Gotcha, Speedy

FoG's last adoption
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.
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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.

Jerry B and his family
Speedy wasn't the only Macau alum that left FoG recently for Northwest Lauderhill. Victory King, now known as Vic, went home to Jerry B's family last weekend. From left: Slinky, Wendy, Vic and Akira.
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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 at everything he saw. Dusty ambered over to her bed in the middle of the living room and sat back to watch the show. Speedy took two or three laps around the house -- and to my great relief, never made a leg-lifting move.

Here's one of those laps:


He hasn't shown any inclination to mark anything in the house thus far, which was my biggest concern going into this adventure. Still, he'll wear the belly-band for a few days when he's inside the townhouse but not in his kennel. Once he gets through three days with a dry belly-band, we'll put those into storage.

He spent most of the evening in his kennel. My plan is that he'll stay there for most of the next couple of days, only coming out to eat and for frequent walks outside. He'll be given a few minutes to look around before we do go out for a walk, gradually getting more and more time free of the kennel each day. If I sense that he's feeling secure and I can trust him to follow house rules, I hope to lose the kennel in about a week. So far, he's doing pretty well respecting the house, though he's got some spastic energy and is being extremely curious about everything.

He got through the night much better than I had expected. At bedtime, I was hoping Dusty would stay downstairs with him for the first night. But she followed me up to the bedroom and spent the night up there, leaving Speedy downstairs by himself. He kept me awake for awhile with a high-pitched, stacatto, squeaky whine. But he stopped after about 10 minutes. I woke up hearing that whine a couple of times during the night and again about 6 a.m. today, about an hour before Dusty and I usually start thinking about getting up.

Dusty and Speedy zonked out
Speedy and Dusty doing what greyhounds do best after a long walk around the neighborhood
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I did get up around 7 and took Speedy outside for a quick potty break, then came back and got Dusty for her turn at a solo walk. All three of us went back out for a long walk a couple of hours later. As of right now, both hounds have been out cold since we got back from the second walk.

So far, so good with the boy. It's still early, obviously, but this process is going much easier so far than I thought it would. Speedy seems to have a pretty good sense of what he needs to do to adjust. He's not causing any trouble at all. Honestly, I'm probably more anxious about the adjustment process than either of the dogs are.

Dusty is being extremely laid-back during this process. She's just going with the flow, though she has caught on that her routine is being disrupted a little bit. She's not letting me out of her sight, following me upstairs and downstairs to keep close tabs on me.

We're a little disrupted right now, obviously. But the way things are looking at the moment, we'll be settled again pretty quickly. We'll keep you posted.

Speedy at rest
Speedy's had an eventful 15 or so hours.

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Highlights

Speedy's brand new world

About Dusty and me (Part 2)

A Star is home; Yuki's orientation

FoG's Macau dogs making themselves at home