Dusty and me

Sky, right, and Noel in their first photo as sisters ---------- That photogenic old girl Sly didn't stay too long in the Friends of Greyhounds kennels. She moved into her new home Saturday, less than three weeks after arriving in Sunrise. The family on their first walk together ---------- The skinny 11-year-old landed in Deerfield Beach with Alan and Joan and 5-year-old brindle girl Noel. Michelle and I took Sly to meet the family Thursday. Sly went back to Sunrise for a Friday visit with Dr. Ansara's staff before returning to her new home for good. Alan and Joan gave her a new name, Sky. She's officially a foster instead of an adoption, as Michelle recommended, so that FoG can more easily help with medical issues that could arise. The staff at Animal Hospital of University Drive  did give her a clean bill of health. She is taking a couple of meds to fight off some hookworms and to boost her appetite and put on a few pounds. Sky is at least the third greyhoun...

Molly on her first full day at Friends of Greyhounds ---------- One fawn comes in as another one is on its way out at Friends of Greyhounds. Molly, racing name Molly Ringwald, came into the FoG kennels Sunday by way of the Florida Kennels compound in Hialeah. She's another 2-year-old who joins the gang after a short racing career. Molly is a friendly little girl. I met her for the first time Monday at the Sunrise kennels. She seemed happy to greet me and was thrilled when I walked out into the yard with her. But her first reaction seemed to be to retreat whenever I would move toward her with my phone as I tried to get a photo. After a couple of minutes, however, she decided to take a seat on the ground. Once she did that, she did let me approach for a photo, though she still wasn't quite sure what was happening. BJ ---------- It might have been more confusion than fear or timidity that was causing her to back away. In any case, she was happy to have my company...

Einstein marveling at the view from his new home ---------- A couple of quick turnarounds in the Friends of Greyhounds kennels: Einstein has found his way into a beachside condo in Pompano Beach, and Gabby is on her way to Coral Gables to take up residence with our old friend Kal. Einstein, the 2-year-old white and brindle boy who retired earlier this month, landed in his first home yesterday. Cathleen claimed him about a week after he arrived at Friends of Greyhounds, but Einstein hung out in Sunrise for awhile waiting for his new mom to return home from a business trip. Gabby on her last full day at FoG ---------- Michelle and I delivered him to Cathleen on Friday afternoon. Einstein now has a breathtaking view from his condo on the 18th floor. Michelle was scheduled to deliver Gabby to Rhonda and Eddie on Saturday afternoon. The compact dark-brindle girl was in Sunrise for less than a week. Chris the Kennel Guy handed her over to FoG on Monday afternoon. Rhonda...

Chumlee flirts with the new girl, Sly, as Yahtzee waits his turn. ---------- We have a new friend in the Friends of Greyhounds kennels. Sly, an 11-year-old girl from Pennsylvania, is now in Sunrise and ready to start over with a new family. FoG Veep Michelle drove to Miami on Tuesday evening to pick up Sly. This white and brindle girl is a beauty. Her longtime mom is moving out of the country because of family circumstances and did not want to put Sly through the trauma of such a drastic move. Sly had a short racing career and was adopted in the Northeast but has been in South Florida for several years. She has been spending a lot of time in a boarding kennel recently because of mom's frequent travels. Sly seems to have taken very well to her temporary move into the FoG kennels, where she's surrounded by other hounds and humans 24 hours a day. BJ ---------- Michelle is awaiting medical records to arrive in the mail. Soon as she gets those, she plans to get Sly t...

Einstein hanging out in the FoG backyard ---------- Einstein, one of the 2-year-old boys who landed at Friends of Greyhounds last week, already has found a home. He plans to head to his condo in Miami-Dade County in a couple of weeks. Einstein will get his vet workup next week at Animal Hospital of University Drive and will start his domestic life when his new mom returns home from an out-of-town trip a few days later. BJ in the FoG backyard ---------- In the meantime, kennel mates BJ and Fella are taking a visit in the kennels Wednesday evening. While we're waiting to hear if that turns into anything, let's catch up on a couple of other friends we've heard from in the past few days. Happy birthday, Luna: She turned 5, so Dawn, Lily and Rose threw her a party in the backyard. ---------- Mark dropped us a video the other day from Ocala, where brothers Jagger and Facebook love running together in their backyard: Officer Rick dropped some more pho...

Einstein has a look around at his new digs ---------- The Friends of Greyhounds kennels population has tripled with the arrival of a couple of 2-year-old boys from the Hialeah compound. Einstein (racing name Idris Elba) and BJ (Dutch Blackjack) arrived in Sunrise on Friday morning to begin their post-retirement lives. Chris the Kennel Guy told Michelle and I when we picked up the hounds that BJ is a laid-back lover. He's a small fawn fellow with beautiful piercing eyes and a curly-cue tail. Einstein, on the other hand, is a high-energy, excitable youngster, Chris said. I noticed a couple of times that you only need to look at Einstein and take a step in his direction to get his tail whipping in a thousand directions. Have a look at this video of the two guys exploring the FoG backyard for the first time. That's Uncle Jerry opening the window in the residence to meet them. The two join holdover Fella in the FoG adoption kennels. The three of them had a visitor...

Cheyenne meets Dakota, her new next-door neighbor. Click here for a video. ---------- A former Friends of Greyhounds volunteer has given Cheyenne her first home. The 2-year-old was adopted Saturday, less than two weeks after the end of her racing career. Fella ---------- Michelle and I delivered Cheyenne to the Sunrise home of longtime FoG friend Kim and her boyfriend, Mike. Cheyenne will share a nice backyard with her big brother, Reno. Kim had been on the lookout for a small female hound to add to the family. She stopped by the FoG kennels earlier in the week to meet Cheyenne and immediately decided to adopt the young beauty. Cheyenne's departure leaves Fella all alone in the FoG kennels. The affectionate 4-year-old brindle dynamo has been looking for a family since his racing career ended in August. He plans to be at the Sunday play date at Dog Dude Ranch, so come out and meet him. The event is scheduled for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The address is 6305 SW 120th Ave., ...

Cheyenne on her first day of retirement ---------- It took awhile for Chris to find a dog for the Friends of Greyhounds kennels. But it was well worth the wait. Cheyenne -- a gorgeous, tiny 2-year-old girl -- arrived in Sunrise for her first day in racing retirement. Michelle drove to Hialeah to pick her up Monday morning from Chris, who arranged Cheyenne's release from Florida Kennels. Chris had been on the lookout for several days for a hound or two to procure for FoG. But with changes happening rapidly at the Flagler and Hollywood dog tracks lately, adoptable hounds have been in short supply. Cheyenne is a white-and-black beauty. She's the first female hound in the FoG kennels in a couple of months. She's about as small as greyhounds come and has a sweet, loving personality. Here's a short video of her hanging out in the backyard with Uncle Jerry: Michelle will get her cat-tested sometime in the next few days. I'll put her on a leash sometime th...

BBQ Dave (kneeling) surrounded by humans and hounds Sunday at One Last Cast BBQ ---------- We had a glorious day Sunday for one last gathering of the greyhounds at One Last Cast BBQ. Our beloved barbecue stand on the grounds of Flamingo Road Nursery announced on Facebook earlier in the week that it was closing shop at the end of business Sunday. Diffy and Creepy enjoying the beautiful day ---------- But not so fast: BBQ Dave told us Sunday that we'll know for certain on Monday but the farewell announcement may have been premature. Dave said it's likely that he will stay open at the nursery. If you get past the great barbecue aroma, it all smells like a lease negotiation worked out in the end. Here's hoping to see you again in a couple of weeks, Dave. We had a pretty good turnout of hounds and humans, considering the NFL playoffs probably kept a few people away. The weather was superb -- sunny skies and temperatures in the high 60s. Most of the ...

Mercury with his new mom, Lisandra ---------- Mercury is in a home, and it turns out he didn't have to go far to find his new family. The muscular fawn was delivered Friday night to Luis and Lisandra in western Sunrise, not far from the Friends of Greyhounds kennels. Mercury and Luis ---------- This is Mercury's first taste of domesticity. The 4-year-old was fresh off his racing career when he landed at FoG in August. Luis and Lisandra are first-time greyhound parents, and they chose a particularly spirited one to initiate. But it's a great situation for Mercury. He has a spacious backyard to explore. His new parents work opposite shifts, so he will have someone at home with him most all the time. And the L's seemed excited about the prospect of taking long walks with Mercury to get him accustomed to the neighborhood. Luis and Lisandra had been watching the FoG website and this blog when they saw this video of Mercury in full-on prance mode. They visit...

Jake and Shar Shar welcome Apollo to their Margate home for a trial run. ---------- Apollo has a home for the holidays. The 8-year-old fawn who landed at Friends of Greyhounds three weeks ago is with a Margate family giving him a chance to settle in. I rode along with Michelle on Friday evening to deliver Apollo for a home trial with Debbie and Matt and their son, Jake. Apollo will be there for at least a few days to find out if he can get along with Shar Shar, a female hound who will be 7 on New Year's Day. Debbie and Matt have a long history as canine parents. They had a couple of boxers before adopting Shar Shar, their first greyhound, from FoG a few years ago. Apollo is the second FoG hound currently on a home trial. Kelly has been in Palmetto Bay for a couple of weeks. Michelle is confident that Kelly is in the home to stay, though he has not been officially adopted. FoG welcomed a young Sunrise couple to the kennels earlier in the evening Friday who are co...

Black dogs, kennel collars and winter wear have been moving out of Friends of Greyhounds at a good clip the past couple of weeks. Apollo hanging out at FoG on Thursday ---------- But the Sunrise adoption shelter still has a quartet of fawns as well as a brindle beauty that would love to have permanent homes for the holidays. Apollo , at 8 years old, is the eldest of the current residents. He landed at FoG two weeks ago after being in his home for 6 years.  Apollo wasn't much of a racer. He ran twice in Melbourne in 2011 as D's Red Fury before moving to Birmingham, AL, where he ran in five maiden races, always finishing near the back of the pack. He was adopted six years ago, shortly after his racing career ended. But he recently went through a family breakup and moved into an apartment in Coconut Creek with his dad. His caretaker works long hours, and Apollo soon became really unhappy with his situation, spending long hours by himself day after day. Dad...

Kal, left, who will be delivered Saturday to his new home in Coral Gables; and Kelly, who will be at the Parkland event ---------- Our old friend Kal, the 3-year-old black hound who has been in the Friends of Greyhounds kennels since July, will head to his new home in Coral Gables Saturday afternoon. Kal first met his new family a few weeks ago when Michelle took him to a book signing in the Gables. Michelle exchanged several emails with the family, who came to Sunrise on Friday afternoon to put in their application and claim the playful boy. He'll be delivered Saturday, after the Homes for Dogs Project adoption event in Parkland. The event is set for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Equestrian Center at Temple Park, 8350 Ranch Road. FoG and three other adoption groups will be there, as will Chewy.com. The event will be set up in a roofed pavilion, so don't let the threat of rain scare you off. Come on out and meet FoG dogs Logan and Kelly, a couple of the second-chance dogs at...

Fella looks to me for help, but I was busy taking photos. ---------- Yahtzee bargaining with the devil ---------- Old friend Mike brought the Groom Waggin mobile doggie spa to Sunrise today to give Friends of Greyhounds ' 10 guest and resident hounds a little freshening up. All of them were getting a bit long in the toenails, and Mike, as always, stopped by the shelter to give pawdicures for all. Mike's a longtime supporter -- in fact, he and his wife have a couple of greyhounds adopted from FoG. He picked up his two dogs' kennel collars from Michelle while he was there. Groom Waggin has been giving pawdicures to FoG dogs off and on for a few years. Mike's visits have been sporadic, though, and always overdue by the time he arrives. Today, he told Michelle he would start putting her on his calendar and schedule regular visits. Casey trying his best to be brave ---------- The Davie-based Groom Waggin takes its mobile spa all over South Florida. Mike ...

Stormy cleans up pretty well, doesn't she? (Thanks to Carolina for the photo.) ---------- Congratulations to Stormy. The 3-year-old black girl who had been in the Friends of Greyhounds kennels since April has found her way into her first family home. FoG Veep Michelle delivered Stormy this morning to Carolina and Jorge in Miami. The young couple submitted an adoption application on Stormy a couple of days ago, pending a home visit to see if she would get along with the family's Italian greyhound. The two hounds hit it off just fine this morning, and Stormy became an official family member. Jagger taking a snooze ---------- Stormy was the only female in the FoG kennels -- leaving the roster with six boys. Mercury -- the sculpted, athletic fawn -- has been spoken for by a returning FoG adopter and is expected to be delivered later this week. FoG hasn't heard from the Boca Raton couple who visited last week to look at Jagger. They have not submitted an applicati...

Fella, shortly after his arrival at FoG ---------- Fella is the newest arrival at Friends of Greyhounds . He and his buddy Mercury arrived at the Sunrise kennels Aug. 15, just as activity was slowing down for the start of the school year. Fella is a muscular bundle of high energy in a compact frame. He was born Feb. 8, 2013 and ran 152 races as Oshkosh Fella before he was retired in August, just before his arrival at FoG. Remember what I told you the other day about Kal being such a toy hound? Well, he's not the only one at FoG. Fella is just as much the playful boy as Kal is. He's never met a squeaky toy he didn't want as his very own. Fella is on the small side of the male greyhound size scale. If you don't look too closely, it is easy to mistake him for a female because of his relatively tiny frame. But don't let that fool you. He packs a lot of energy and joy. He wants to be involved in whatever action is going on around him. He loves to romp wi...

Mercury out on a leash walk ---------- It's easy to see on first sight that Mercury is a beautifully sculpted, classic greyhound. If you commissioned an artist to paint a portrait of the perfect hound, this is the picture you would get. He's solid red, long, lean and muscular with that same face you've seen on every greyhound portrait ever. Mercury, born April 27, 2013, landed at Friends of Greyhounds on Aug. 15 after a career of 146 races. I met him a day or two later and caught myself staring in admiration at his awesome beauty.  His racing name was JJ's Fandango. Jerry D., Michelle and I were tossing ideas for new names for him and Oshkosh Fella, who arrived at the same time. Fella was easy. But we thought Fandango was a little off. Of course, Fandango made me immediately think of Bohemian Rhapsody. Obviously, we couldn't name him Queen, so I threw out "Freddie." We did settle on that, but Michelle resisted the "ie" spelling that...

Jagger and Dusty on a leisurely stroll ---------- Hurricane Irma has been gone for about three weeks now, but we still have reminders of her lying in piles all over the place here in South Florida. Everywhere you look, you see missing sections of fencing and heaps of brown leaves and dead tree branches strewn about. For the most part, at least what I see in central and western Broward County, everyday life has returned to normal. People are going to work, restaurants and stores are open, gasoline is flowing plentiful again. But beneath the surface, many of us are still dealing with and paying for cleanup and repairs and working furiously to get our businesses back on track. All of which doesn't leave a lot of time to think about adding a greyhound to our families. Thinking back, I don't believe I know of one person who has visited the Friends of Greyhounds kennels this month to window-shop the available hounds -- and this month will be over in a couple of days. Wh...

Fella ---------- The revolving door continues to turn at the Friends of Greyhounds kennels in Sunrise. Mercury ---------- Michelle drove to Hialeah on Tuesday evening to pick up a couple of beautiful boys from Chris at the Florida Kennels compound. Fella and Mercury bring the FoG guest roster up to seven. They join Kal, Logan, Hawk and black girls Frozen and Stormy. Hawk has been claimed -- he will be delivered to his new home in Miami-Dade County sometime next week. Some if not all of the adoptable hounds will appear at a couple of adoption events this weekend. Michelle will take a couple of the greyhounds to the Pet Supermarket store in Sunrise on Saturday. Another adoption group also is scheduled to be at the store, at 2696 N. University Dr., as part of a company promotion. The event starts at 11 a.m. and will run until mid-afternoon. The seventh annual Animal Adoption Fair is slated for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday at War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale. Frien...