Jaime: Longest Foster Ever

We lost Jaime this past weekend. We are glad she made it to her 11th birthday. She recovered quickly, and we cherished the extra months we had with her. She was a trooper and put up a good fight. It was a year ago for her 10th that we got Kevin for her birthday present.

We wanted to take her to Grapehounds NY at the end of the month. We had missed Grapehounds VA, since it was the weekend after Stella’s surgery.

Our doggie day breaker passed away about a month ago. She and Jaime really had a bond. Jaime will now have her own personal pet sitter.

Through no fault of her’s, Jaime had bounced twice by the time she made it to our house. Her racing name was Black Majik Lass.

Kris asked ‘how do you feel about a black dog’? I said we already have a black dog (Parker). We took her to the local St. Patty’s Day parade, and someone saw her, wanted her, put in an application to get her, and Kris was going to take Jaime to the home visit. Till she cried and said she didn’t want to give her up.

Since then, I always told Jaime she was the 'Longest Foster Ever'. What was supposed to be an overnight stay, turned into a great addition to our family

She was a smiler and a Hoopty. Even after her amputation, she would bounce up and down on her one good leg during feeding time.

Stella and Stanley’s pic is in the runner up article for losing a greyhound and adopting again in the winter 2012 CG magazine. Guess it would have been more appropriate to have Jaime’s pic in there. 

We don’t question that we will have more greys. Maybe even sooner than later. When we lost our first boy, Lucas, it only took a couple of weeks before Stanley was on his way up to be a part of our family. Here is the last pic I took of Jaime. She is doing what she loved best. Taking naps on the bed with her brother and sister.

Osteo: The club no one wants to join. Another blogging greyhound was recently lost to Osteo over at Tales and Tails. And another recently joined the dreaded club at Shutterhounds.

We will always remember Jaime for the sweet flower girl she was.

Jaime's 11th Birthday

When Jaime first broke her leg, we didn’t think she’d make it to her next birthday. But Jaime turned 11 a couple of weekends ago. We celebrated on time. Just blogging late. 

Jaime waits patiently for momma to cut the cake.

Oh, cake time. Even Stella pops her head in to see what’s up.

Oops. Jaime dropped her piece of cake. Good thing she believes in the 5 second rule.

Stella, being a princess, takes tiny nibbles of cake atop her bed.

Parker knows what’s up.

Jaime back for seconds. It is her birthday.

Jaime enjoys the new ramp extension. We jerry-rigged a piece of our old ramp to extend the ramp, so there really is no step up necessary.

We watched Sallie and Flicker during this time. For some reason, Flicker liked to lay on the stone in front of the fireplace. It’s like she was playing Hide and Seek.

There you are.

More Bad News

   This whole job change thing is a real time-suck. Taking pics of the kids and blogging has taken a back seat to getting up to speed at work. I haven’t checked a blog in six weeks. My new territory is Virginia to Maine, so I’ll be traveling even more than before. At some point in the near future, when I’m settled in at work, I’ll get back to a more regular schedule of blogging and commenting.

   Now on to the bad news. Jaime has a lump at her amputation site. Chemo change from Carboplatin to Doxorubicin will hopefully help. Biopsy of lump came back as osteo. She will turn 11 at the end of this week. We will make it an extra special celebration.

   Stella's wrist had a little bump on it. X-ray showed a cyst, but they did not think it was osteo. We waited it out a couple of weeks, but it only got bigger. After consulting with the specialist, we decided on amputation. A bone graft at her age would have been way too risky. Post-amputation biopsy showed it was osteo. Since Stella’s bone didn’t break, and it was distal, hopefully her chances are good. 

   Jason and Trina came to see Stella before she goes in for surgery. Jaime hides when she hears what the conversation is about.

   Unlike Jaime, Stella went into a funk, and wouldn’t really eat anything. We did get her to eat most of a whole roast turkey. You are what you eat. We would wake up in the morning , and the bedroom smelled like turkey from all her turkey farts all night. And we ended up feeding her in bed. 

   Jaime's turn to watch over her sister. There is some bruising that has moved down to her belly.

   By the second week, she was sick of turkey, and only eating baby food. After over two weeks, she is finally getting up on her own, eating baby food / kibble standing at her bowl, and going out the doggie door to do her business. The vet said that Jaime was a superstar, and Stella is more par for the course for a greyhound.

   Jaime showing off by her poster at the Furry Friends Jubilee sponsored by our specialty vet. Stella turns away from the camera as she is not ready for the public to see her missing leg.

  In order for everyone to be more comfortable. Meaning the humans. We took the queen-size bed out of the guest bedroom, and put it next to our king-size bed. I was hoping that we would now have enough space for everyone. 

   We took all the kids this past weekend to Cooper Vineyards annual Lucy’s SPCA event. Both of the girls did well. Stella seemed to be happy to be out of the house. 

Visit from Foreign Dignitaries

Stella and Jaime rest in anticipation of their arrival. They’ve never had anyone travel so far to meet them.
Could this be it? Nope. This is Rachel, our foster for the day. The kids were eager to get a better sniff, as she smelled of Florida and reminded them of their racing days.
Rachel was starving from her long trip.
That made her sleepy, so she curled up in one of Parker’s beds.
They didn’t have to wait long. Fabian (blue) and Omo (white) had arrived. All the way from Australia via Texas. Such jetsetters. We knew IHateToast from her blog in Australia, Needle Noses & Fat Tyres, but referred to her as Katy.
We had a little greyhound party in their honor. You can read more about it at Trina’s blog, My Roo Spot. I think the final tally was 16 dogs and 6 people. The scenery of dogs was always changing. Can you find all 10 here?
Fabian wasted no time in digging himself a nice hole under the ramp to lay in. Parker was very impressed that a Tripawd could dig so well.
Fabian shows off the latest yoga move, ‘Sleeping Tripawd’.Omo wasn’t into yoga, and found the comfortable Kirkland beds to be a good reason to have come to the States.
Shane is still mastering the new style of Kirkland bed.
Trina and Shiloh are delighted to meet Omo.
The weather was great. Not too sunny, not too hot, not too humid. Perfect for a greyhound get-together. Can find all 12 in this pic? Some are only a nose or a rump.
Petey: Why do they always bring me to these greyhound parties? Don’t they know I’m a chihuahua mix?
Katy with her Mama’s boys.
The three ladies were always within reach of a wine glass and a hound to hug on.
Yes Jaime, that is not an illusion. That is another Tripawd running in the yard.
We did a lot of musical beds. There was rarely an empty one.
As the sun went down, we sat by the fire pit roasting marshmallows. Actually, we just took another bottle of wine with us.
When the fire died down, it was quite chilly, so we moved the party inside. It’s hard to see from this angle, but there are 9 dogs in this shot. To make room for everyone, my guys were already in our bedroom sound asleep.
From the last pic, it looked like Katy and Bob were dogless. Not so.
After a long day of playing with the greyhounds, Petey was ready to say goodnight.

Beep, Beep, Beep

The Forester beeped in reverse, even when there was nothing really behind it. With the height of the lower deck from the driveway, and the width of the new gate, it was perfect for backing up the Forester with about an inch of leeway on either side. The kids were more than happy to jump into the back at this height. The rusty howling dog watches over everyone as they pack in.

I changed jobs this week (similar position, different company) and had to give the Forester back. I hope my new company car is also a greyhound-friendly vehicle. The kids love breaking in a new company car, aka hair everywhere and nose prints on every accessible window.

Doggie Door, Stairs, and Ramp

Kris took some video on her iPhone of Jaime after breakfast using the doggie door, coming down the stairs, and hopping down the ramp. Our doggie door is in the storm door. The main door is closed when we are not around, so no critters can get in or out.

After finishing her business, she’s comes up the ramp, and handles the stairs with ease. Stanley wonders what the big deal is. 

Jaime's Ramp

Jaime catching some sun on the deck. Laying like this does make it a bit harder for her when getting up.

What are you waiting for Jaime?

Oh, I see. They’ve only partially completed the deck after Day 1.

When the ramp was completed. Stella, being a considerate big sister, tested the ramp to make sure it was ready.

Ok Jaime, you can come down now.

Stella: It was easy coming down. Now how do we get back up?

We also had a new storm door with a doggie door put it. Blue loved it, and kept going in and out. Freedom. No longer waiting for a human to open the door.

Blue liked it so much he didn’t give anyone else a chance to use it. Poor Stella was traumatized, and didn’t want to use the door after this.
Jaime had no problems using doggie door, so with the ramp installed, she can now make it to the yard without supervision.

Hopalong Jaime

Jaime would like to thank everyone for their well wishes and hugs. She is doing great after her first chemo treatment.