Dusty and me

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...

Lily shot this photo of Dusty, Speedy and Luna. ---------- 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. Lily and Rosie chilling with the hounds in a shelter area at the park ---------- 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 ma...

Dusty and Sunny in the Kia Koach on their way to a walk in the park ---------- Meet Sunny, Dusty's house guest for the next few days. Sunny is staying with Dusty and me while her parents, Hedda and Shep, are traveling. Sunny stakes her claim to one of Dusty's several beds. ---------- Sunny originally was set to stay with Michelle and Jerry at the Friends of Greyhounds residence in Sunrise. But with five Macau greyhounds arriving Wednesday and Michelle's previous commitment to take in David, Turtle and Honey for the week while Joy hit the road, I offered to take in Sunny to lighten the load. Michelle and I picked up Sunny on Monday afternoon from her home in Boca Raton. The 8-year-old girl has adjusted beautifully already. She's found her favorite bed and discovered a great toy, a big squeaky fuzzy hedgehog , in Dusty's toy box. We worked on going up and down the stairway last night and this morning. She seemed to understand the concept, but it might ta...

We had so much fun last week, Dusty and I decided to do it again and drove to Coral Gables this morning to hook up with Dawn and her girls at Chapman Field Park. Dusty got a little dusty after a couple of runs on a humid day. ---------- It was a humid day, a bit less comfortable than our outing last week. Dawn, Rosie, Lily, Luna, Dusty and I did have the large enclosed area all to ourselves when we got there. But the two hounds weren't quite as energetic in the dog park as they were last week -- at least in the beginning. We were joined not too long after we got there by a young local family with one of the cutest puppies ever -- a 4-month-old weimaraner named Shadow. This beautiful, energetic boy was all ears and paws and energy, and he was able to coax Dusty and Luna into a couple of good runs. Catch a glimpse of Shadow at the end of this video . Dawn got some great photos of the two hounds I really wanted to share: Rosie got to do all the work on the way to the...

Lily with Dusty and Luna as the hounds cool down from a couple of open runs ---------- We enjoyed our first taste of gorgeous Florida non-summer today, and Dusty took advantage. She and I drove to Coral Gables this morning to hook up with Dawn and her girls for a romp at Chapman Field Park. Dusty had a blast. Dawn, Lily and Rosie led Dusty, Luna and I to the off-leash dog park, and found one of the two enclosures unused. The two hounds took advantage of the open space and took off for three or four runs together. It was a beautiful sight watching those two running free. But that wasn't the highlight for Dusty. On the walk back to the cars, Lily grabbed Luna and Dusty and took them for a wade in the nearby river. Luna owned that little cove. She's been there before, and she loves it. She went for a dip in the cool water with no hesitation. But it was a first for Dusty. She's never been in a body of water, so she was a little hesitant. She dipped her toes in a...

Dusty and Rosie taking a breather ---------- A stroll in the park with greyhounds and girls to start a summer Sunday -- that's as good as life gets. Luna resting with Dawn and Lily ---------- Dawn reached out to me on Facebook and told me she would love to give 5-year-old Luna some social time with Dusty at one of the parks I have raved about here in western Broward County. So I invited Dawn and the family for a morning stroll at Plantation Heritage Park, which has plenty of acreage and shade. Dawn loaded Luna and the two human girls, Lily and Rosie, into her SUV this morning and made the trip up from South Miami-Dade County. And we had a fabulous time. Dusty and Luna spent a few seconds checking each other out, they both approved of each other, and the bunch of us started on a short walk under the not-unpleasant morning sun. Lily had Luna's leash in her left hand, I gave her Dusty's leash to fill her right hand, and a great stroll was had by all. At some...

Hi, all. Dusty and I are back. Let the blogging resume. We went radio silent three months ago after delivering Sly to her foster family. Dusty and I looked up at that point and realized that our buddies at Friends of Greyhounds had decided to close their kennels to new dogs and our favorite gathering haunts would no longer be available to us. Dusty hasn't gotten the hang of doing a proper selfie. ---------- So we decided to take a blogging break, at least for awhile. We did make the mistake of letting our domain expire, which is why you could no longer find the website if you went looking for it. But the domain was still ours to claim, which we did yesterday, about three days before it expired completely. As many of you know, an amendment to the Florida Constitution to ban greyhound racing will be on the ballot in November. Most everyone fully expects it to pass, and racing kennels are starting to move out of the state in anticipation of the shutdown. If it does happen, ...

Waiting for Logan: From left are Betty, 2 years old; Briggs, 6; and Allie, 3. ---------- Congratulations to our old friend Logan. The 6-year-old fawn fella has found a new home in New Port Richey, over on the other coast north of Tampa Bay. Logan will celebrate the new year with his new daddy, Darrell, and three greyhound sisters in a nice big house with two adjacent fenced yards. Logan ---------- I will ride with Michelle on Saturday afternoon to Fort Myers, where Darrell will meet us to say hello to Logan for the first time and welcome him into his family. Darrell, who works full-time at home, found Logan online a few days ago while searching for a male hound to fit into his family. In particular, Darrell was looking to welcome a grey who was having a tough time finding a home. He found the Friends of Greyhounds website  and eventually this blog and read all about Logan, who has been in the Sunrise kennels for nearly six months. Darrell also became inter...

Doc taking it easy at his Wilton Manors home ---------- Jagger taking full advantage of his new Slumber Ball in his Ocala home

"What kind of a rabbit is that?" ---------- It was a wondrously beautiful South Florida November day, the kind of day that puts Dusty in a mood to frolic. So frolic she did. We started the day with a mid-morning walk along the Cypress Park Greenway at Tamarac Veterans Park. We didn't stay too long, as the bright sun in the cloudless sky got a little intense. But we were there long enough for a barking, jumping Dusty to chase off a couple of iguanas sunning on a rock bed alongside Stranahan River. She loves doing that. Later in the day, Dusty and I drove to Sunrise to help Michelle with her 5 p.m turnouts and feeding. Having had a few hours to rest up from her morning adventure, Dusty was primed for some hound play with Mitzi, Yahtzee, Chumlee and Joy in the Friends of Greyhounds yard, where they sometimes encounter a couple of playmates on the other side of the fence. Watch : We left FoG to drive over to Plantation for another visit with Joy's ho...

Dusty relaxing with an ear massage from Pa Sharp ---------- Dusty and I just got back from a short visit to Tampa Bay. Ma and Pa Sharp enjoyed every minute of their 22-hour visit with their favorite great-greyhound. I loaded Dusty into the Kia Koach on Thursday morning for the 200-mile-or-so drive to Largo to help Pa set up his new Roku TV and introduce Ma and Pa to their new electronic roommate named Alexa. All technology tasks went smoothly. And as always, Dusty reveled in being the center of the grandparents' attention. Dusty got a couple of quick walks around the Sharps' neighborhood. The highlight for her was a walk with Gramps and me Thursday afternoon at Largo Central Park, where holiday displays are already under installation. Here's a video of Gramps with Dusty's leash: As always when we are in Largo, Dusty got a visit from Jane, a neighbor of the Sharps who loves to stop in for a quick hello. It was a short visit, but a good time was had by al...

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 ...

Dusty was ecstatic today when she realized what her day was about to become. Dusty has a look and a couple of sniffs around while I take a short break on one of the park's benches ---------- A nice cool front moved into South Florida. And for the first time in months, we were able to turn off the A/C and open the doors and windows in the townhouse. It only got a tick or two above 70 degrees today, and a hefty 10-mph breeze with some serious gusts has been blowing all day. Just after noon, I put the girl in the Kia Koach and drove northwest for a couple miles or so. Dusty, of course, is always proud and happy to take a ride in her Koach, no matter where she ends up -- even if she ends up right back at home after a short round trip. Eastern section of Tephford Park ---------- But, my, does she get happy when she looks out the window and sees one of her favorite walkways getting closer. This time, for the first time in a long time, she caught a glimpse of the long gree...

Kal at his whimsical best ---------- It's always playtime for Kal. Kal is a big, strong black dog born March 2, 2014. He wrapped up his 66-race career as Turbo Kal in May and landed in the  Friends of Greyhounds  kennels in July. And he's been collecting every squeaky toy he can get his jaws around ever since. In the time I've known Kal, he seems to always be chewing on some pliable squeaky thing. Wait. Let me revise that: He always seems to be chewing on some pliable squeaky thing only if he's not reaching into his neighboring kennels trying to get at the other dog's pliable squeaky things. When we do turnouts, Kal usually always gets distracted on his way out the door by a toy that might be lying on the open floor -- or by one that might be sticking out of one of the other kennels calling Kal's name. This boy does love his toys. This is how he spends most of his waking moments: Kal, simply put, is a 75-pound bundle of joyful exuberance....

Nothing like a shortage of fencing after a hurricane to get a re-homed greyhound out of the kennel for a couple of days. Dusty and Jagger enjoying a morning walk ---------- As most of you know, the good folks at Friends of Greyhounds lost a good chunk of their wooden fence a couple of weeks ago to Hurricane Irma. The fence enclosed a good-sized backyard at the residence and provided a perfect area for the FoG dogs to run loose a few times a day. But once Irma had her way, FoG was left with large gaps in the fence and a statewide shortage of supplies to get a new one built promptly. Michelle and Jerry improvised with some plastic netting and some spare fence rails and scraps of lumber to close up the holes as much as possible. Most of the house and kennel dogs were fine with the temporary solution. But one of the dogs, brindle beauty Jagger, found a breach. He found a way through the temporary fencing, and twice in a day, Michelle and Jerry had to chase him through the nei...

We're hitting that time of year here in South Florida. The hot afternoon sun fights for dominance with dark, loud, fast-moving thunderstorms. But once the alternating bright sky and gloomy clouds make way for nightfall, we can enjoy some gloriously breezy, pleasant evenings as we say goodbye to the humidity of summer. For us humans, those nice evenings are merely our first taste of the wonderful months ahead of us. But for our hounds, days like today make you think that maybe they don't know whether they're coming or going. Exhibit A: Our old friend Maggie in Delray Beach, who really does not like the sound those nasty afternoon thunderstorms make. Mom Joan dropped us this photo this evening: Maggie hunkers down through a Friday-afternoon thunderstorm, seeking protection from her Munchkins, Cassie and Smidgen. ---------- Dusty, in the meantime, slept away much of the day by herself, as I had a few errands that needed running. I did get back to her in late af...

Dusty having a word with new friend Reasey ---------- Ahhh, it was so good to get outside again to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine -- and, of course, the barbecue -- with all our hound buddies. We had a great turnout Saturday at One Last Cast BBQ on the grounds of Flamingo Road Nursery for the first Friends of Greyhounds gathering of the season. The weather was almost perfect. It got a little warm at times if you were out in the sun. But we had just enough clouds, some nice breezes and plenty of shade cover to make it a success. Of course, everyone exchanged their Irma war stories. Fortunately for us inland dwellers, no one had any real damage. Most of the Irma talk was about losing power for various lengths of time. Mike and Andy spent parts of one or two evenings sleeping in Mike's air-conditioned car to escape the still, humid heat of their house. Jerry D. arrived late to the gathering because he was making arrangements to have someone rebuild the fence at the FoG ...