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Gotcha, Speedy

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Speedy has landed. For the first time in his 8.5 years of life, the former Macau racer has a family he can call his own.

Dusty and I welcomed him into our Northwest Lauderhill townhouse around 5 p.m. Wednesday. We drove over to Friends of Greyhounds HQ mid-afternoon and made the adoption official.

We came home, unloaded from the Kia Koach, and immediately -- before even going into the townhouse -- went on a short walk up the block to visit our friend Inge, who always welcomes Dusty to her door with a handful of treats. Inge didn't disappoint -- but Dusty got most of the treats. Speedy got one or two but was entirely too distracted by all the new sights and sounds and smells to spend much time snacking.


Once we walked back to our home a few minutes later, Speedy's harness came off and the new belly band went on, to protect the furniture from any possible accidents.

Speedy immediately dashed off on a madcap tour of the ground floor of the townhouse, stopping to look and sniff a…
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We have a Speedy plan

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Just a quick note to let everyone know that we now have a homecoming plan for Speedy. He'll join our household Wednesday of this week, the day after our new furniture arrives from Rooms To Go.

We decided it would be best to get the new living room in place before he got here rather than introducing him to a new environment and then changing it on him a couple of days later.

Speedy's departure from Friends of Greyhounds will leave the garage kennels empty. Victory King went home Saturday with old friend Jerry B., who gave King a new name, Vic. Vic is the fourth greyhounds in Jerry's home in Northwest Lauderhill, just a couple of blocks from Chez Dusty.

I'll try to get with Jerry in the next couple of days to get a family photo and some more details of his new arrangement.

Of course, I'll check back in later this week with some new photos of Speedy.


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Speedy's brand new world

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Speedy officially has been initiated.

The 8-year-old Macau import hasn't yet moved into his permanent home with Dusty and me. But he got a taste this morning of what his new life is going to be.

Dawn and her girls drove up this morning to meet us for a leash-walk outing at Plantation Heritage Park and got a chance to see Speedy take in all kinds of new sights and sounds and smells.

Speedy's having quite an awakening. Dusty and I got him out three times last week for a stroll around the block in Friends of Greyhounds' neighborhood in Sunrise. He remained in constant attention, total focus, during those walks. Dusty and I got quite a workout trying to contain him -- he pulled on that leash with everything he had to get to the next place as soon as he could. He wheezed and coughed practically the entire time -- the the martingale was choking him, he was pulling so hard. I was able to get him to slow down and stop pretty much on command, but he couldn't contain himself w…
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Location: Plantation Heritage Park, 1100 S Fig Tree Ln, Plantation, FL 33317, USA
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King, Speedy want a piece of your heart

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Speedy and Victory King are coming up on a month now since they arrived in South Florida from Macau. All their vet work is done, they've adjusted extremely well to life in the Friends of Greyhounds kennels -- and now they're eager to move on to the next stage of their lives.

These guys are among the sweetest and most eager to please greyhounds I've met since I started volunteering at FoG. No doubt each of these guys will be thrilled to find a permanent home and a family to call their own.

The two girls FoG adopted out last week -- Yukii and Noel -- had the same kind of disposition. Sonia at Elite Greyhound Adoptions has said the greyhounds she's imported from Macau are the same way. I've spent a bit of time with Speedy and King over the past few days and have gotten to know them a bit. So I can say with confidence that these two guys will be fantastic companions for anyone who wants to give them a home.

There are two caveats I should point out straightaway. Both o…
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Location: 2621 NW 105th Ln, Sunrise, FL 33322, USA
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A Star is home; Yuki's orientation

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Winning Star is now Noel Star with a new home.

Star, who turned 8 years old the day after she arrived at the Friends of Greyhounds kennels three weeks ago, landed Wednesday in her family home in Hialeah with her new name. She was adopted by longtime FoG volunteer Andrea and her mom, Pat. She also has a canine sibling, Nico, a senior chihuahua mix who will help Star get adjusted to her new life as a domestic pet.

Star and Andrea met at Miami International Airport as Star was being loaded onto the FoG van shortly after her arrival from Macau. Star was the hound who rode loose in the back of the van with me tucked among the crates of the other four arrivals. I held onto Star's leash to steady her as she snuggled with Andrea, in the front passenger seat. Andrea decided during the ride that she wanted to adopt Star.

Star's new brother, Nico, has been with Andrea and Pat since Andrea found him as a stray on New Year's Eve 2010. He was welcomed as a permanent family member after …
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Location: Hialeah, FL, USA
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A new beginning for the new year

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Pearl River, the 6-year-old bundle of personality who arrived from Macau a couple of weeks ago, has a new home in Davie to celebrate the new year. She also has a new name, Yuki, as she begins her new life as a domestic family member.

Shawn, an old friend to Friends of Greyhounds, took Yuki home Monday evening to her new life alongside new greyhound brother Charlie. Yuki fills a void left in the home in early December when senior girl Dee Dee passed away.
Shawn provided this video of Yuki and Charlie enjoying their first meal together:

Her new mom hopes Yuki might follow in her brother's footsteps as an emotional-support dog for first responders at Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, where Shawn is a captain. Charlie, you might recall, earned his vest last year as the first trainee in the department's service-dog program.
Another Macau girl, Winning Star, is scheduled to be delivered Wednesday to former FoG kennel volunteer Andrea.
That leaves two Macau boys, Speedy and Victory King, avai…
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Location: Sunrise, FL, USA
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FoG's Macau dogs making themselves at home

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They appear happy and healthy. And thrilled to be off those damn airplanes.

The five Macau imports taking up residence at Friends of Greyhounds enjoyed some quiet, restful sleep Wednesday night, their first on the ground in Florida. Michelle, longtime FoG friend Andrea and I spent more time Wednesday picking them up at Miami International Airport than we had anticipated. Getting all five loaded with their crates into Michelle's van was a bigger challenge than we had hoped.
But we got the job done with little real problems, and the hounds are happily in their spacious kennels devouring their meals like little ponies, as Michelle told me just now.
Michelle told me she plans to detail the process we went through in her next blog post, scheduled for Monday at friendsofgreyhounds.org. Suffice to say here that it wasn't as uncomfortable as you might think sitting in the floor of the cargo area of a moving van in rush hour squeezed into a small space between big plastic crates while…
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Location: Friends of Greyhounds, Sunrise, FL 33322, USA
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