Dusty and me

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...

Shawn and Charlie show off his new service vest. Shawn said people generally ignore the "Do Not Pet" warning. Charlie, as a matter of fact, apparently thinks it says, "Please pet me." ---------- Friends of Greyhounds alum Charlie has earned his vest as a service dog. The 5-year-old, who lives in Davie with mom Shawn and older sister Dee Dee, recently graduated from a six-month course in PTSD and mobility service. One handsome devil ... ---------- Shawn, a captain in the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, said Charlie is the first service dog in a department pilot program. "Many departments are using therapy dogs to manage PTSD and other issues," Shawn explained in an email. "Charlie is being used on debriefings and more. He's touched many of my co-workers in touching ways, and more are now interested in the program." Shawn said the department is employing Charlie "on critical stress-team callouts and for firefighters in cri...

Dusty and I have heard from a couple friends in the past few days, and we want to share their greetings. Kango is enjoying a game of tug of war. That's Officer Rick of Cutler Bay on the other end. ---------- Doc appears ready for the holidays. John dropped this photo from Wilton Manors. ---------- Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks. Dusty and I as well as our faithful readers love hearing from old friends. Drop us an email at houndblog@dustyandme.com .

Approaching the western edge of Cypress Creek Greenway at Tephford Park on Saturday. ---------- Dusty and I are enjoying a relaxing day at home today, taking the occasional long walk around the neighborhood between her greyhound naps and my Abbott and Costello movies on the Roku. We had a fairly busy week. We spent several hours in Sunrise helping with Friends of Greyhounds business and were able to get to the two Tamarac parks a couple or three times. Dusty also got over to Joy's new house in western Broward a few times to run with David, Honey and Turtle while their mom was away with long shifts at the hospital. I got this short video of the four of them: There's another video of those guys along with all of Dusty's videos at my YouTube page . LET'S HAVE SOME BBQ: Michelle at Friends of Greyhounds has organized another outing for us hound lovers at One Last Cast BBQ. We're set for this Saturday, Nov. 11, on the grounds of Flamingo Road Nursery ...

Bullet (left) and Kango seem to be getting along quite nicely. ---------- Dusty and I heard from Kango and Hawk yesterday. They didn't have much to say but sent us a couple of photos. Mom Amy said it took a day for the girl to overcome her fear of Hawk.

Dusty and I heard from a couple of friends today. Both Kango and Lia (formerly Fufu) touched base to let us know they're doing great. Tia dropped us a photo to show us that Lia is feeling at home already in her new apartment. She's got no worries. Tia said she's Lia is struggling with the external stairway that leads to the second-floor apartment. But we all know she'll figure that out pretty soon. Lia feeling very much at home on her first full day in her new apartment ---------- Kango, meanwhile, is doing great as he enters his second month with his new family. Rick sent this video of the boy blowing off some steam in his wonderful new backyard:

Bullet (left) and Kango back home after their active beach vacation.

Kango and Rick having a moment during their vacation ---------- Sorry you haven't heard from Dusty and I in a few days. It's been more than a week, the longest dry spell we've had since we started this blog. Part of it are the dog days of summer. We're not getting out into the world much these days -- four or five quick walks to take care of business is our speed on this run of sun-drenched, humidity-soaked, 100-degree-real-feel days. Dusty and I did have a couple of house guests of the grandparents variety -- Ma and Pa Sharp stopped in to visit the grand-hound and break a lot of bread with the son for a few days last week. I spent this weekend with my new next-door neighbor washing and painting some concrete. Early-morning beach walk ---------- I'm filling in the rest of the time tinkering with my new obsession to make this townhouse and the entertainment electronics smarter. But I do long for the days coming soon when Dusty and I can get back...

Taylor with Crystal and his new canine sibling, Bailey ---------- I usually write up news like this as it happens. But it's been a crazy couple of days in Dusty Land, so apologies for being late. We'll start with news about Taylor. The beautiful white hound with the gimpy leg found himself a family Tuesday -- Crystal delivered her adoption application to Friends of Greyhounds  shortly after Michelle and I returned from delivering Kango to his family. Crystal had her eye on three hounds, but Taylor was her first choice. He made the choice easy for Crystal when he was the only one of the three to pass an impromptu cat-tolerance test. Michelle and I delivered Taylor to Crystal's townhouse in Coconut Creek on Thursday. He will need to navigate a long, steep but straight and carpeted stairway to get in and out of his new home. He did pretty well going up and then down for the first time with human assistance. It'll be a challenge for him for a few days, ...

Clockwise: Rick, Kango, Kathryn, Janine, Sam and Bullet ---------- That took awhile, but it's finally happened: Kango is now in his new home in Cutler Bay. If you recall, Kango -- the spirited dark-brindle boy losing his sight to macular degeneration -- had a successful home visit to southern Miami-Dade County back in April. Rick and Janine and their daughters were looking at a busy summer travel-vacation schedule and told Friends of Greyhounds  they would think seriously about adopting him. Kango discussing something important with Sam ---------- Some time passed, we didn't hear back from the family, and Michelle and Jerry D. and I went back and forth on whether the adoption actually might happen. Then, in early June, Rick, Janine and the girls turned up at a gathering at One Last Cast BBQ in Davie and had a conversation with Michelle. A couple of days later, Rick told Michelle in an email that they had decided they would adopt Kango -- but they were heading out ...

Boogie (formerly Oshkosh Pumped) ---------- Friends of Greyhounds has had a busy couple of days: Two hounds came in from Florida Kennels in Hialeah on Sunday, and three were delivered to new homes Monday night. Turtle ---------- New to the Sunrise kennels are a sleek dark brindle boy, Oshkosh Pumped, and another big fawn male whose name I don't yet know. Meanwhile, Casey, Stormy and Annie were delivered to new homes Monday. That leaves FoG with five male guests at the moment -- the two new guys, Kango, Logan and Taylor. I missed Michelle's trips the past couple of days because I was finishing up my weeklong job driving to Plantation to walk Joy's dogs -- Honey, Turtle and David. I had a great time bonding with those three -- and got to meet felines Sugar and Jasper as a bonus.  David ---------- Having breakfast with Michelle and Jerry B. in a few minutes. I'll get caught up with all the FoG details then. UPDATES:  Oshkosh's new na...

From left: Annie (3 years old July 3), Taylor (3 on June 25), Maggie (7 on July 3), Casey (2 on July 20), Kango (4 on July 1) ---------- Five guests at Friends of Greyhounds have birthdays coming up. Larry Warsh of Larry Warsh Photography in Fort Lauderdale put together this photo/graphic to help celebrate. Contact FoG if you'd like to come by and celebrate. Michelle says she'll give you a deal on adoption fees for one of these hounds. Act now, though -- one of them (Maggie) just went to her new home, and another one (Kango) is spoken for. But the other three are still looking for homes.

Joan, Zoe, Smidgen and Cassie (new arrival Maggie didn't want to leave the couch) ---------- It's official: Maggie is now part of Smidgen's harem in Delray Beach. Maggie, you'll recall, is the little brindle girl who landed with Friends of Greyhounds several days ago after her adoptive human mother passed away. She arrived at the Sunrise shelter noticeably underweight and shaking in fright. Maggie on her second day at FoG ---------- But things only got better for Maggie from that point. She began eating vigorously almost right away and got over her insecurities within a day or two. She was only in her kennel for about a week when longtime FoG friend Joan agreed to take her in, sight unseen. Michelle and I drove Maggie to Delray Beach a few days ago to meet her new family and see her new home -- and sealed the adoption commitment with Joan. Maggie got all her veterinarian work done on Thursday, and we took her home for good this morning -- just in time to ...

Kango, on the red leash, with Rick and Bullet during a home visit in April. ---------- Here's some great news for everyone concerned about Kango: He's found a home. Rick and Janine along with their daughters, Kat and Samm, told Michelle this morning that they've decided to give the boy a home. Kango will be the second greyhound in the family, joining Bullet, who has been in the Cutler Bay home since March 2016. Kango is the Friends of Greyhounds guest suffering from macular degeneration. He's a friendly, lively but sometimes confused boy whose eyesight is deteriorating. His veterinarian opthalmologist expects that he will be blind within a few months. As she does with any special-needs dog, FoG is waiving its adoption fee for Kango and will provide his new family with prescribed medications. Rick and the girls have a couple of vacation trips planned, so the timing and logistics of Kango's delivery to his new home are to be worked out. But ...

Marvin the Moose and her new collar from Happy Hound Designs give comfort on another morning indoors. ---------- It's been a slow week for Dusty and I. Summer's onset in South Florida has made us kind of lazy -- we're not getting out as much as we used to when the weather was so pleasant. Kango enjoying a few minutes of free time ---------- But we did get a chance today to get to Friends of Greyhounds. Dusty got a few minutes to run in the yard with her Sunrise buddies before the rains came, and I was able to spend some time with the four guests at the kennels. As expected, old FoG friend Daniel appeared at the kennels Monday and went home with Domino, the big black hound who stole his heart Saturday at the One Last BBQ gathering. Daniel was ready to adopt a new companion after Jeff crossed the bridge a few weeks ago. Domino's big personality won him over Saturday and pretty much sealed the deal when he planted a big kiss on Daniel late in the day. And ...

A black-hound convention: Molly, Dusty, Domino and Slinky ---------- It wasn't the biggest crowd for a Friends of Greyhounds gathering at One Last Cast BBQ. But it certainly was the hottest. At one point about halfway in, Jerry B checked the weather status on his brand-spanking-new smartphone, and he said the Feels Like was 99. It wasn't completely unbearable. We did have some nice shade cover out on the patio and we would catch a nice breeze now and then. But the hounds weren't very active, preferring to find a relatively cool spot to lie down. And not many of the humans stayed around for the entire four hours. Jerry B. and his lap dog, Slinky ---------- All that said, it still turned out to be a good afternoon. Old FoG friend Daniel, who lost Jeff to bone cancer a few months back, came to tell Jerry D. and Michelle that he is ready to adopt a new companion. He set up an appointment to stop by the Sunrise kennels Monday to check out the dogs on hand. He bonde...

Posey making all kinds of friends ---------- Michelle and longtime Friends of Greyhounds jack-of-all-trades volunteer Jerry B took a drive to Miami on Wednesday to introduce some elementary-school kids to the joys of greyhounds. Posey, one of the FoG guests, and Slinky, one of Jerry B's dogs, did the honors at Riverside Elementary Community School in Little Havana. A great time was had by all the kids and both dogs, Michelle told me. Jerry sent along some photos for me to share. Michelle, FoG honcho Jerry D and I did some cat-testing this afternoon with six of the eight FoG kennel dogs, and most of them passed with flying colors. Casey, Savvy, Taylor and Posey all showed us they would be quite happy to share a home with feline siblings. Herman and Stormy, though, weren't too keen on the cat idea. Kango and Domino previously failed the cat test. Don't forget to join Dusty and me at the Pet Supermarket at 9798 Glades Road in Boca Raton on Sunday. Michelle...

A lot of comings and goings at Friends of Greyhounds right now with new guests coming into the kennels and several greyhounds leaving for permanent homes. New FoG guest Stormy ---------- The flurry started with Ralph and Nadine going to new homes and Kango going out on an audition in Cutler Bay earlier in the week. Ralph returned to the Sunrise kennels today to get a microchip and to make his adoption official. A short time later, former guest Molly appeared at the permanent residence, where she'll be staying for a few days while her family takes a vacation. Dusty and I showed up a couple of minutes behind Molly for our volunteer shift giving noontime walks to the guests -- and to meet a couple of new arrivals Michelle picked up Friday in Hialeah. And that's when Dusty met her match -- Stormy, a shiny 3-year-old black female who could pass as Dusty's twin sister. Look closely: You can tell them apart by noting that Stormy has very little white on th...