Day of the Dead

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, in English) is a Mexican celebration of one's ancestors on November 1 and 2.  It is believed "that the gates of Heaven are opened at midnight on October 31, and the spirits of all deceased children are allowed to reunite with their families for 24 hours.  On November 2, the spirits of the adults come down to enjoy the festivities..."  source

I bought this little figure at Target last month.

I take time during Day of the Dead to remember and celebrate the critters that have been part of our family and have passed on.  Each is precious.

Murphy, the gentle giant who taught me to love dogs.

Cindy.  Still my best Christmas present ever.

Amy.  Barn cat, turned house cat, born deaf ... and she never knew that that was supposed to be a handicap.

Emma.  The precious soul who started my journey into the wonderful world of Greyhounds.

Maggie.  My miracle survivor cat.  The friendliest cat ever.

Daniel.  The dog who picked me.  

Kimba.  The Queen of Hartwood.

... and Winnie.  What can I say about this wonderful little dog ... I adored her.

I gathered these photos of some of my precious critters, and each of them made me smile.  Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.  I remember each of them with love, and joy, and I am grateful for their presence in our family.

On this final day of Dia de los Muertos, take a moment to remember your precious loved ones, whether they're human or otherwise.  Be still, and I'll bet you can feel them nearby.
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If you'd like to read a lovely, short article about Day of the Dead, click HERE.

Sunday Snapshot: Making It Official

Our dogs wear ID on their collars at all times.  It's a happy occasion when a new dog's tag comes in the mail ... Petal's arrived yesterday afternoon.

Till now, Petal has been wearing a blue collar with my cell phone number written on it in Sharpie marker.  It is from the stash of collars that I have on hand to use whenever we volunteer to help transport dogs.  It did the job, but blue isn't really Petal's color.

Now, Petal has her own collar ... bought especially for her, in a lovely shade of rose pink.  See her new tag?

The noise of jingling tags on collars makes me nuts, but I am mindful of the importance of keeping ID on my dogs in addition to their microchips, so we use flat tags from Boomerang Tags.  For $11.95, they provide up to five lines of information, super fast service, total peace of mind, and no jingling!  (even Winnie had a Boomerang Tag on her tiny kitten-sized collar.)  I received no compensation for this ... I'm just a very satisfied customer.

Today is Day 18 with Petal.  Dorothy is finally becoming more comfortable with Petal and isn't spending her days hiding upstairs anymore. 

Our routine is well on its way to being normal again.  I am very happy!

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Sunday Snapshots are posts devoted to moments in time that represent glimpses into everyday life in Hartwood, or wherever else I happen to be at the time. 

Settling In

Today is Day 12 with our new dog Petal.  She is settling into our family as if she has always been here.  All of our greyhounds have been like this, so I'm not surprised.

She is such a mellow dog, and I love it!  I have no idea what her bark sounds like because she hasn't barked yet.  (Ruby does that enough for both of them.)  Petal can generally be found sleeping or quietly playing with toys.

The antler chew is a favorite.

There's the antler again.

"Hi, Ruby."

Dog stuff has taken over our family room, in a wonderful way.  Three dog beds for two dogs ... seems perfectly normal to me.

... and, of course, there's a hoard of toys.

The cats are becoming accustomed to Petal's presence.  Alice came around quickly, resuming her normal habits and attitude within two days.  It is taking longer for Dorothy.  She's an anxious little thing anyway ... having a big new dog is something that's gonna take her a while to completely accept.  For now, she spends her days on our bed, instead of under it like she did for the first four days, and she does come downstairs from time to time.  It's great progress for her!

Hanging out on the bed.

That's Dorothy sitting on the bottom step, checking Petal out from a safe distance.

Some evenings she gets very brave and comes downstairs and sits in my lap!

Our only issue with Petal continues to be teaching her to do stairs.  Our front six stairs are almost mastered at this point, though sometimes she stops and freezes for whatever reason and won't move.  We are patient and positive, and generous with yummy treats, to encourage her to go up and down the steps and walk the yard without fear. 

Petal and Ruby get along perfectly together!  They are both gentle dogs, and they really seem to enjoy each other's company.

Last Friday, we made it official ... changing Petal's status from Foster Dog to Adopted.

Am I overdoing it by taking a photo of the adoption contract envelope before I mailed it?

Earlier today, I took a few minutes and made Petal her first custom collar with a piece of velveteen that I have been saving for something special.  Special fabric ... special dog ... perfect match.

As I sit here in the family room right now, Petal is sleeping peacefully on one of the dog beds.  The little voice in my gut was right on this one ... she is ours, she is perfect for us, and I am thrilled to have her in our family.  

Welcome home, Petal!

Welcome to the Family, Petal!

We got a new dog on Thursday!

Her name is Petal ... really, it is.

Petal is four.  In her former career, she ran 27 races in Florida as 'Kelsos Petal'.  (link takes you to her pedigree page)

Petal is here on a foster-with-intent-to-adopt basis ... a trial arrangement to make sure that she will be a good fit in our family and get along with Ruby and the cats.  It's all going very, very well so far. 

Blurry photo, taken when we met her at her foster home, of Petal sniffing a cat that walked by.

Also in her foster home, we met Vinnie the resident pot-bellied pig ... OMG, he was so cute!!

It was a two-hour drive to bring Petal home.  She and Ruby rode very nicely together, spending most of the ride looking around or sleeping.

When Petal got here, she went right to work getting comfortable in her new surroundings.

Emptying the toy basket ...

Testing the dog beds

She even investigated the inside of Ruby's crate, which was way too small for her.

Soon, she was sound asleep.

She has an old injury to her right front toes, from an accident while lure coursing after she retired from racing.  Once I get her medical records from the adoption organization, we will see exactly what the injury was.

Petal's nails are WAY too long, especially on her bad foot, so I will work on them over the next couple of weeks to get them down to a comfortable length.

We have been looking to adopt another dog for a while.  Ruby has been by herself since Winnie died in February.  She's okay as an only dog, but she is happier when she has company.

Our first evening went pretty much as I expected it would. The cats took one horrified look at Petal and ran for cover.  Before long, as we settled in, they ventured out to evaluate the newcomer.

WTF???

As of now, bright and early on the morning of Day Five with Petal, Alice is going about her normal routine.  I expected this from her.  She likes dogs.  On Day Two, Petal walked over to Alice and poked her with her needle-nose ... Alice hissed and smacked Petal upside the head ... Petal realized that this was a lesson on boundaries, and we have been good ever since.  Dorothy, after her initial exploration on Day One, has spent most of her time under our bed.  Yesterday evening, she ventured out and spent time in my lap while I watched football and the dogs slept.  It was significant progress.

Petal is sniffing Alice, while Alice sits in my lap.

Petal is learning about the ways of our household.  Ruby is helping her.  

When I make dog stew, Ruby rinses the dishes.

Petal can help now, too.

It hasn't been all rosy and perfect, but that's to be expected with any new dog.  Petal is unsure of stairs, but she is learning.  It took a whole day of multiple attempts with yummy treats, using Ruby as an example, and a lot of praise, and now Petal is using our front stairs like a champ.  Soon, I hope to help her master the back stairs ... so she can go directly to the backyard instead of having to walk there on leash.

She loves toys! 

Right now, on this cool, rainy Monday morning, both dogs are sleeping.  Ruby is sacked out on the sofa, and Petal isn't interested in furniture and is on a dog bed.  My heart is full.

Thank you, Sighthound Underground, for matching us up with this wonderful dog.  She is everything that we hoped for ... and so much more!

Sunday Snapshot ... The Greyhound Underground Railroad

Yesterday morning, while most other folks were trying hard to avoid the traffic that comes with Labor Day weekend, The Husband and I were willingly diving into it ... helping to transport four newly retired racing greyhounds to their adoption group.

 

At 7:00 am, we met the hauler ... who left the kennel in central Florida 12 hours earlier. 

 

 

He was carrying 20 dogs on this trip, and was met by four sets of volunteers who were transporting the dogs to four adoption groups in four different states ... Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. 

 

With the back seat of my Jeep folded down, and the floor padded with comforters, there is plenty of room for four greyhounds to ride comfortably. It didn't take them long to settle down.

 

 

 

 

 

Our passengers on this trip were:

 

Olive (race name, Barts Comin Home)

 

 

 

 

 

Okra (race name, WWK Fried Okra)

 

 

 

 

 

Cooper (race name, JW's Cooper)

 

 

 

 

 

and Nichole (don't know Nichole's race name)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As with all trips like this, we are dealing with all sorts of different personalities among the dogs.  Olive (the black one) just wanted to lay down and go to sleep.  Okra (the brindle) was a happy boy who thought Olive was adorable, and wanted to sniff her ... Olive didn't care for that and told him so on at least two occasions.

 

 

 

This is why the dogs wear muzzles while they are traveling ... for their safety.  If one of them gets cranky and snappy, no one (dogs or humans) gets hurt.

 

 

 

Nichole (white with black patches) was a snuggler, and she tried multiple times to climb into the front seat to get into my lap.  I spent quite a bit of the trip with my hand on the side of the driver's seat, holding her back.

 

Nichole wants to help drive.

 

 

Cooper (the white with brindle) stood up for a while, but quickly settled in and went to sleep.  The only time we heard anything out of him was when Nichole sat on his head.  (again, muzzles made sure that barking didn't turn to snapping or injuries.)

 

blurry photo of the head-sitting incident

 

 

We have had our Jeep for two years now, and this was the maiden voyage with four dogs in it.  (I have hauled two or three, but had yet to go for four.)  We figured it would hold four ... but we knew we couldn't be sure until we stuffed them in to test it out.  It was a bit tight, but each dog had enough room to lay down, stretch out, and get comfortable.

 

 

 

Yesterday's trip was a short one.  We picked up the dogs in Fredericksburg, and met the next set of drivers at the Maryland Welcome Center, just south of Baltimore.  We walked the dogs so they could potty and stretch their legs ... then we loaded them into the next vehicle to continue their journey ... to their new forever homes in New York.

 

 

 

Ferrying the dogs like this is my very favorite part of volunteering with greyhound adoption.  The Husband and I have done this since 2000 (or is it 2001) and I stopped counting years ago at 300 dogs that we have transported.  We love to meet them, enjoy them for a few hours, and send them on their way.  

 

As far as the holiday traffic was concerned, we had a pretty easy time of it.  We did the speed limit almost the whole way north along I-95 ... and we took an alternate route to get home, since we had seen back ups building in places on the southbound side. 

 

When we got home, we were subjected to a thorough inspection ... as Daniel and Ruby snuffled us all over.  We had been cheating on them with other dogs, you know.

 

Happy Sunday, Everyone!