Dusty and me

Logan and Darrell just after adoption papers were signed in Cracker Barrel parking lot ---------- Logan has found his way home. Friends of Greyhounds VP Michelle and I drove with him Saturday afternoon to Fort Myers, where we hooked up with Darrell, handed off the big boy and sent the two new best buds on their way north to New Port Richey. The 6-year-old Logan met his three greyhound sisters later in the afternoon, and Darrell reported that everyone got along just fine. Sisters Briggs and Allie watch Logan enjoy a celebratory rawhide shortly after arriving at his new home. ---------- It was a long time coming for Logan. He landed at the FoG kennels for the second time nearly 6 months ago after spending more than three years in a home that became a stressful situation for him. Darrell came along, found Logan through some Internet research, read about his plight and decided to adopt him sight-unseen. It took some fortuitous timing and a couple of humans to go an extr...

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...

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...

Apollo would love to be in a new home for the holidays. ---------- Friends of Greyhounds has a new guest in the Sunrise kennels. Meet Apollo, an 8-year-old fawn boy who is looking for a new home after a family breakup. Apollo landed at FoG on Friday, and he's already adjusted to his new temporary life. I stopped by to visit him this morning, and he seems like a happy, healthy, friendly, well-adjusted guy. He's eating well, he was excited to get attention and affection from perfect strangers, and he got along great with his fellow senior adoptables during their turnouts today. Here he is (with the red collar) hanging out with black hound Kelly and fellow fawn Logan: Apollo was adopted in Virginia six years ago by a couple who eventually moved to South Florida. The family broke up, however, and Apollo landed in an apartment in Coconut Creek with his dad. But Apollo ended up spending long days by himself in his crate in the apartment as his dad works 10- and 12-hou...

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...

Logan responding to his name ---------- Logan is a sweet, laidback fawn who reappeared at Friends of Greyhounds on June 1. He spent more than three years in a home where he was loved but did not adjust to its high energy. Logan was born Aug. 16, 2011. He was pretty banged up when he first appeared at FoG in November 2013 as Fuzzy's Bob Dylan. He still has the scars on the side of his body and the missing toes to show for his rugged racing career. Logan's right hind ---------- He didn't stay at FoG long that first time. He was out of the kennels and into a home a few weeks later, on New Year's Eve 2013. But judging from a letter his adoptive father wrote to FoG after he was returned, he spent much of the time in his home confused and upset. One of the children in the family is special needs, and he apparently put Logan through some rough times -- taunting him, trapping him in corners and confusing him on household furniture rules. The letter said Logan s...

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...

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 ...

Hello again, everyone. It has been awhile since we've talked, hasn't it? The dog days of summer just wore us down, nothing of note really happened for a couple of weeks, so we just decided to lie low. And then came Irma to shake us awake. And fortunately, there went Irma leaving most everyone I've heard from in our little community almost completely whole. A few of us lost power for a time, some of us lost cell service, Friends of Greyhounds lost part of their backyard fence. But none whom I have talked with lost life, limb or home. So we're in great shape. While we were sweating it out in Florida with Irma raging around us, old friend Buford was playing it cool at his other home in New Jersey. Travis, hope to see you guys soon. Come join us at some of our gatherings this fall when you're in town. ---------- Dusty and I were probably the luckiest of them all. Neither of us, nor the Kia Koach nor the townhouse sustained a scratch from Irma. Worst thing that ...

Working the FoG booth: Lisa, Jerry D. and Michelle along with Rachel, Dusty, Hawk and Logan ---------- "It's been a long day, Dad. Can we go home now?" ---------- Dusty is sound asleep right now. She woke up long enough for her morning business walk and light breakfast. But since she's been finished with those essentials, she's been stretched out on her bed oblivious to the world. And except for a forced late-night walk, that's how she spent Sunday evening after her long day at the Animal Adoption Fair in Fort Lauderdale. Dusty and I were at the event open-to-close to help out at the Friends of Greyhounds booth. We spent much of the first couple of hours cruising the aisles among all the vendors and exhibitors and going outside once or twice in search of grassy areas. After all that exercise, Dusty spent most of the next four or five hours camped out on a cushioned mat in the FoG booth allowing all kinds of strangers to stop by and ...

Hawk, one of the new arrivals at Friends of Greyhounds ---------- Friends of Greyhounds has delivered a few hounds to new homes the past few days. But as quickly as they're going out, more are coming in. Dusty and I drove over to Sunrise this morning to meet this week's new arrivals -- three of them from the Florida Kennels compound in Hialeah. Thanks, Chris, for keeping those retired hounds coming as quickly as Michelle can make room for them. Kelly was the week's first arrival -- a sleek, muscular black female who arrived Sunday with a broken leg. Kelly then spent the day Monday at Animal Hospital of University Drive . Kelly will spend her upcoming second birthday hobbling and healing in the FoG kennels. But Dr. Ansara told Michelle that he expects a full recovery for the youngster with no long-term issues. Dusty's injury last summer was much worse, and she's perfectly fine now. So we can vouch from experience that Kelly will be good as new in a few ...

Dee Dee, the 11-year-old brindle who landed in the Friends of Greyhounds kennels for the third time, didn't have to wait long for a new home. Shawn with Charlie (left) and new family member Dee Dee ---------- She was at FoG for only about 10 days before she found herself a new home. Michelle and I delivered her today to Shawn, a Miami-Dade County firefighter who lives in Davie. Dee Dee is at least the third greyhound Shawn has adopted from FoG. Shawn lost her older hound a couple weeks ago and had decided she needed to fill the empty space in her home with another. She called Michelle on Sunday, and they quickly agreed that Dee Dee would be a good fit in Shawn's home. Dee Dee had been spending her days in the FoG permanent residence with Michelle and Jerry D.'s house dogs, sleeping overnights in the guest kennels. Michelle had planned to get Dee Dee's vet work done this week but decided to get her Shawn immediately. Dee Dee will get a few days to get accus...

Fufu (yellow collar) and Dusty ---------- Looking for a beautiful black female hound like Dusty to grace your home? If so, Friends of Greyhounds has the dog for you. Frozen ---------- Michelle came back from Sanford Orlando Kennel Club earlier this week with two more sleek girls to join Stormy in the kennels in Sunrise. Both of the new hounds, Frozen and Fufu, are gorgeous. Of course, how can they not be? Dusty and I drove to Sunrise this morning to meet the two new arrivals. As soon as I saw both of the new ones were black girls, I decided I had to get a group photo of them, Dusty and Stormy. But Michelle and I couldn't make it happen. We took the four of them out to the backyard and tried several times to get them all together, but they wouldn't cooperate. It really was like trying to herd cats. Too many dogs, not enough handlers to pull this one off. So I turned on the video camera and got what I could of them milling about. Here's one. Check Dusty...

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...

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 ...

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 ...