We made it to Abilene,KS!!!!! The roads have been great. Still traveling under blue skies. The first day we made it to Casper and stayed in the deep freeze they called Motel 6. Seriously when you walk in the door of a motel and the water in the toilet is frozen it is time to check out. It wasn't that bad but with the 3 of us and two beds EVERYONE wanted to share a bed. We cranked the heat and still by morning we could see our breath. Just as well because I could barely sleep. Last time I was this excited was when I was 6 years old on Christmas Eve. We did lights out at 10...I thought I was tired but then I was wide awake thinking of the dogs we would meet the next day. I couldn't stand it!! It was such a relief when I heard Judy stirring in the morning. We had to stop for breakfast and stumbled on a great place in Douglas, WY it was called the Plains Trading Post. Weird old building made from over 30 different buildings and over a thousand old doors. We arrived at Heather's about 2-ish. First order of business was to get our grubby little hands on GREYHOUNDS. I knew I would chose a foster dog for myself. I was surprised it took me less than a minute to find my girl. A dark brindle named Beverly. Every time I turned around she was within arms reach and looking right in my eyes. Heather had 64 dogs in house and we fell in love at least 100 times. After meeting hounds in every corner of the place we settled into doing some work. Heather is too polite to ask but we insisted and soon found ourselves armed with brooms and mops. We mopped every room we could. At dusk we settled ourselves into our trailer and found something to eat. Conversations were all about dogs...."did you see that one dog?" "Didn't you love Greta?" "Wasn't that brindle boy handsome?" We were so excited we couldn't stay away from the kennel long. In about a hour we headed back to help with feeding and then later turn outs. Being in that kennel with 30-40 loose dogs is a little like swimming with dolphins and for me it was more therapeutic. Sleep came about mid-night. Before 6 AM my alarm rang I was pulling on my shoes by the time Judy wandered sleepy eyed into the hall and started harassing Carol to get up. Carol staggered out with her witch hair and pillow wrinkled face BUT she was vertical. By now I was packing my bag and singing...Judy grumbled and said "HEY I thought you weren't a morning person" I stated in a haughty way "I am NOT a morning person I AM a dog person!" This was met with a eye roll. We helped with turn outs and fell in love over and over again. When we left Heather's we had 3 dogs confirmed for us. Beverly of course. Reagan a youngish red brindle girl. She stood out when she pressed herself against the crate door like a cat to try to get you to touch her. And a dog Heather calls Messi (Messy). A drop dead gorgeous white with red brindle patches boy. We already renamed him Mesa. We were still within 100 miles of Heather's when we called to request 2 more. We have 4 farms to visit tomorrow and the Greyhound Hall of Fame. So all of you out there taking wagers on how many dogs we would return with...it isn't over yet....

We are packing our bags and getting ready for an adventure. "Who?" "What?" you ask. Judy, Carol and I are heading out on a greyhound inspired trip. We will be gone 10 days and hit 6 states. First stop will be in Billings for late lunch with Trish then off to Nunn, CO to see Heather Weir and the greyhounds at Almost Home for Hounds http://www.almosthomeforhounds.org/ Saturday morning we head to Kansas where we hope to visit the Greyhound Hall of Fame and some greyhound farms. One highlight for me is a visit to the Nitro farm where my own Tava came from. Many of you may remember Tava's mother Ducky came from them last year and my cousin's handsome boy Nitro Scratchy. We have gotten several nice dogs from the Nitro Kennel. From there we plan to go to Tulsa, OK and stop in at Halfway Home Greyhound Adoption http://halfwayhomegreyhounds.com/ we get a couple of loads of dogs from them a year. We then plan to loop back over to see Greyhound Support in Kansas City and then through Nebraska and home. With the last stop being Greyhound Play in Billings on April 5th. Whew!!! My husband is sacrificing his laptop so I can take it and update the blog as we go. I am almost fearful of how many dogs we will fall in love with on the journey. We may end up wishing we had taken a smaller car than the big Bear Creek Express.

Today's agenda included figuring out how to transfer all of my old blog entries from the old blog to this one. I was able to do it without too much frustration. Actually it was so easy even I figured it out...OK Darrin had to help me a little.

The dogs all had some play time outside. They say we are expecting wet weather so I am glad they all got out today. The big lurcher girl Kati who I have been babysitting will be moving back to her home group in Seattle next week end. I will miss her but I hope there is a wonderful spot waiting just for her. My gang are all doing well. On March 1st My aussie girl Izzy celebrated her 15th birthday. She is in good health, is active and silly as ever but her naps are more frequent and deeper. I always joked that Izzy promised me she would live to be at least 18 years...because she wants to vote. Now seeing it just 3 years away it seems too close. Dogs are funny that way....they promise us years but we long for decades...I'd be happiest with eons.

"Come on Iris" I say to her highness as she lays snuggled in her bed this morning. Everyone has been up for two hours and the chores are all done. Time to make Iris go outside and yet she plays dead. "Come on Iris, I saw your ears move I know you hear me." She continues to ignore me. I approach her bed which causes her to roll over and wiggle deeper into her bed. I understand where she is coming from. This morning is threatening snow and the temp has dropped. I pull the blanket off her head and despite her sweet smile I take her by the collar and pull her up. S-l-o-w-l-y she gets up and stretches. She is hoping I will forget what I am doing and let her lay...fat chance. Finally she stands and starts to move towards the door. I let go of her collar and trust her to make the rest of the trip. Nearly to the door she takes a hard turn and leaps onto my unmade bed where she immediately melts into a puddle of warm and sleepy hound. She smiles at me and snuggles into my pillows. OK I give up. Accepting her invitation I leap into bed after her and melt into an adjoining puddle of laziness. It only lasts 5 minutes or so. Snuggled face to face then spooning with her head draped across my neck. I absorb her warmth, her smell, her adoration. Those 5 minutes have made my day. I will be warmer all day knowing a hound awaits me.

Greyhounds greyhounds get your greyhounds!!! It won't be long before we are able to get some new greyhounds in the area. So if any of you have friends who have talked about adding a greyhound to the family have them get that application in. We can start looking for the right match for them or YOU. The more time we have to look the easier it is to hand pick the dog...and there may be some real handpicking going on soon...but more on that later. By way of announcement there will be a greyhound meet and greet in Hamilton on Friday March 6th at the feed store. If you would like to join us please contact Judy or Carol for details. Billings is planning a Saint Pat's hoopla...contact Trish for details. Don't be left out of these opportunities to show off your hounds.

Dogs are so wonderful!!! This week bought me another interesting case. A handsome but nervous Airedale. This woman had been told by the local hotshot trainer that her dog was hopeless and that he needed medication. The owner turned to her vet who sent her directly to me. There really is nothing wrong with the dog other than he somehow got stuck in a cycle of nervous behavior. We worked to help him relax, in 15 minutes we made some progress but nothing impressive. I decided to use my secret weapon...TAVA. I let Tava loose with him. It was interesting to watch them interact. At first he was so nervous he couldn't even focus on her. Tava would bump him with her nose if he ignored her. It was clear she wanted to reach out to him. She has such a kind and nursing way about her. In 5 minutes the dog stopped drooling and shaking....in another 10 minutes his brain had relaxed and turned on enough he could think. We started with hula hoop work and trust building. At the end of class I brought Iris to the training room to meet the owner. Iris' life with me started with her stuck in a simular nervous cycle. Seeing happy well adjusted Iris gave the owner a lot of hope. It will be a few weeks before we make big progress but he is started on the right path. Tava reached him in a way no person could and Iris helped soothe the owners fears. Those girls earned extra cookies. Dogs amaze me with their ability to sense and help with problems. Greyhounds have an usual gift for this.

We have been enjoying wonderful spring weather the past few days. The dogs all have been able to get out often. I have loved the chance to spend even more time with them. Trish sent me a copy of an article out of a recent Family Dog magazine. It was the story of a retired racer who was very fearful but over came her fears through learning tracking and agility. It inspired me to work harder with my own crew and brought into focus the value of being active with your dogs. I love doing things with my dogs. I love to watch them grow and change with each new thing they conquer. I love competing with dogs BUT it is by no means is the reason I have dogs. I have my dogs because I feel an overwhelming connection to them. Seriously I know my dogs better than I know my own family. I can tell which one is nosing me from behind or whose ear my hand finds to fondle without glancing down. I know their birthdays, their favorite cookies and although I have never tried I bet I would know them by scent alone. Last fall I received some heavy criticism from some folks when I did weight pull with one of my greyhounds. Of course my dog was absolutely safe in doing this. Since then I have chatted with greyhound specialist about this and the general consensus was that although greyhounds probably would not excel at pulling, a healthy normal greyhound should be able to pull lower weights without any harm...and might even have fun doing it. I am proud of doing things with my dogs. I personally believe activity and training is beneficial on many levels....mind, body and relationship. It humbles me to have my dogs trust me when I ask them to overcome a fear or a challenge. This trust is something I cherish and I work hard to keep that trust.
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This spring I have had the opportunity to work with some very interesting clients and their dogs. One team is a young girl and her Tibetan mastiff. The relationship between them was dying. The dog would balk and refuse to do even the simplest tasks. If the girl demanded something of the dog she received a nip. On the way here the dog pushed the girl to one corner and took up most of the back seat. If a serious re-balancing did not happen this dog would be homeless and this girl would likely never have another dog. So we began...not with strict commands but rather with massages and touches. Once we had the dog's mind relaxed we moved to simple tasks like the dog moving out of the girl's way and the girl guiding the dog over hula hoops on the ground. As they were preparing to leave I told the girl to load the dog in the far back of the car. The mother grimaced and started to express her belief that it couldn't be done. I shot her a look that kept her quiet. The girl took the dog out to the car opened the back and asked the dog to hop in. The dog refused, the girl asked again and the dog refused. From where we were watching I called to the girl to hop in the car first and show the dog what she wanted. The girl hopped in and said "Come on" and the dog hopped in. Soon the girl could get the dog to hop in without her. The mother was astonished!! Another example of when love and communication co-exist everyone wins. So I will continue to do things with my dogs....obedience, weight pull, lure coursing, tracking or whatever we can learn together. I will continue to be proud of my dog's accomplishments and I trust my dogs will continue to just be amazing. Either on the couch snuggled up or smiling at me from perfect heel position...either way...the relationship you share with your dog is where you find all that glitters

In my mail yesterday was the Belle Toll donation letter. This is one of the most important pieces of mail you may receive this year. That letter is your chance to share with homeless greyhounds. Please respond to it. I have been so impressed and pleased that Belle's memory lives on. She was such a sweet greyhound girl. Judy and I were talking about Belle and the Belle Toll fund the other day. Belle was the first dog I fostered for this group. Until Belle, Judy and I had run in parallel worlds. We kind of knew who each other were but not really. Belle brought us together in a way nothing else could and we have been closely bonded since that time. Shortly after that I was blessed with the friendship of Tripps, Trish and the rest of our greyhound family. Although Belle came to us for such a short time I always felt that she was on God's errand. Somehow in her brief stay she unified us. Belle's legacy has become the Belle Toll fund and helping other greyhounds in need and it seems helping people too.
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Speaking for myself, I would not be complete without my dogs. They are as natural and important to me as my limbs. I can not imagine my life with out them playing a major role. They have not only connected me to friends but they have been my friends. They ground me, excite me, calm me and thrill me all at the very same time. I am in awe of their ability to live in the moment and not cry about the past or worry about the future. I love to watch them learn. I am amazed by their natural abilities and their willingness to help man. They find us when we are lost (both physically and spiritually). They can help feed us thorough hunting or helping with flocks. They protects us and even guide us. Dogs are truly God's kindest gift to us.
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So take the time right now to celebrate YOUR greyhound's life, time to reflect on what they add to your life. Then do the impossible and put a price tag on it. Failing that donate what you can to help provide a safe haven for greyhounds in need.