Oh The Places You'll Go

As I look back on my life, almost every era is defined by a dog.  That's not to say that I've lived a horribly long time, but rather that I look at my life in a series of segments shared by various dogs.  There has been at least one dog in my life since I was eighteen months old and we moved to a farm. 

Ten years ago, our first Greyhound entered our lives.  Treat was a model dog, the kind that spoils you for all others.  Everything with her just seemed so easy, and even her battle with epilepsy didn't diminish her standing in our eyes.  Through her, I met some of the most wonderful other people -- all fellow Greyhound owners.  Honestly, there aren't any nicer people anywhere.  I've seen them come together for all kinds of reasons.  There were GURs, or Greyhound transports, long before I heard about other breeds doing so.  I experienced so many new things through her.  We joined message boards online, began doing therapy dog visits, went to meet and greets to help other Greyhounds have homes and traveled to places with and because of the dogs that we'd never have gone before.

Now, I have Bunny and it's a new era.  I had been to Dewey Beach before with Treat, Hawk, Lilac and Blueberry.  The Greyhounds Reach the Beach event happens annually on Columbus Day weekend.  Bunny had never been, and I really wanted her to experience the beach, especially now while she's young enough to really have fun with it.  A couple of months ago, I realized that we weren't going to be able to go together as a family the way we always have in the past. 

Fortunately, we have a good friend who also wanted to go.  She offered to let Bunny and I ride along with her and share a hotel with her and her dog.  I decided that I wanted to go bad enough to travel halfway across the country, even though that's something I haven't done by myself before.  Travelling such a long distance with someone who was not part of my family was not something I'd done before, but it turned out to be a great trip. 

Bunny was an excellent traveller.  The truth of the matter is that I probably wouldn't have gone and had all the wonderful experiences that we did if it weren't for her.  It's hard for me to break out of my comfort zone.  Yet, there's something about travelling with a dog that seems to transport you out of yourself.  I regret that I didn't take Travels With Charley along with me to read.  I really think she'd have been content to lay on the beach with me while I read through the pages.  Actually, after our day of shopping on Saturday, I know she would have much preferred that!

There didn't seem to be anything that she didn't handle well.  Riding in the car was no problem for her at all.  She was a good shopper, and happy to model things that I was thinking about purchasing.  Eating in restaurants there was a pleasure, since she happily laid down on the travel bed I took along for her.  She greeted everyone with a tail wag and good manners, happy to let everyone on the boardwalk and sidewalk pet her.  Even posing for pictures was no problem for her, although I regret not seeing a rock that she could pose on like Rusty, K and R. 

It is such a pleasure to travel with dogs, and I've been lucky that I've had some wonderful travellers in my life.  You do need to do a little extra planning, but it's definitely worth it!  I hope that everyone has the good fortune of taking a fun trip with a dog at least once in their life.  The experiences you can have when you share your life with a dog are truly amazing.

Sometimes, the best part is that it makes you appreciate how wonderful coming home is, too!

We just learned that Karletje's dad passed away yesterday.  It's been a while since he and his mom, Anya have blogged, due to his dad's health, but I'm sure they would appreciate some comfort and support right now at this difficult time. 

A Blast From The Past

We were tagged in the photo challenge that's been going around on several blogs.  I think that we did this last year sometime, but I'm not certain, so I figured we'd go for it again.  We're also tying it in with the challenge thrown out by The Thundering Herd that asked us to talk about a dog that has been very special in our lives who is no longer with us and tell a story about him or her.  The photo tag challenge asks that you post the tenth picture in the first photo folder that you have.

This picture is of Treat.  She was our first greyhound and our first dog after we got married.  The first three years of our married life, we lived in an apartment and weren't allowed to have dogs.  It was the first time either of us had ever been without a dog.  We got our house the very end of October and by the end of December, Treat had moved in to become the Queen of the Castle.  In the photo above, we were getting ready to go to Dewey Beach, Delaware in October of 2007 for Greyhounds Reach the Beach.  For nongreyhound people, I will explain that this is a huge event where thousands of greyhounds and their people get together for the weekend.  It involves seminars, shopping, walks on the beach, ice cream socials, community outreach, and lots of socializing.  Treat always loved to travel.  Heck, you can see that she had her own luggage, and everything inside that bag was hers.  The girl had lots of accessories, and even a lot of internet fans. 

As soon as we'd start packing, she was there supervising everything we did.  I'm surprised she didn't sleep in the suitcase.   Most of the drive to Delaware involved her with her nose pressed to the window or sticking out the window.  When we crossed the state line, I swear she could smell the ocean in the air.  She was the only one of our greyhounds who liked the water, but every year she and I would take long runs down the beach with a longe line and she loved running through the waves.  People would usually stop and watch us, because most greyhounds are made of sugar and will melt when they come in contact with water.  Treat was made of special sugar, apparently, and she could not resist the water.  In October, the air was often warm, but the water was cold.  It didn't matter.  We were getting in and that was that.  She'd run through the waves, then attack and bite them.  Sometimes she'd dig in the water until it looked like a fountain had erupted around her.  Often, I was surprised that she had the energy to walk back to the rental house.  I usually ended up with horrible shin splints, but I had a very happy dog, at least until we'd get back to the rental house and hose the sand off her.  Why the ocean was wonderful but the hose water was offensive I'll truly never completely understand.  It must have had some kind of reaction with the special sugar she was spun from.

Treat was the perfect first greyhound; she truly made me fall in love with greyhounds and I'll always have at least one by my side.  Traveling with her was always a wonderful adventure.  I could tell a thousand stories about her, but that would take too long.  I'll just say that if there hadn't been Treat, there wouldn't be the wonderful hounds that we currently share our lives with.

We're supposed to tag five people to play photo tag.  If you've already been tagged, we apologize, and please, don't feel obligated to play if you don't want to.

1.  Thoughts From A Yodeling Goatherder
2.  My Great Dane Is In Love With Me
3.  Two Greyhound Town
4.  Who's Driving?
5. We Three Doxies

Greyhound Reunion or Bust!

We have been looking forward to attending the annual Quad Cities Greyhound Adoption reunion for a while now. Bunny, Hawk and Treat were all adopted through QCGA and they're a wonderful group to work with. Bunny's mother and many of her littermates have also been adopted through QCGA or are waiting there for their homes. Bunny's sister, Gizmo is waiting for her spay surgery to be finished and then she'll be going home and Andy is still waiting to be adopted. So, we have really been hoping to see some of her littermates and see how they're doing.

This week we really weren't sure if we were going to make it. I've been really sick with what I suspect might be swine flu and we had Lilac's scary episode on Thursday. Since Lilac is resting very comfortably at home, we decided to let her rest in peace with Hawk and take Blueberry and Bunny up to the reunion for a little while. I am also feeling somewhat human today, so I figured that as long as I don't overdo it, things will go okay. I did ask who wanted to do before we left.

Me: Well, we're heading to the reunion! Who wants to go?

Bunny: I've got my collar on already! Meet me at the back door and sign me up for petting!

Blueberry: I'm in! Give me the cushy bed in the back of the van!

Hawk: The sky could fall there at any minute! Are you crazy?! Rattle the treat jar when you get back!

Lilac: In that moving, rattling box of potential death? Um, no, I think I've already cheated death enough this week, thank you very much! I'll be here on the big dog bed when you get back.

And so, it was decided. We all got comfortable in our selected spots and started the day off. The sun was shining, the air was cool, but not too cool and it seemed like the perfect day to get some rest and relaxation in at the reunion.

We had a safe and uneventful trip to the reunion and saw some people and greyhounds that we usually only get to see online. It was very nice to catch up with people and pet hounds. Bunny was in heaven with lots of people petting her and fussing over her. There were also lots of hounds to sniff. Blueberry relaxed and enjoyed herself in her own way while Bunny worked the crowd. There were a lot of volunteers who remembered her from when she weas in the kennel and she was more than happy to let them pet her. We thought we'd share some pictures of our day in closing. We'd also like to send out a huge thank you to the volunteers who help put on this wonderful event and keep the kennel running.




















And yes, we did get to visit Bunny's siblings in the kennel!

The Fourth Photo

We were tagged by Jey of The Depp Effect for the Fourth Photo challenge. We were supposed to go through, find the fourth photo in our photo files and post it. So, if you've been tagged, post your fourth photo, mention who tagged you and name three others to post their fourth photo.

The photo is of our girl Treat, as we got ready to attend Dewey a couple of years. It would prove to be her last trip with us. Going on any kind of trip was almost more excitement than Treat could bear, but going to Dewey was especially thrilling. She supervised all the packing and would have slept in the suitcases if she could have to make sure she got to go. In this picture, she was beside her own suitcase. Yes, she was so spoiled that she needed her own bag to carry all her things on the trip. Treat was the best traveller I have ever known. Life was always an adventure waiting to be had!

So, who else would like to play this game? How about Melody of Melody Sez? Perhaps Dory and her Mama from Dory's Backyard? Maybe Emma Rose will try it? We'll have to check out their blogs and see!