If you think greyhounds are the spice of life then whippets are the Tabasco sauce. Case and point...

The other night I am up getting my dose of Sex and the City reruns. My husband and greyhounds are in bed asleep. Izzy my queen Aussie and Katy Did the whippet are relaxing in the mud room. I heard some movement back there but nothing too interesting. Then in a quiet moment between commercials I hear "slap slap" It wasn't loud but it was odd. I got up and scootered (still nursing the tendon) across the kitchen as I am about to round the corner I say "Katy leave it!" Living with a whippet will make you suspicious like that. Katy runs up to the gate really happy and bright eyed which puts me on high alert. I round the corner and everything looks OK but then I notice something white on the floor....then it moves. I shriek,"Katy get back!!" My husband is woke from his slumber and is almost instantly at my side and I tell him to get the dogs in the other room. In his sleep induced haze he starts to herd the dogs into the other room. Leaving my scooter in the dust, I hobble over as fast as I can to look at my poor Pacu fish laying on the carpet. I am not sure what to do since he is big and has teeth, he kind of scares me. Finally I see a plastic bag which I use to scoop him up and put him back in the tank....dog hair and all. That dang whippet took the feeding lid off the tank and managed to fish Chief Cabrone out of his tank. It was only a 4 inch opening but she managed to get this 10 inch fish out with out spilling a drop of water and only her muzzle was damp. Thankfully her sushi snack survived. He is back in his tank wary, scratched and with a little fin damage but otherwise OK. The following day she stole a small bag of bird seed which she shared with everyone. The result was soft stools for everyone. This week "Whippet" is spoken with the edges of a swear word!!
I should mention to Katy that the Pacu is a cousin to the piranha. The pacu is a vegetarian but we will leave that part of the story out.

Things are pretty quiet around here as of late. Brink, my new aussie puppy is doing wonderful. He is a very sweet pup and I am enjoying him. I can't wait until the day I can start to really work with him. I got my cast off this week...Hallelujah!!! I am in a boot and still not fully weight bearing. I started PT today and hopefully will be able to use my crutches more and in a few weeks WALK.

On the foster frontier. We are in the process of deciding which and how many dogs to get in on the next load. It will likely be a small load as we currently have 3 dogs waiting. Angel is doing well at the Tripps and has earned house privileges. Carol reports that Angel seems to be coming along nicely. She is relaxing and has been very good with her dogs. Clarissa is still her little immature self. She is insecure and although absolutely sweet she suspects there maybe a boogie man lurking who might swallow her whole. She will grow up one day. Kissie is still Kissie. Fun, bright active and loving as ever. I have been spending time with her in the kennel loose with my dogs large and small. She has been a perfect lady. She has been muzzled when out in a group but so far there hasn't been a need. Kissie stands by me and stares at me. I am sure she wants me to take her muzzle off so she can use her tongue. Kissie is sure I have toes and hands that need kissing. Since I am not able to run to the rescue if something happens she will just have to deal with it. When she is unmuzzled she really loves playing with stuffies and giving kisses kisses kisses. I have promised her one day she will have a basket of stuffies of her own and a family who will never tire of her affection. She is patiently waiting. The smoke has cleared and the days have been mild and sunny....ahhhhhh routine....I like it.

Five is a a new foster home who will continue to nurture her and help her blossom. She has been a rewarding dog to foster. When she came here we weren't even sure who she was. We discovered her race name was Magic Whim. When she got here she was very ratty looking with her Brillo pad coat coming out in clumps. She was covered in sores and her skin was flaky....I am not talking about a little bit flaky I am talking about flakes the size of your thumb nail and sores the size of quarters. She had a major worm load of which I will spare you the details. It took three wormings, supplements and 3+ feeding a day to get her to start gaining. Now one of our favorite foster homes will finish the process and we will see if they are brave enough to let go of her. Speaking of foster home failures.... Arklow is now officially called Arlow SCHLAPPY. Brent and Judy only lasted a couple of weeks as a foster home. Big Congrats to Arlow

Wednesday I went to Polson. Sherri met me and I picked up Angel. She will now be fostered with Tripps. I was very anxious to get to Polson....good thing we went when we did as a fire up that way has had HWY 93 north closed much of the day today. What was in Polson I needed so badly? Check him out....An Aussie puppy who was a stray and now is calling Hot Cha home. His name is Brink, he is about 5 months old and the best pup ever. I know it is a little insane to bring a pup home when I am in a cast....but I will be freed next Tuesday and then can start to maybe walk a little. Besides you can't put every thing on hold because you are benched....play the game!!

Today was smokey but thankfully not in the 90's. All the foster dogs are here for a few days. With 5 lovely girls in the foster room it is much like a sorority out there. Judy swung by this afternoon and we removed stitches and did another worming on the fosters. We also did another photo session of the foster dogs.

Here is Kissie and my Niece Emily. Kissie loves hugs and kisses. The other day I was sitting in my chair and I was holding Kissie's leash. All of the sudden she went stiff with full attention. I was a bit alarmed as she was looking near my feet. Her face softened and her tail went crazy and Kissie discovered BARE TOES. I was giggling and trying to get her to stop kissing my little pigs. Thankfully about that time Darrin showed up and Kissie immediately went to him to get a hug and kiss from him. I quickly handed him her leash. He walked her for a moment then stopped to chat with me. At this time Kissie's eyes got big again and her ears went up. She was delighted to discover Darrin had sandals on. Let the kissing begin!!! This girl is a HOOT!

Judy managed to capture the moment Miss Dottie realized this was her family. Could a dog smile wider? The first picture she seems to be thinking it over and the next throwing her heart into it.

Two weeks have flown by. I had surgery to fix my ruptured Achilles on July 26th. What started as a out patient ended up being a over night and most the next day stay in the hospital. I was very woozie coming out of anesthesia....too woozie to go home. So they found me a room right by the orthopedics nurses station and loaded me up with antibiotics and pain killers. I was wheeled out of there more than 24 hours after surgery. I am smart enough to know being in the hospital the first 24 hours is a real blessing as that is sometimes the hardest part. It is now 10 days, 1 Dr visit and two casts later and I off all of the big pain killers that have kept me in a fog. Although I am still really limited I am at least clear headed enough to be bossy :>)

A couple of days after surgery was the infamous greyhound picnic and auction. I insisted I at least be wheeled out for the auction!! I scored a couple of excellent buys and some of Kathy B.'s incredible red pepper jelly. Reports are that we made some good $$$$ for the pups. I am already looking forward to the picnic next year!

Today was an excellent day here at the kennel. Started by my cousin Paula calling me and giving me a update on her "Wonderful Perfect Boys" or as we know them Timber and Scratchy. She adores them and called to tell me they have relaxed enough to start to play with toys. Just as I was getting off the phone Judy arrived with Dottie to bathe her and get ready to send her home. A bonus was she brought all of the foster dogs over so I got to see Kissy, Clarissa and Oxygen again too. As bathing was wrapping up Joe and Linda arrived to meet Dottie and give her a new name. She is now "Azure Sky Tritchler". This big eyed shy little grey-girl was almost instantly smitten with her new dad and pined when he had to go out to the car for just a second. Azi (Dottie) seemed to know this was HER family. It was great to see Azi head home and to meet Joe and Linda but for me the icing on the cake was seeing Bella Diesel and Chopin again. Bella was social and wonderful as ever. She has a way of strutting around and preening...that girl knows she has the look. I got a rare chance to have a heart to heart with Pannie-my foster grey-boy. When he came here early this year he was so heartbroken...his former family really loved him and it was hard on everyone to let go. Pannie spent many evenings with his head pressed against my chest while I assured him that there would be something else for him....something wonderful. Today Pannie again pressed his head against my chest and this time he assured me the promise I made came true and he again was secure and happy. It was really meaningful to have that time with him. I feel spiritually fed as a foster home. Big thanks to Paula for loving her boys and sharing them with me via phone calls and to Joe and Linda who came the extra mile to Victor to pick up their new girl and to let me see Bella and dear Pannie. Big thanks to all those homes out there who fulfill the promise we make these greyhounds; "Hang on...something wonderful is out there for you!"