Hounds Week for Dusty and Me

Dusty and Savvy sleeping
Dusty took the spare bed so her guest could be comfy. ... Nah, that's not how it went down.
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It's a good week to be an amateur hound sitter in South Florida -- Dusty and I have been hired to look after seven hounds over the next few days while their families are taking a vacation, on a business trip and working long overnight shifts.

The day started with Debbie dropping off Savvy at the townhouse this morning. Debbie and the family are going on a short vacation that was planned before they adopted Savvy a little more than three weeks ago. Dusty and I have plenty of room to share with a big fawn greyhound, so we happily agreed to take him in for a few days.

Dusty was excited about having a visitor:


Savvy and Dusty both are asleep next to me now. The two hounds get along great.

Floyd and Ace
Floyd the fawn and Ace
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Savvy has shown me so far that two things he loves -- his leash and to be wherever I am. Dusty will follow me from room to room, upstairs and downstairs, during the course of a day. Savvy, though, not only wants to be in the same room, he wants to be in physical contact as much as possible. The big boy is a leaner and a lover.

Today also was the first day of my assignment to go to Rick and Kim's home in Sunrise to give their three hounds -- Hummer, Floyd and Ace -- their noon breaks. This is my third assignment for those guys in the past month, and I'm getting to know those three guys pretty well. Ace, the youngest, can barely contain himself when I walk in. Floyd always greets me at the door with Ace. Hummer, the eldest of the three, usually ambles slowly toward us as his brothers and I are making our way to the patio door.

Always good to see those three guys.

And in the when-it-rains-it-pours department, I got a call from Joy in Plantation a couple of hours ago. She has some long work shifts coming up and asked me to help her out. Turtle, Honey and David need their late-night walks when Joy is pulling long shifts at work. So I'll be going over to see them for the next few nights.

Also in the when-it-rains-it-pours department, I just got a call from Michelle at Friends of Greyhounds giving me a heads-up to expect a call from a two-greyhound home who will be needing some help. I really hope they can wait until next week, but if not, I'll figure something out I guess.

Location: Lauderhill, FL, USA

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Highlights

Speedy's brand new world

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About Dusty and me (Part 2)

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W hen a racing greyhound suffers an injury, like Barts Moondust did in a race in Miami last August, her handlers generally drop her into a kennel for a couple of days to see if the injury heals on its own. If it doesn't, the owner retires the dog and in most cases leaves it up to the handlers to dispose of her. Dusty at Friends of Greyhounds, August 2016 ---------- Her injury was really bad -- obviously enough that her owner gave up on her immediately. I don't know the chain of events between Aug. 13, when she hobbled through her last race, and Aug. 15, when a Friends of Greyhounds blog post says she landed in the FOG kennel in Sunrise, FL. I had been volunteering at FOG for just a few weeks at that point. I reported for duty one day after Aug. 15, and Michelle pointed out the new arrival -- a young, gorgeous shiny black dog in the end kennel with a blue soft cast covering the lower part of her right hind leg past the hock and down to her toes. Michelle told me she ha
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Winning Star is now Noel Star with a new home. The happy family: Pat, Nico, Star and Andrea ---------- 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. Andrea sent this photo of Star enjoying a snack on her new bed in her new home with her new toy close b
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FoG's Macau dogs making themselves at home

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Andrea welcomes Pearl River (Zhujiang Winds) to the FoG kennels. Pearl is the cutie of the bunch. She's 8 years old. We think she arrived in heat -- to be dealt with in the next week or two. ---------- They appear happy and healthy. And thrilled to be off those damn airplanes. Winning Star is celebrating her  8th birthdaytoday. Andrea bonded with her right away and hopes to adopt her if she proves cat-tolerant. ---------- 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 pon
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Gotcha, Speedy

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Uncle Jerry and Michelle help load Dusty and Speedy into the Kia Koach. It was a little emotional, as Speedy's might be the last of more than 2,400 adoptions out of Friends of Greyhounds. Retirement beckons. ---------- 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. Speedy wasn't the only Macau alum that left F
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