foster for a few days from our last haul. She is a small black girl, and an absolute sweetie. No accidents in the house, learned how to use the doggie door by watching others, ravenous eater. I wish all foster were this easy. I had to attend a meeting in San Antonio for most of the time she was here. Hard to get back into work after being off for a week and a half. She fit in really nicely into our family. She was the foster that went.

        Alexi went, and Bella (RJ’s November) came back. She was adopted out in mid-August. She was returned to us because the family is in the military, and they were being transferred to a housing facility in California that didn’t allow dogs. At first, they were told that dog’s were allowed, but were supposedly told at the last minute that they were not. She was left with a friend who called and let us know what was going on. She was a bit on the skinny side, and a trip to the vet showed hookworm and roundworm. Panacur and a few extra cups of food a day should take care of that. She’s going on a home visit on Thursday, so she may already have found a new home.

        I managed to take a few shots of the kids sleeping during my vacation. Not hard to do since they don’t do much else. Stella is well known for her ETS. This usually involves roaching and having her tongue hang out over the couch so she looks like road kill. In this shot, she is imitating how Lucas usually sleeps; mouth open with a little bit of tongue hanging out the front.
This pic of Lucas shows one of his many goofy sleeping positions - this time it’s ears up and mouth open.
The couch shot shows everyone sleeping comfortably taking a break in between fosters coming and going. Just another afternoon napping on the couch.
The last shot answers the question of whether greyhounds can actually sleep standing up. I heard cows and horses do it. Why not greyhounds?

Holiday Grey-sitting

        As much fun as Winston had playing with our kids, he was quite happy to see his mommy and daddy when they came to pick him up. Hercules and Daisy had no problems settling in to our household. Hercules had been fostered here, so it was no big deal for him. Daisy, the 10 year old beagle, was happy to see another dog her size. Looking at her convinced us that Parker is definitely mostly a beagle. There are 13“ and 15” beagles. Parker is more like a 16“ black beagle. It was amazing to see how much they looked alike. And Parker’s food-obsessiveness is definitely a beagle thing. Daisy and Parker were always on alert in case a plate needed cleaning before going in the dishwasher. Here she is claiming a dog bed for herself.


        Hercules was initially thought to be a cat-safe dog. Later testing with Noah the crabby cat at our house proved otherwise. Look at the focus and concentration while he waits for a kitty to pop out the cat door. We locked both doors to prevent the kitties from coming up during the night and not being able to make it back down before the morning stampede of dogs. Once Hercules and Clay are gone, the kitties can come back up. Don’t feel too bad for them. They have it pretty nice down there. A sofa and loveseat and lots of other cushy places they don’t have to share with the dogs.
        Behind Hercules is Daisy, then Winston, and if you squint, you can see Stella’s head behind that.



        Speaking of Clay, at 10 years old, this is the first time we’ll have watched a senior greyhound. People are always making a fuss over the seniors. Now we know why. Look at that face. The graceful ‘greying’ of the face. And he is such a sweetie. He’s smaller than our Stella. His daddy said he was the runt of the litter. He’ll be with us for over a week. Last time they put him in a kennel, he didn’t eat the entire time. Supposedly he is a grazer, but with our guys noisily chowing down, he has learned to eat all in one sitting.
        What does Parker think of all these guests coming and going? I’ll let the picture speak for itself.

Winston the Couch Hound

        Winston won’t get on the couch unless asked. Here is a pic of all the kids on the couch. From left to right, it is Winston, Parker in the corner, Lucas, and Stella tolerating Lucas’ head against her butt. Looks like there is room for another grey. Sometimes I wonder how they ever survived at the kennel in a crate. Considering how much they crave a soft dog bed, couch or human bed, it’s a good thing they didn’t know about such things until after their racing careers. Otherwise, they may have formed a union and gone on strike at the track.


        Winston is quite the snuggle hound. Very touch-feely. When we ask one of our guys to get on the couch, they jump up next to us and then back into us or lay their head against us. Not Winston. We would tap the cushion next to us and ask Winston if he wanted on the couch. Next thing you know, there is a dog in your lap. As much of a lap dog as Stella is, she never jumps straight into my lap.
        It’s a dreary rainy day. Winston will stay through the weekend, but he will be joined by extra guests before his parents come back. This afternoon, we are expecting Hawk (Hercules in his previous life) and his new sister Daisy (10 yr old beagle). Wonder if she will recognize the beagle in Parker. They will barely have had time to finish sniffing each other’s butts before our next guest arrives. A greyhound owner in Northern Virginia who wrote to our group looking for a dog-sitter will be dropping off his 10 yr old grey on Saturday for a week. So we will have quite the houseful for the weekend. With a soggy yard from all the rain expected today, that’s 28 paws tracking in the mud. Need to replace that broken steam cleaner ASAP!

Maya Xmas, Winston arrives, and Lucas gets ETS

        My sister and brother-in-law are taking Maya to the Netherlands to see his mother for Christmas this year. We had an early Christmas for her, so she could open presents we had gotten for her. She loves Parker dog, but the greys can sometimes intimidate her. A couple of times in the yard, Maya was running around swinging a stick. To Lucas, that’s the signal to play. He proceeded to circle her and then steal the stick and run around the yard with it. She started balling and yelling that she wanted her stick back. Guess it might have been a little bit scary to have a dog that is taller than you and weighs three times as much circling you like a shark. Didn’t phase Lucas at all as he was doing his laps around the yard with a stolen stick in his mouth. Here is a picture of Maya with her auntie Kristen playing with one her presents, a MagnaDoodle.


        Luke and Sandy went back home this afternoon. We had an hour or two with our regular crew, then Winston came for his week-long stay. He was happy to be over, but wanted to go back with his parents when he realized they were leaving. Last time we watched him, he was all about playing with our kids, and barely noticed his parents had left. He settled in quickly onto the chaise part of the couch. He looked so cute, I had to cover him up for his nap.



        Since Winston was on the couch, Lucas and Stella decided to lay on the dog beds. As usual, Lucas was on his side hanging off the bed. Stella was in full cockroach position. Upon closer inspection, it appears Lucas had ETS (escaped tongue syndrome). Stella is well known for having ETS. It appears this is a contagious condition which has now afflicted poor Lucas. We hope it doesn’t spread to our house guests and fosters.

Kids Taking a Smoke Break!

        Stella: Hey Lucas, wanta teach these newbies something? Lucas: yeah, whatever you want sis. Stella: You got that pack of smokes I scared off the kid at the bus stop? Lucas: Oh, I see where you’re going with this. Stella: Sandy, Luke, come over here, got something to show you. Lucas: I think I can make some smoke rings.
        The kids were roo’ing the other morning. There was still a chill in the air. If you look closely at Lucas and Stella, you can see their breath. Looks like they are smoking. Isn’t that what killed the dinosaurs?
        We will be baby-sitting Luke and Sandy till Sunday. Then we swap on Sunday and get to watch Winston for a week. Winston is a regular here and enjoys being able to play with other greys. I think his parents will ‘chip’ soon, and he will have a sister in the new year. Then we swap again the following week. Hercules recently got rehomed to a couple in NoVA. We will be watching him and his new sister Daisy the beagle during the week of Christmas. Since Parker is a ‘beagle/lab’ mix, I’m sure he’ll love having another non-grey around. Then we are expecting another 8-grey haul from Orlando on Dec 30th. Our next foster?

Babysitting Luke and Sandy

        We are watching Luke (SJ’s Limit) and Sandy (Kelso’s Goddess) while their parents, Shannon and Kevin, are on their honeymoon this week. We couldn’t think of a better gift than watching their kids. They got Luke first. Similar to our Lucas, he’s just a big goofy boy. They thought he was smart until they got Sandy. Luckily, we got Stella first, and she was able to show Lucas how everything worked. Now with a sister to lead the way, Luke is doing great.

        Here are Sandy and Luke taking a break on double-layered dog beds. We usually have five or six beds downstairs, so when we don’t have a houseful, we double-stack the beds for more open space. The greys really seem to like the extra cushion.

        Sandy catches the turtle.

        You wanta piece of this?

        Lucas-Luke, Yin-Yang.

Fredericksburg Parade and VAGA Xmas Party

        Had another busy greyhound weekend. On Saturday, we participated in the local Fredericksburg Christmas Parade downtown. The weather was chilly but not cold. We had seven dogs and five people, so we took two cars. Trina and I dropped off Jason, Kris and Aubry with the dogs. We got there a half hour before the parade started and had to park a good distance away. Mental note for next year’s parade: get there very early if I want a decent parking space. I got a few minutes away from the car before I realized I didn’t have my camera. It was already quite dark, so I figured the pictures wouldn’t be that great anyway. I did manage to get this picture of Stella in her coat on the ride to the parade. We had about 35 greys walk the entire route. Even though we were right in front of a marching band, it didn’t seem to bother any of the dogs.
        On Sunday, we went to Leesburg for the annual VAGA Christmas party. It was held at a doggie daycare facility, and we were perpetually mopping up as it turned out to be one big pee-fest. Here are various pics from the event. The first shot shows a sea of greyhounds. They were just milling around, sniffing, and peeing. The second pic is of Billy and Andy with their new parents. They were previously mentioned in the ‘Birthday Dog Haul’ post. The next couple of pics are of the winter coat fashion show.
The two greys are Grant and Amber strutting their stuff.
Our foster Shirley is the second to left in the pack of four showing off more winter coats.
The last pic is of Louisa May determined to eat a biscuit through her muzzle. She did manage to finally get it.
        We went up with four greys and came back with three. A prospective adopter came to the party to meet Shirley. We left her with Carolyn, VAGA’s president, so she could take Shirley on the home visit sometime this week. Since we hadn’t expected to leave Shirley there, we barely got to say goodbye. It’s just our regular crew at home now. For how long???