Play mate

Mr. Rollie has found his calling.  He is the welcome committee/play mate for new greyhounds!

This weekend seven retired racing greyhounds arrived from Alabama to begin their life as pets and companions.  They come here, and we and many ESGAO www.esgao.org volunteers prepare their bodies for their new lives.  I ensure one of the volunteers is coming to take pictures, cause, really, what good is a name of a dog without a picture?

While we are preparing for the bathing, tick removal, and micro-chipping, we let the new dogs run in the yard.  The new dogs have been cooped up in a trailer for roughly 18 hours and need to stretch and feel the ground, and just to be dogs.  This is when many pictures are taken.  After the recent retirees have been in the yard for a few minutes, my dogs including Rollie are going crazy in the house. I muzzled them and sent them out with to meet all the muzzled greyhounds who have overtaken their yard.

My dogs got tired of the new dogs within minutes.  Five minutes with new dogs, my dogs were begging to be let back into the house!  But not Rollie. 

I was busy coordinating the volunteers and directing people to the restroom, and getting forgotten items, so I didn’t spend a lot of time with the dogs, either mine or the new ones.   

Rollie stayed out in the yard with the new dogs.  Did I mention is was maybe 30 degrees, and spitting snow?  Greyhounds have very little hair, and nearly no fat (most of them) so they can get hot and cold very quickly. On the few times I got into the yard, Rollie was hanging with the new guys.  Proudly prancing, talking, occasionally running with them, having the time of his life. We kept the new dogs outside and as one got clean we brought in another till soon they were all in the garage.  When we let them all go back into the yard, Rollie and a couple of the volunteers were waiting for them!  

Mathias, Rollie, Fenn (L-R)

Red and Rollie

Rollie gleefully greeted them as they ran into the yard and pranced with them, went running and just hung around with the new guys.  There was no barking, no snarling and no problems.  Greyhounds are great together.  I didn't realize how social he was, until I saw the  pictures that were taken, and Rollie is in many of them. 

Flash's behind and Rollie

Rollie's behind, Ripple, macho

While we were on vacation, Rollie was able to stay with another foster family. I thought it would be better for him to be in a home than in a kennel with my dogs. Being in a kennel would be too confusing to him after not being kenneled since he retired. While with the foster family, Rollie cut his leg on that awful ice hiding under the dreadful snow. They rushed him to the vet, and the vet stitched him up and sent him home. The foster family opted to keep him until the stitches came out. Although we have been home for a couple weeks, Rollie just came back to us on Saturday. He walked in, said hello to my dogs, peed on the floor, and went and laid down in favorite bed. He and my dogs are acting as if he never left! I guess he feels comfortable here. So yesterday Khan came over with his family. Khan doesn’t have a yard to run in yet; although, the fence has been picked out and paid for, the installers don’t want to install it in the snow and cold. So Khan gets to go walking and running with his Dad and Human sister. We always invite our foster dogs to come back and run in the yard and spend some time with my dogs. So Khan came over yesterday to run in the yard. There is probably 4 inches of snow in the yard and it was less than 20 degrees yesterday. Khan came in said hello, gleefully greeted Bill and me and then went out with his human tweener to play and run in the yard. Well, my pack wouldn’t have that, so they went out to play and run in the yard too. (My dogs don’t like snow). Many times they all came in and went out, and many times, Khan would walk from person to person to get cuddled, petted and loved. Khan is NOT the Khan that was my foster dog. His new family took him from a skittish dog to a happy, confident and proud retired greyhound. I was so proud of him and very thankful that Khan found them. They obviously love him very much and he seems to feel the same way about them. Their love and kindness has brought the best out of him. This is what we, as foster parents hope for when our dogs get adopted. I am so happy for all of them! My dogs were very tired after spending the afternoon running and playing in the snow. They didn’t get up till 830 this morning. Even Rollie, the eating machine, slept until 8:00 which is two hours after his normal eating time. I can only hope that Rollie will soon find a family that will love him and teach him as well as Khan’s family has.