We have a new dog. Lou called Saturday to ask if I had room for a greyhound. The story was rather odd. The shelter in Polson had someone bring in a young adult intact male greyhound. The finder said the dog had been seen in the area for the last 3 or more weeks. I suppose it would have gone on longer but the greyhound started breaking into places searching for food. I asked Lou to make sure it really was a greyhound. Later that day Lou called and said "Yep looks like a purebred greyhound to me." Fortunately Lou was coming to Missoula on Tuesday and could bring him that far. I know the question on every one's mind....Where did he come from? Well he isn't one of our placements and it is unlikely he came from any rescue group since he is not neutered. The absence of tattoos means we can't track him down. Since he doesn't have the look of a AKC greyhound my best guess is he was never tattooed because he has rather flat feet. Honestly I am not making this up...flat feet causes dogs to break down because of the stress on the ligaments, tendons and bones in the feet...sesamoid bones in particular. So he is here, he is handsome, he is nameless and he seems like a wonderful boy. The shelter said he passed the cat test but we will test him again this week. He is slated to be vetted on Friday. Check out those great ears and eyeliner.

This pretty girl is our recent return Isis, on the day we picked her up. She had been in the same home for a number of years and for some reason known only to herself she decided not to be cat safe. We call her Sis as she is my girl Iris' litter mate sister. If I didn't know they were sisters i don't think I would have guessed it. These two are not peas in a pod as some siblings are. Sis is sweet and very pretty. Hopefully a home can be found for her soon. She misses real home life.

Hurray at last I can post pictures again!! Pres. Dan Tripp received this letter last week. We were all so impressed with it we wanted to share it with all of you in its entirety. I am impressed with what one person can do!!! Big thanks to Kate...her efforts will pay to vet one dog or buy 8 bags of dog food or buy 2 huge bottles of antibiotics...the possibilities are almost endless.

As always lots going on...unfortunately the blog service is being weird and I am very limited as to what I can do. I will work on it again tomorrow as I have a couple of pictures and another cool surprise to tell everyone about.

Joe T. had his heart surgery on Valentines day and things went well. HURRAY!!!! Hopefully his recovery will be FAST!!

We had a dog returned. A sweet white and brindle girl who after years of living with cats decided that they were fun to chase and catch. Isis or Sis as I am now calling her. Sis is my Iris' littermate. They actually arrived in Montana the same time. I will post pictures as soon as I am able.

A Tribute to Lisa

from her auntie Trish

With sorrow I will relay for the Larsen family the passing of Lisa. Tom and Paula's beautiful little brindle girl - sister to Adolph and Kahuna.

Two years ago Becky Conner and myself transported 8 greyhounds from "Almost Home for Hounds" (Dr. Heather Weir) from Colorado. Lisa, a senior girl, was selected by GPA and transported to Joni's Kennel for fostering until her family was found. On our trip back to Montana Becky and I were ever vigilant watching our eight in our rented van. I will never forget looking back over my seat and making eye contact with Lisa. Our eyes held and I said a simple prayer " Lord let me be the one to find her home."

In the mean time Paula and Tom were ready to add another to their greyhound family. I suggested that Eli might be a good match. Paula said "no, I want a senior girl". I immediately thought of Lisa. It so happened that Joni was coming to Billings on a horse rescuing mission and Lisa was loaded -traveled and welcomed into her forever home with the Larsen family. The best of homes with yoodles of love and acceptance. Lisa flourish with all the opportunities and care given to her.

Yesterday with the understanding that medically nothing more could be done, the family made the decision to let her go. A decision, as many of you know, is made out of love. May this family be in our thoughts with understanding of their grief! Run free - Lisa - Run free - You ran for the roses and won

trish

Guess what we got today? That's right boys and girls we got more snow. Snow even brought it's muscled friend WIND. I don't mean a refreshing breeze. I am talking about the kind of wind that sucks the air out of your lungs and makes you think about tying a rope to yourself before you venture outside. On the news was mention of all the loose dogs in Cour'd Alene due to blown over fences, snow piled up next to the fences and dogs who are generally freaked. Add to the mix cars who can barely see and can't stop and you have a real disaster. My horses kept running like wild things so I fed them in the shed and turned the light on in hopes that they will not venture into the dark. It sounds goofy but it actually works pretty good. For the dogs even though they have a covered area to potty, I turn on the light and visually check the fence before I open the door. As a added precaution I have double checked that everyone has a legible tag on their collars and are indeed wearing collars. If I lived in a spot were I could not see the fence that enclosed the yard I dang sure would take my dog out on lead. It is cheap insurance. Be careful out there!!! If it is stormy at your house double check every thing....fences, gates, doors, and of course water buckets.

HURRAY!!! The Bitterroot finally has a greyhound story in the local paper. Good job Carol and Dan!! Check it out at http://www.ravallirepublic.com/articles/2008/02/05/features/0060features.txt
Please let the Ravalli Republic know if you liked the story. Maybe they will do a follow up too. Dan has been bringing foster dog Dori to my obedience class. She is doing very well and Carol says she is starting to come out of her shell a bit more all the time. It sure is fun having them in the class. Dori should have "sit" mastered this week.

GET WELL WISHES go out to Brent Schlappy who finally wore himself down enough he got really sick and spent the week end in the hospital with pneumonia!! We hope he will be right as rain soon!! Joe Tritchler in WYO is having his heart surgery at Mayo in MN on Valentines Day - Feb. 14th. Be sure to keep both these fine men in your prayers.

As predicted after the weight pull I was one tired pup!! My girls did very well and both Charm and Pixie pulled enough to earn their "Weight Pull" titles. Yeah girls!! I am very proud of them. Charm was almost completely untrained and Pixie had a few basics. It speaks well of them that they could get titles the first month they were with me. The future looks BRIGHT!! PS check out all the BLUE ribbons these girls brought home!!!

Thursday I took Iris in for a dental and just as we got home it started to snow...and snow...and snow. By midnight we had about a foot of new snow. I am not kidding! I went out with a tape measure...14 inches in a couple of spots and 11 inches in a couple of others. Friday was the start of a 3 day weight pull here at my place. We had people entered from all over....Seattle, Nevada, Wyoming, even BC and a handful of Montana dogs. The recent storms kept people from traveling and what could have been a very large pull turned out to be just Montana dogs. Friday night brought us another 5-6 inches of snow. Tomorrow will wrap up the last day of the pull. Hopefully we can wrap it up early and everyone who traveled can be safely at home before the predicted next snow arrives...and I can collapse on the couch after my long hot bath.

This pull has been busy for me. I entered my two new Aussie girls, Charm and Pixie. They are pulling very well. We are not pulling hard just getting those needed legs under our belt. After I am done pulling the girls they retire to their crates where they have extra thick beds and cookies. I am not so lucky, for the remainder of the pull I am "Sled Marshal"...which is a nice title for a crummy job. After the dogs pull the cart to the end of the chute it is my job to haul it back and load it with bricks. It is hard work....the empty cart is 200 pounds which isn't much. But by the time you add bricks and get to nearly 2,000 pounds you start to feel it. We had a kid lined up to do this but once again the snow messed us up. Speaking of snow, in an attempt for sympathy, this great "Sled Marshal" gig was proceeded by hours of shoveling snow to clear walkways, driveways, and chipping the bricks out of the ice. The good news is the lasagna I ate for lunch is guilt free...and the M&Ms.

What is a weight pull? This is a competitive event where dogs pull a cart that is gradually weighted with more weight....in the form of 40 pound bricks. Dogs have to pull 8 times their weight at 3 shows to earn a Weight Pull title. Then you can go on and earn points towards becoming a WPCH (Weight Pull Champion) and if you still like it you can earn a WPCHX (Weight Pull Champion Excellent). For the upper level titles you have to pull more weight and more times. It is a long haul to those upper titles but I have accomplished this on several of my crew. I should have been working with Run...she is such a hoot I am sure she would have been game. I wonder how many greyhounds have earned weight pull titles. Next pull is in November....hmmm.