Bring On The Cake

We're taking a break from Wordless Wednesday today because it's a very important day for us.  On this day in 2002 a very special blue brindle puppy was born.  She grew up to be our our Blueberry and we couldn't be happier to have shared her life's journey with her.

I can remember when I first saw her.  She arrived on a haul of dogs with her mother at a house just down the street from us.  We were there to help unload them and the minute I saw her I was impressed by her beauty.  However, there were a lot of dogs to unload and I was busy for a while.  She was whisked off for a bath, as were the others and then they had a crash course in going down the stairs to the crate area.  I was supposed to bring Blueberry home with me that night as a foster dog, but life had other plans for us.  A couple there had recently lost a greyhound and they wanted to foster a greyhound with intent to adopt.  This means, they'd take her home and see if she fit in well with their family and other greyhound and then decide if they'd keep her or find another greyhound who was a better fit.  I'm not sure what happened, but she didn't end up being fostered by them.  She had a bit of an unusual life before she came to live with us seven months later.

Greyhound puppies are notoriously terrible.  They are called landsharks, and for good reason.  Most people will tell you that raising a greyhound puppy is extremely difficult and they are right.  We won the jackpot with Bunny, there's no doubt about that.  Blueberry came to us as a wild and willful two-year-old.  She was not a dog for inexperienced owners and we quickly realized that.  I can't even begin to imagine what she was like when she was even younger!  I have little doubt that she was a terror, but like most greyhounds, she bloomed into a beautiful and perfect companion. 

I credit her a great deal with helping me to survive the inital loss when Treat passed away.  While Hawk and Lilac gave me space to lick my wounds, Blueberry took it upon herself to be my watchdog.  She was brave enough to curl up in that empty space on the other end of the couch and she did her best to entertain me with her funny little canine jokes.  I've never met a dog with a better sense of humor than Blue.  She knows what she's doing is funny and gives you an irresistable grin when she does it.  Even our trip back to the kennel to choose a new member of our pack had Blueberry's stamp of approval.  An experience that became more and more stressful for me as we met dog after dog who just wasn't the one was an opportunity for her to show herself again as my protector and spirit-lifter.  When one of the males that they invited us to meet, ironically named Try, got fresh with her, Blueberry didn't just tell him no in no uncertain terms, she chased him down and made sure that he got the message  loud and clear.  When Bunny walked in the room, she wasn't crazy about her, but she didn't dislike her, and surprisingly, it didn't bother her that Bunny walked up to me the way she did.

Blueberry is the intuitive alpha in our pack.  She's confident in her place with us now and she knows that she's loved.  She isn't the hound who always wants to be up close and personal, but she is always the one who will "just be" with you on the couch after a rough day when nobody else wants to come near you.  When she wants attention, she will come to you to get it, and she always does get it.  Whether she's fluffing her bed, playing with Bunny, stealing our food or just being perfect, she does it with style and class. 

So, please join us in wishing our supermodel hound the happiest of eighth birthdays!  We hope that she will be long lived like her mother, but even if she isn't, the quality with which she has enriched our lives has already earned her a special place in heaven and in our hearts.  We love you, Berry Girl!