Hey, Connie, How is Petal?

Petal is awesome, thanks for asking.

It's been five months since we adopted her.  In that time, she has settled in beautifully and has blossomed into a wonderful addition to our family. 

"Mom, can Ruby and I have a bite of that?"

sniff, sniff, sniff

"What's that cat doing back there?"

Petal loves toys.  We keep them in a large basket in the family room.  She regularly empties the basket and gathers her favorites.

Donut Cow and Green Frog.

Squeeky Jack, two bones, and an antler.

Miffy Bunny, her current favorite.

As she got comfortable with our routine, she found ways to help around the house.

Cleaning the recyclables.

Quality control inspector, while I attach the hangers to a mirror.

Dog chewy taste tester.

In true greyhound style, she spends a huge majority of her time either lounging on her bed or sound asleep.

Almost as a way of celebrating the anniversary of Petal's Gotcha Day on the 12th, a string of coincidences on Facebook led to finding and making contact with the family in Pennsylvania who adopted her mom, Marigold.  I  look forward to getting to know Marigold and her family and am excited to share Petal with them. 

Marigold's adoption photo.

It is wonderful to have Petal in our family.  Having ANY greyhound is a good thing (because I love the breed THAT much).  This particular greyhound is a perfect match for our lifestyle, habits, and mix of critters.  She accepts the cats as members of the pack, and she and Ruby get along almost perfectly.

Petal is exactly what we asked from her adoption group:  gentle, friendly, and doesn't eat cats.  She is also eager to please, curious, quiet, funny, patient, affectionate, a little bit pushy ... and perfect ... except for the 'chews on shoes' thing that developed recently.  That's okay, it helps remind us to put our shoes away where they belong.

Five months with Petal feels like she's been here forever.  In this short time, I can't imagine our family without her in it.

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I often share Petal photos and videos on Instagram.  I can do it in-the-moment from my phone, and I really have come to love that.  If you want to see more of her, and the other critters, house projects, garden stuff, etc., click over there and follow hartwoodroses.

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!