The Sweetest Present

A sweet little brindle girl named Felicia is staying with us while her family goes to New York for Christmas. I love her like she is one of my own hounds. Heck, she likes me more than my own dogs do! When her family dropped her off here tonight,they gave us the most darling present.

Look at this framed and matted watercolor print! Please forgive the glare of the ceiling lights. I cannot tell you how much I love this gift. You will see Tom chewing on a candy cane (they even captured his curly tail) and then there is my Sadie in the chair eating Santa's cookies. Presents under the tree and a fire in the fireplace. Then if you look on the mantle, you will see a framed photo of Dixie. This was a wonderful surprise and such a thoughtful gift. I will treasure it always!

Somebody's Getting A Home For Christmas!

Remember little Annie? She got adopted today!!! Nothing like getting a home for Christmas!

Sunshine!!!

Finally! Sunshine!!! It seems like it has been raining here forever. Today, however, the sun has made an appearance. I took this picture of Tom and Sadie a while back and I thought it was so sweet. They are laying together, touching, just barely.

Not much exciting going on around here right now. I should be getting a new foster around the 10th of December. Pretty excited about that. I miss having the third dog around here. Not sure who I will be getting just yet, but I know I can't wait!

My New Favorite T-Shirt

Sorry not much posting these days. I have been really down this whole past week as it was the one year anniversary of Dixie's passing. I purchased this shirt back in September at GPA Nashville's picnic. I normally don't spend this much on a t-shirt, but I loved this one so much that I spent $25.00 on it.

It is on a mustard gold color Gildan t-shirt. Gildan shirts are the best quality. Since I had lost 70 pounds, all of my greyhound shirts are too big. These shirts make up the majority of my wardrobe and I was just tired of wearing things that were too big. Not to mention I went to their event with money in my pocket and this was the only thing that called my name. The best part is the back. It says "the race is run, the crowds are gone, the lights are off, it's time to go. Run free my friend. " The guy that makes these runs a little business called Couch Rocket. To check out his stuff click here.

Our Little Visitor

Having the new grandson no doubt had my mind wondering how the dogs would do with him. As with my own kids, I had made my mind up there would be plenty of sniffing and licks. So Saturday evening, my daughter asked if I would babysit for about an hour. An hour. Are you sure that's all you need? Never in a million years would I have thought I would be so excited about babysitting!

Sadie was not interested too much. Tom was a bit more interested. He was so cute with the baby, but I think he was plotting to steal his soft fleece blanket all along. You can see a bit of it hanging out from under him. He fell asleep with his head on the car seat.

Who Turned Off The Heat?

It is pretty chilly here in Southern Indiana this morning. Sadie is usually always warm, but today, she didn't object to the covers!

Never Ending Toe Saga

Well, I wish I had good news on the toe, but not really. Sunday morning around 11:00 a.m. I let Sadie out to potty. My husband kept saying, just let her out by herself, she will be fine. So, for once, I listened to him. She comes in and her bandage was wet. I thought since the vet said if it stayed on until Monday, to bring her back in and they would take it off. Knowing a wet bandage wasn't good, I removed it. Now, all the while in the back of my head, I am thinking I should re-bandage. But I didn't.

Sunday was the October birthday celebrations. We have 3 birthdays in October, both my girls and my sister. With baby Geoffrey on the way, we decided to celebrate early. I needed a birthday cake and the mom-to-be wanted real buttercream icing. So, off to Wal-mart I go. While we were gone, I left Sadie baby-gated in the living room.

Upon our arrival back home, we were greeted by a limping greyhound. Yep, Sadie had dislocated the toe again. Call the vet and he said, "see you in the morning". Again, Sadie didn't really show much pain. I think she was limping because the toe nail was bothering her more than anything.

Monday, we go back to the vet. They don't even have to sedate her this time. Put the toe back in place and re-bandage her. Just got back from the change this morning and the toe is fine, but we are leaving it bandaged for several more days.

Lesson learned here...listen to the voices in your head.

Sadie's Toe...Again

Well, I can't believe it has happened again. For a little background on Sadie's toes, click here and here.

Thursday evening Sadie went out for a potty break. Evenings are getting chilly here, so she came in feeling froggy. Doing some zoomies downstairs,she then takes a run up the stairs. I heard a clanging noise and thought it sounded kind of different. She is walking just fine. A few minutes later, I notice her chewing on her toenail. I go to look at it and I can't find her toe.

Wait a minute, think about this. Be calm, there is no blood. But damn it, I can't see the toenail. I turn her foot over and see that her toe is completely bent over and is laying on top of the pad of her foot. Shit, shit, shit. Of course it is 7:30 at night. Call the answering service and leave a message for the vet to call me back.

Dr. Purdue calls me back and we talk. She isn't showing any signs of pain and no blood. Okay, Sadie has heart problems and a severe intolerance to anti-biotics, so I am afraid to take to the ER vet if it isn't necessary. He tells me, if it was his dog he would wait till morning. He is very afraid to sedate her when he would not have any support staff. So, we wait till morning.

The doors open at 8:00 a.m. and we are right there. Of course, everyone had to look at the toe and say, "not again". So, they sedate her and the toe pops right back into place. They put a cute polka dot bandage on her and we discuss her weekend plans. No activity, leash walking. If the bandage makes it through the weekend, bring her back in and they can take it off.

It was a beautiful day here, so I send her out to potty and the grass is wet. Who would have thought that at 11:00 the grass would still be covered with dew. I forgot to put the IV bag over the bandage. So, I take the bandage off. We don't want to leave a wet wrap on the foot.

It's the annual birthday dinner tonight, so I head out to Wal-mart to buy a cake. I leave the dogs gated upstairs, thinking they would be fine. Come home and Sadie is holding her foot up. Look at the foot and the damn toe is popped out again.

NOOOOO! Not again. I do the best I can to bandage it up, putting gauze in between the toe since it is folded over again. Call the vet. He says, just keep her calm and bring her back in the morning. I really can't believe this is happening again.

Not to mention, Tom was at the vet as well on Friday. I will have to do a separate post about that whole ordeal. I am exhausted.

Greytfest

Yesterday was our 7th annual Greytfest. This year we held our event in Owensboro, Kentucky. One of our board members works for a big company that let us use their facilites. Very nice place. Not such a good turnout though. It was a gorgeous day, but it was cold and windy. After a scorching summer, you think it would have been warm just one more week.

This year, I decided to be a vendor. With a low turnout, I didn't do as well as I would have liked. However, my pumpkin was a hit. It was decided it would be best suited for the live auction. If it wasn't for the hounds, I would almost be embarassed to tell you what someone spent for it. It went for $150.00! It is always amazes me what people pay for things in these auctions. But like my friend, the auctioneer says, "it's for the hounds".

Even though it was cold, it was still a wonderful day. Any day that you get to see greyhounds is a good day to me. It was very hard for me to say goodbye to Buddy though. I know he will have a good home, but darn, I will miss him.

Foster Pupdates

Thought I would give everyone an update on my pups. Buddy is getting adopted. I will get to tell him good bye on Saturday at the Gretyfest. He will be moving to Louisville. I have already told the family I will need visitation rights.

On Thursday, Annie, moved back to her previous foster home. Her foster mom needed her there to help with her newest foster dog, Amanda. Poor Amanda wasn't doing well as an only dog. I have heard that they are enjoying each other's company. So, for now, I am foster-less. We decided to wait until the grandson is born to get another foster. We will be taking care of Felicia in a couple of weeks, so that will fill an empty spot for a while!

Funny Story

This morning I was conducting my normal morning routing and "seeing what's going on in the world". I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Tales and Tails, and her blog post for today was titled "Greyhounds Don't Fetch Slippers.

It seems I have been doing a lot of walking down memory lane these days. The one year anniversary of Dixie's death is coming up, plus I have been feeling super guilty about not telling more about my beloved Brett and his passing. But that is another story for another day.

Anywho, my Dixie didn't fetch slippers for sure, but she had a special treatment for my slippers. I was super excited when I got these new fuzzy slippers on Christmas. Imagine my surprise when I got out of bed and couldn't locate said slippers. I get up to let the dogs out anyway to see not only one, but both of my new slippers laying out in the backyard! I'm sure she was disappointed in the slippers when she kept chomping on them and no sound was being released!

My Dixie girl was known for her love of the stuffies. She would have them strategically placed in the back yard and grab them on a run for the fence. Then she would proceed to shake them and squeak them like no tomorrow. I believe she was trying to show the animals in the woods what she would do to them if they every came in her yard. Of course, the only ones who didn't listen, were the dumb rabbits. We never had any other animals inside the fence. Guess she showed them, huh?

She spent her 7 years with us protecting us from the critters of the forest. So when she passed, my husband buried her on the outside of the fence. Thanks for sharing a sweet memory...

We're IN!!!

The 2012 Celebrating Greyhounds Calendar that is! The president of our group got our copies to sell today. I begged her to tell me if Dixie was in it. We knew a couple of GPA Tri-State hounds made it. My girl is in the wall calendar, month of September, bottom right hand corner. Of course, I am still waiting for my complimentary copy, so I haven't seen it for myself!

Suggestions Please

We are having our annual Greytfest on October 1st this year. For years, I have said I wanted to be a vendor. Well, this year, I am doing it. I have been working on projects and getting ready. I have been gathering materials for a while now and most things I have made, I didn't have to leave the house to get anything.

I will have some framed shadow boxes made from copies of antique photos and such, belly bands, poop bags, photo mugs, travel dog beds and some collar accessories. I also have copies some of my old images onto fabric and made a few pillows. I hope to get a couple of tote bags made as well. Here is my dilemma, what should I call myself? Some of you follow my other blog, Mad Red Hare, and I was debating about using that. Any ideas?

Some Thoughts...

This past weekend has had me thinking about a lot. Some of you may know that I am Secretary to our local greyhound adoption group. As part of my duties, I am responsible for sending out sympathy cards for our friends who have recently lost their hounds. During the past month, we have lost 6 of our precious hounds. One to a freak accident, two to complications of old age, one to a soft tissue cancer and two to the dreaded osteo. What makes it so hard is that one of these families has already lost two before her to this disease. Why is it that some families just seem to have the worst luck? However, this is the same family who is currently fostering my Buddy. I realize that maybe his place is to mend their broken heart.

On a happier note. I got to see my Bluto today! Some of my follwers might remember him from when I fostered him and dog sat for him before his family got too busy for him. If there are any of you out there who don't think these dogs remember you, I would disagree with you. He took one look at me, jumped up, put his front legs on my shoulders and gave me his signature hug. To say I was glad to see him too, would have been an understatement. We visited for a while. This included him laying in my lap. But I loved every second of it!

My New Foster Pup

On August 21, we got a new foster pup. Meet Annie. She makes number 16 for us. Fosters, that is. Annie, Annie-bananie, Annie-Mae, Little Bits & Pieces. Those are just a few of her pet names. She just turned 3 in February and weighs in at 54 pounds. A little bitty thing. She developed seizures a couple of months ago. Since being on her med though, she has never had another one. This picture is of her cuddling with my daughter, Megan.

Buddy went to a different foster home and they may even keep him. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved the Bud-ster. But I was having such a hard time making the decision to keep him, that I think it just wasn't meant to be. Well, for now anyway. If he comes back though, he most likely will never leave again!

Happy Gotcha Day Tom

Eight years ago today, we signed the papers to make KD Tom Sawyer officially ours. Not only is he a special boy to us, he was also our group's first adoptee. The image above is a spot that I sponsored on the back of one our Greytfest t-shirts a couple of years ago.

It has been so rewarding to watch this dog blossom. I believe he would have been considered a "spook" by most standards. But with patience and love, he has grown to love and trust. Happy Gotcha Day Tommie Boy, love you bunches!

Tom Update

Thanks for all your positive thoughts for Tom. After 24 hours on the Rimadyl, he was much improved. We will continue this for another week (maybe less). He is feeling good again and was even barking for his supper tonight!

On another note, my foster Buddy left to go to a different foster home. We had to switch dogs around this weekend to find out if one of our hounds would be good as an only dog. The family that currently has Buddy has had their eye on him for a while now. It would be a wonderful home for him. I do miss him though. I have told the family, if he comes back again, he most likely will not leave!

Thinking of You Dixie

Thinking of my sweet Dixie girl today. This would have been her 11th birthday. Snapped this photo of her last fall in her favorite place, her backyard.

Vet Visit for Tom

Okay, deep breath...yesterday Tom had, what I am referring to "an episode". He started to go downstairs and I was in front of him. He wasn't coming, so I looked up to see him frozen at the top of the landing. He was sticking his left front leg out and had the look of sheer panic in his eyes. Suddenly, I had the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Finally got him back up from the landing. He was walking funny. Not necessarily limping. I refer to it as "high stepping". Almost like a cat when they have something stuck on the bottom of their paw. Then I noticed he was stumbling too.

Our house looks like a single story from the front, but on the back side it is two stories. So, to get to the backyard, you need to able to maneuver the stairs. Found the leash and took him out to the front yard to potty. He promptly walks to the sidewalk and just starts going. No squatting or hiking his leg. He just pees. Now, that doesn't sound good. For the rest of the day, we did no stairs, just going out on the leash.

He continued to have these episodes off and on during the day. I debated about taking him to the vet, but then he would get better. He was still kind of unsteady on his feet by evening and I decided he would go to the vet in the morning. Needless to say, not much sleep here for me.

We go to the vet, and it was crazy there. I guess everyone was going today since it was Friday. I see one of the older vets in the practice and explain what is happening. He says right off the bat, "I don't like this one bit". Then he calls one of the younger lady vets in for her opinion. She gives him the once over too.

Tom has kidney disease and had a horrible experience with anesthesia last time. We discussed sending him to Louisville for further testing. After much discussion, we decided to just treat the symptoms and give him the best quality of life that we can.

I know it will be a hard decision to make when the time comes, but I will not allow him to suffer. He deserves so much more than that. He has blossomed into such a loving, goofy boy and I hope to have lots more time with him.

A Little Love Story

One of my daily rituals is reading my favorite blogs. I call it "my window on the world". Today, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Tales and Tails, and was challenged to tell my story about how we picked out our first greyhound.

It just doesn't seem like it's possible that 8 years have gone by. This month on the 27th, we will celebrate our 8th gotcha day. My girls and I chose this adorable brindle boy named Tom Sawyer. A shy boy that was cat safe. That sounds perfect!

At that time we had an adoption rep in our area for GPA Indy since our chapter, GPA Tri-State, was just being formed. The timing was right and Tom was going to be the very first adoptee for this new chapter! After the application process was completed, we went to Lafayette, Indiana to pick up Mr. Tom.

Shy was one of the features we liked about this boy. When we went to the kennel to pick him up, we found out that shy didn't even come close to describing him. He wouldn't even come outside of his run to look at us. Finally, after no luck, we went inside to meet him. He ran around the room and wanted nothing to do with us. His owner was able to get a hold of him and bring him to me so I could pet him. My mind was made up, he was coming back with us. After all, the girls had picked him out.

Tom had been living in the kennel since it was deemed that he was not a good candidate for racing. He ran his 3 races and just didn't cut it. Lucky for him, his owner/breeder takes all of his dogs back to his kennel until they are adopted. For Tom, that was 18 months.

After a couple of weeks at his foster home, Tom was getting used to life on the inside. When he came to our house for the first night, he spent 16 hours in his kennel. Not by my choice, we left the door open. He was just so scared of everything. It broke my heart. We finally got him out by literally lifting the back of the kennel up so he kind of slid out.

Little by little, he made small strides. He started out spending most of his days at the bottom of the stairs. Within the week, he moved up to the landing. Then he made it into the living room. Slowly, but surely, he was gaining trust in us. It didn't take long though for us to decide that we needed to add the second dog. Along came my Dixie girl and she helped Tom blossom into the goofy boy he is today.

This picture was taken right after Dixie came home. Not only are we celebrating Tom's 8th anniversary of becoming a family member, the 21st would have been Dixie's 11th birthday.

So, there's a little bit of our story. Hope you enjoyed it.

Very Little Activity Here

Tom and Sadie are taking a break from heat. It is so hot here in Southern Indiana! You might as well give up watering your plants, cause they are dying even if you do. The dogs run out to potty and come right back in and pass out.

We had a little house guest over the weekend. Her name was Annie and her foster mom went out of town for the weekend. I didn't get any photos of her, but she is Sadie's twin. Sadie seemed to like her okay, but it was really too hot to play outside. At one point, they were laying on the dog bed together. Maybe Sadie liked her because she went home after 2 days!

My Napping Partner

I can't believe Felicia hasn't been here for almost a week already. I miss her! This is a really horrible picture of me, but Felicia was snuggling with me during nap time. She had her little chin on my cheek. She is super sweet! You can see Buddy's ear in the corner of this picture. He is a little jealous!

Sweet Sadie

I thought I should give my own dog equal time. Every chance she gets, she jumps up and steals my chair. Sadie will be 8 in November, but being mostly black, she is greying pretty quick. She has her nose a bit out of joint (and kind of looks like it in this picture) with our visitor Felicia here. Felicia will be leaving in a couple of days and I will miss her so. I really want her to stay, but her family loves her too!

Silly Felicia

Where does the time go? I thought I just did a post not that long ago, only to find out it has been over 2 weeks. How is that possible?

We have a house guest, Felicia. She came last Thursday and will leave next weekend. What a sweetie. I was able to get this picture of her tonight. She looks so sweet and innocent. Went to let her out to potty and she decides at 11:30 p.m. to take a swim in the pond in the backyard! Who would have thought?

Buddy's Back!

Who can resist that face? And those ears? I love the ears! Needless to say, I have missed Buddy boy these past 5 weeks. We took Buddy back to Louisville Wednesday and he got released from his surgeon. So, he is back at the house now. Walked in, and acted like he had never been gone. He is so silly! His hair is growing back in. Once it comes back in, you probably won't even be able to see any scars. He has been such a trooper through this whole ordeal. I must say though, he is enjoying his freedom now!

Silly Rabbits

More like stupid rabbits! Came home from a nice fathers day cookout at my daughter's house last night. Let the hounds out. Then there is Sadie running like the wind and I see the rabbit running for its life. Dumb bunny isn't as fast as the dog. So for those of you whose dogs have caught the rabbit, you know the scream. Sadie stops and drops the rabbit, then chases it again. Catches it again. I finally get her to bring it to me, get her collar and she drops it. He takes off and tries to get out of the yard only to get his head stuck in the fence. Finally with a little coaxing dumb bunny escapes the yard. He had a scratch on his head from the fence. Sad thing is he will probably be back in the yard today. Meanwhile, Tom who is Mr. Laidback, is standing there taking a pee! Never even knew what was going on. Sadie is totally exhausted from her rabbit chasing tonight.

Friday Updates

Went to visit my Buddy today. I was a little nervous. Would he remember me? The answer is a definite YES! He missed me. He's on very limited activity, but he was able to climb up on a little wicker sofa and lay his head in my lap. He was so cute! Every time one the other dogs came around, he would put his paw up and push them away! Gosh, I miss that dog. He doesn't get his stitches out until June 20th. Then he will have his follow up with the vet in Louisville. So it is going to be a couple more weeks before he might get to come back here.

Some of you might also remember my story about Bluto and his battle with Lyme's disease. GREYT news there! Bluto is back to him old happy self again! They say he went back to the vet's office and was giving his signature hugs out! I am so happy about that!

Buddy Update

Well, it seems Buddy developed an infection. The incision was being held closed by suture adhesive and the infection was causing it to come open. The problem was on the left side where they had to do the most repair. The right side has healed up and looks really good. So, last Friday the vet went back in and closed it up with staples. They did a culture and wound up changing his anti-biotics. He is now on Zeniquin and it is about $10 a pill. Man, I hope that stuff works!

He still can't come back here until he gets his staples removed and goes back to Louisville for a recheck. Meanwhile, he is about 30 minutes from here. It seems he is being such a good sport and is tolerating spending much of his time in his kennel. The lady who is taking care of him said he wanted to lay out in the yard in the sun. She grabbed her lawn chair cushion and laid there with him. The things we do for these hounds! I feel bad for him because he loves to be outside. But, to get him healed up, he has to remain clam. No stairs, no furniture and no running.

I kept thinking he would be coming back any day now. But in all reality, it will probably be next week. So, I am going to visit Buddy tomorrow. I miss that big ole goofy boy!

Thinking...

For some reason, this week, I have been missing my Dixie girl. Maybe it's because we are down to just 2 dogs right now. Other than an occasional vet visit, we haven't had only 2 dogs in our house for almost 8 years now. It seems that my fosters or visitors want to snuggle with me more than my own dogs. Jax would always cuddle with me on the floor at night. Buddy would also lay in your lap on the couch. Sadie won't lay with me. Tom will lay close to you, but he really doesn't want you touching him.



Meet Felicia. Next weekend, she will be coming for a sleepover. She was adopted about 2 months ago and is currently an only dog. She is super sweet and I can't wait for her to stay with us. She is shy, like my Tom. She just turned 8 years old and this family is her first real family! She was a brood mom. Not sure how many litters she produced. Her family loves her so much and she has a wonderful home. But I'm sure glad she will be with us this weekend.


People look at me like I'm crazy when I say I miss having the 3rd dog around. Heck, at one point a couple of months ago, we had 5 dogs here.

If you have followed me for a while, you might remember Bluto. He recently became very ill. This time last week, he was knocking on death's door. Finally after almost 10 days of being seriously ill, his blood work came back positive for Lyme's disease. This guy has been through so much, I was just about heart broken thinking that he wouldn't make it. He is on the mend, finally. He could still use lots of white light and positive thoughts.

Buddy continues to improve. He is on very restricted activity and is being a very good boy. Not sure when he will be able to come back here, but I miss that goofy guy too!

Buddy Update...butt picture

Buddy got to come home today. Well, not here home, but where he will recuperate. He can't come here because of the stairs. He will recover with a wonderful gal who will take excellent care of him.


No stitches on the outside, just suture adhesive. The stitches on the inside will disolve on their own. Bruising is starting to appear today. I hear he is on some good pain meds though, so hopefully he won't be too uncomfortable. I feel so bad for him, I know he is confused. He has been with me since September. Hopefully since I didn't take him to the vet and am not poking pills down, he will be glad to see me. Here is a picture of Buddy's butt today. Hopefully with his brindle markings, the scarring won't be too noticeable once the hair comes back in.

Buddy Update

Well, the Budster is out of surgery. Finally. He wound up at Louisville Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Services. Another great facility in Louisville. They got him under sedation and did a very thorough exam. The left side was much worse than originally expected and the right side had already started to herniate as well. They were able to fix both sides. There is a 90% success rate for this surgery. Let's hope he is among that percentage. He will have to be on very restricted activity for the next two weeks. No stairs, only leash walked for potty breaks and remain quiet. So he won't be coming back to my house until he is healed up and released from the doctor. I will keep you updated if I find out any more.

Caution: This Post Is About Poop!

Last Saturday, my foster dog Buddy, went on a home visit. One of his pet names here has been "Pooper". He does poop a lot. Probably more than he pees. I know this is probably too much information, but my dog friends understand!


The lady that took him on the home visit asked me if I thought Buddy was straining when he was pooping. Well, I thought about it. He poops a lot, but I really don't watch him. I mean, give a guy some privacy! So anyway, they decided to take him into the vet for a look see.


Ummm, excuse me! You are going to do WHAT???



In the meantime, they were watching Buddy do the number 2 and found that he had these bulges back by his tail. So he goes to the vet on Monday and after a very thorough exam, they find that Buddy has a perineal hernia. Click HERE for description and photo of an extreme case.



I am just worried sick about my boy. He will be going to Metropolitan Veterinary Specialists in Louisville, Kentucky (about 90 minutes from here). There were not vets in our area that were experienced enough to do the surgery. The president of our local adoption group will be taking him there for a consult. But he will most likely be having surgery. This is a huge expense for our group. The low ball figure is $1700.00 for this surgery. Good thing we just had a pretty successful fundraiser!



So if you would say a little prayer for my Budster on Monday, I would appreciate it!

I couldn't even come up with a title for this post, my brain is fried. Tom went in for his dental yesterday. Got the call from the vet, he was out of surgery, but they had to cut out early. They got 5 abcessed incisors out, and broke off some of the plaque and tartar. Then his temp started going up. It went up to over 106. Bad news. They were able to get one of the growths off of his rear leg. They got him off the anesthesia and started cooling him down. Ice packs and cold IV fluids. Sheesh, I am getting too old for this shit. Yep, I just said that.

It appears that he has a condition called Malignant Hyperthermia. Click HERE to read more info. So, factor in his kidney issues, we know that we can't put him under inhaled anesthesia again. So, keep your paws crossed that he can make it the rest of his life not needing any type of major surgery. If he does, we are kind of screwed.

Being a picky eater too, I am now faced with being creative to get his meds in him. He figured out that the meat balls from canned food had pills in them. This morning, he took them in pill pockets. Let's hope I can keep him fooled.

Needless to say, I had a pretty scary day yesterday...I am kind of spent.

Coffee with a Canine

Holy Cow! I feel so honored. Click HERE to visit Coffee with a Canine to read our story!

You're Gonna Do What?

Tom here. Mom took me to the vet today. Some of you may not know that I was diagnosed 3 years ago with kidney disease. Since then I have to have this HUGE needle stuck in me and they take away my blood every three months. Yeah, no fun. I was about a month over due anyway. I really haven't been hungry lately, and think I have lost a few pounds. Mom keeps telling me my teeth are bad. Maybe that's why I am not eating much these days.

Anyway, she gets the leash out and I am super excited! Then, like always, I get in the van the shakes come over me. I mean, I like to go, but I just get so nervous. But I always get the sympathy at the vet 'cause my nails click on the tile. You know they feel sorry for me and toss a cookie my way. Man, the things you do for a treat!

So, I heard them say that after they get the results back from the blood they stole from me, I might be getting a dental! WHAT??? Then I heard them say something about while I was out, they would take care of a few other things. I like my bumps, why do they need them?

So we finally get out of there...man they were putting things in the out door, if you know what I mean. I come home to my yard and there's mom following me. Sheesh, they were doing that at the vet. Can't a guy take a leak in peace? I mean, they got my blood, why do they need my pee? Well, I guess we will find out next week what fun I get to have next!

Where Does The Time Go?

It is so hard to believe that 6 months have already passed since that dreadful day.

Jax is Home...Finally

My friends, Jax is home with his family in Honolulu. Finally. I really honestly thought I would never be making this post. He came to stay with us in August and was supposed to be with his family by Christmas. So he made it, just almost 4 months late!

I must say, if anyone is flying a pet anywhere, I would highly recommend Continental Airlines. They have been so helpful during this whole process. The man at the Quikpak cargo desk at Chicago was so nice. He helped me get the kennel out of the van and into the terminal. He was so nice when I was standing there blubbering like a fool too. Gave me his direct number to his desk so I could call and make sure the plane got off. He told me he would keep Jax with him in the office until the last possible minute. When I did call back, he gave me all the details about how he behaved in his kennel while he was there with him. Reassured me that they do this everyday and that he was in good hands. Super, super nice guy. Also told me that the other airlines that I got quotes from (like $2,000) would turn around and fly him with them anyway. I was able to track him. See what time he was put on the plane, what time he got to the next stop, when he went on the next plane. Also, when he got to Honolulu, they told me when he went to animal quarantine. The only thing that would have been better,was streaming live video!

So after all of you who have followed this story, thanks for your support.

One Step Closer...

to Hawaii that is! Just got back from the vet and Jax has his Certificate of Health! Let the countdown begin!

Aloha, Bon Voyage...

After many months, I never thought this day would come. Jax has a plane reservation on April 30th. I was going to try for this weekend, but with the holidays, I just wasn't comfortable putting him on a plane.

It is kind of bittersweet after everything that we have been through, but it is time for him to go. Actually it has been time for a while now. The rest of the family made it Honolulu and they have a house with a fenced in yard.

I have been a nervous wreck trying to make all the preparations for him to go. Being that he has to go in the giant kennel, not every plane can take that type of cargo. I will make the 5 1/2 hour drive to Chicago to get him on the plane though. He will leave Chicago at 9:00 a.m. on April 30th and arrive in Honolulu at 5:50 p.m. the same day. Because the Department of Agriculture is gone when his plane arrives, he will have to stay in the kennel at the airport. His family can pick him up first thing Sunday morning.

Now keep your paws crossed that we can get our Certificate of Health on Monday! Be thinking of me as I make the trek north and send him on his way!

Photo shoot

With the nice weather today, I took the opportunity to have my daughter take some photos of me with the pups. Tom on the left, Sadie in the middle, and foster dog Buddy on the right. Oh yeah, I'm the the 2-legged one!

My Splurge

Normally, I don't just blow money on frivolous things, but I couldn't resist. I have a Honda Odyssey van and I have played around with the thought of getting a personalized plate for a while now. Every year for the past 2 years when it comes time for plate renewal I see if this is available, and it has been. So this year, I decided this was my present to myself for working 2 jobs for the past 6 months. While I am working the same amount of hours now, it will be at one job. Plus no evenings or weekends, so more time for the hounds! I know it's kind of silly...

Did You Hear?

Did you hear? Did you hear?

Sadie says "Hear what?"

Tom says "what?"

That Mom is going to have more time to give us belly rubs! She is quitting her second job! Yay!!! Although I hope we don't have to cut back on dog biscuits!

Happy Birthday Tom Sawyer!

This Wednesday we celebrated our KD Tom Sawyer's birthday. Actually he turned 11 years old on Thursday, but I had to work, so we had our party a little early. We never really had a birthday party before, but with last years events, we decided that we would not take any birthday for granted again! So here's some pictures from our celebration!

Don't let that face fool you! He loved he hat!!!

Although, he was a little exhausted from all the excitement...

He finally decided to get up and eat his cake! Happy birthday my silly goofy boy, you have come a long way in 7 years!

Speechless...

Went to a wonderful event today. A local Pet Food Store had a get together called "Meet the Breed and Fall in Love". Not just greyhounds, but all kinds of dogs were there. Got to see my buddy Dave-O. Dave-O holds the record as a foster at my house. He was here for 9 months! I am so glad I got to see him and get some good kisses.

There was a fellow greyhound owner there with her newly adopted girl. They adopted this senior brood momma last October. (For the life of me, the name escapes me) They had lost both of their greys within 3 months of each other to osteo. Now why does it seem that this demon cancer follows some families? She told us today that in December this lovely senior lady had a nipple that was bleeding. Turns out it was breast cancer. They removed the tumor and said they got good margins, things were looking up. A couple of weeks later she started the dreaded limp. Yep, you guessed it, she has osteo. I had to walk away, I almost started crying...why? Will they ever find a cure for this demon cancer?

Just When You Think You Are Dealing With It...

I asked yesterday when I was preparing the dogs breakfast, "where is Dixie's bowl?" It will be 3 months ago tomorrow, I lost my girl.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...hopefully

Well, my friends, I just haven't been too motivated to post much lately. For those of you that follow my "dog blog" know that I have had an extra dog here since August. His name is Jax. You would have to read the earlier posts to know the whole story and it is way to long to go into it here. Anyway, I got word last week that his family finally has a house in Honolulu and will take possession of this house on February 15th! This picture was taken out of the window of the plane we were on when we went to Maui in 2009. This is the big island as we had to switch planes there.

Anyway, please keep your fingers, toes, paws and everything else crossed that this works out for the family and they will soon be sending for Jax. The mom told me that her and the kids are flying out on Valentines day and as soon as they purchase some furniture and other necessities, they will get him on a plane.

I still miss my Dixie girl...