Dusty and me

Janelle dropped another email with a few more photos of Randy. She loves sending these to me, I love seeing them, and I love sharing them. Randy and Austin ---------- Randy and Lucy

No, Jerry, really, don't worry. Dusty's OK. She decided to get in some impromptu sunbathing on our way out to the car after our Monday morning visit to Friends of Greyhounds. I was walking her across the front yard to the Kia Koach when she decided to take a break. And I couldn't persuade her to get up. Michelle and Jerry walked over to laugh about it, and I grabbed my camera. Jerry's prayerful pose, which I saw only after I looked through the shots when I got home, is a happy accident. ---------- Dusty and I got back home last night after five days sitting with Holly and the cats. Holly was as happy and excited as I've ever seen her when Frank and Janice walked through the door. My, she was happy to have mom and dad back home. Dusty gets really comfy shortly after arriving back home. ---------- And Dusty was thrilled to death to be able to crawl into her own bed, as you can see here. It didn't take her long at all to get comfortable. We drove over...

Randy and Austin ---------- Janelle dropped me an email this morning to give me an update on Randy, who's been with his new family for a week or two. Randy "absolutely loves the kids," Janelle wrote. "I noticed that whenever I give one of my very stern mom lectures to the kids, Randy waits until I walk to the kitchen and goes to comfort our son/daughter. "He's very smart," she said. "We normally close all the doors in our house and noticed them open. Of course, I blamed the kids -- until I caught him using his nose to open our latch handles." LOL. It wasn't me. It was Randy. At least now Janelle knows the kids were telling the truth. Thanks for the update Janelle. Keep us posted. By the way, any other greyhound families out there who want to share updates and photos with Dusty and Me can send an email to  greytdusty@outlook.com . I'll be happy to share.

Buford loaded into the FoG greyhound bus for the long drive south ---------- Herman ready for the road to retirement ---------- Dusty spent the day today in Sunrise while Michelle and I drove north to Sanford Orlando Kennel Club to pick up a set of brothers to add to the Friends of Greyhounds guest list. Buford and Herman, who turned 3 years old a couple of weeks ago, are now officially looking for a family. Obviously, it would be great to keep them together if someone is ready to take on both. But both will be fine if they do happen to end up in separate homes. That makes four new dogs in the FoG kennels in the past couple of days, with two more scheduled to join the gang Wednesday, putting the guest residence at capacity. Randy and Ric ---------- Michelle delivered Doc on Monday to his new home with a father and son in Wilton Manors. She made a solo trip later in the day back to western Miami-Dade County to take Ringo to his new family. Now she'll be beating ...

Lucy poses for a portrait with Randy, whose attention is absorbed by his new beautiful lake view. ---------- Dusty again got to spend a couple of hours with Uncle Jerry and his dogs as Michelle and I took another drive to western Miami -- this time to deliver Randy to his new family. Randy really loves that lake view. ---------- Ric and Janelle and their two kids, Lucy and Austin, are going to share their large townhouse with Randy. The big red boy has a nice wraparound backyard with a great water view. Inside, he'll have plenty of room to roam. It'll take him a few days, maybe a week or two, to learn how to get upstairs. But when he does, he will have his own personal bedroom, which he graciously will share with Lucy's dollhouse. Michelle and I missed Austin. Lucy was really excited to welcome Randy, as were her parents. Looks like Randy has found himself a great situation to learn to become a family pet. A busy week ahead: Doc goes out Monday to a gr...

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...

Nadine and her new mom, Angela, in her new backyard ---------- Dusty got to spend a couple of hours this morning with her friends over at the Friends of Greyhounds residence. Her visit with Mitzi, Chumlee, Yahtzee, Joy and Uncle Jerry was relaxing and uneventful as far as I know. At the least, it kept her occupied for awhile as I climbed into Michelle's van for a ride-along to deliver Nadine to her new home in Kendall. This is the second time I've gone with Michelle on a home delivery, and it's such a kick. It gives me a chance to bond one last time with a dog I've gotten to know at the FoG kennels. And the excited greeting we get from the new family when we knock on the door is the best -- after all, what we're delivering is much more highly anticipated than a big box from Amazon. Nadine taking a tour of her new home ---------- Nadine's new parents are a retired couple who recently lost their beloved greyhound and were ready to start fresh...

Michelle and Randy with an audience at Pet Supermarket ---------- Dusty is one tired greyhound. First was the three-day trip to Tampa Bay. Then she had a day of total confusion as strangers came into her home to remove the monstrous entertainment center and I rearranged everything else to create a new living room. But Sunday was not a day of rest for the weary greyhound.The day started with both of us getting soaked, caught too far from home on our morning walk as the sky opened up in a sudden downpour.  Dusty enjoyed a nice, relaxing towel massage once we got home. And then, she found herself dashing through the rain again to get loaded into the Kia Koach for a 30-minute drive north to Boca Raton to help out at a Friends of Greyhounds meet-and-greet at the Pet Supermarket at Westwinds of Boca. Dusty's always thrilled to go to any pet shop for a bit of window-shopping. But she was ecstatic when she walked into Pet Supermarket and saw Randy and Doc snuggling wit...

Dusty ready for the road ---------- Dusty and I will be off on a road trip Wednesday. We're heading to Largo, in the Tampa Bay area, to visit her grandparents for a couple of days -- and, most importantly, to make some adjustments to Dad's Roku. I'll be doing all the driving while Dusty kicks back and takes in the scenery from her tricked-out Kia Koach. Doc, shortly after his arrival ---------- What's up, Doc? What's up is that Doc, a sleek little marble-faced brindle boy, came to Friends of Greyhounds on Monday as a new kennel guest, bringing the roster up to eight -- seven boys and one girl. Jerry and I helped Michelle test the newer guests yesterday for their cat-tolerance. Doc passed the test, making him a good candidate for prospective adopters with small animals already in the home. The two red kennel guests -- big beauty Randy and small, muscular Nadine -- passed with flying colors. Bashful Casey didn't get the test. Ringo was brou...

Dusty with three of the four Friends of Greyhounds permanent residents -- Mitzi, Chumlee and Yahtzee ---------- D usty and I got over to Sunrise today to give the Friends of Greyhounds residents and guests their noon walks while Michelle and Jerry were away taking care of other business. Nadine ---------- Michelle delivered PJ to his new home a couple of days ago, which means we're down to seven in the guest quarters. We've had as many as nine and as few as three in the kennel since I started volunteering in July 2016. The newest guest in the kennel is Nadine, who arrived about a week ago. This little red beauty is buff. She's the only girl in the kennel at the moment. Ralph is the veteran of the crew. He's been a guest of FOG for about six months, and he's ready to find a family. Ralphy, as I call him because of his pronounced Roman nose, is a strong guy with a big personality. He's extremely friendly, loves human interaction. He's about ...

Ann surrounded by Creepy, Randy, Diffy, Bambi and Bob ---------- D usty is sound asleep now, wiped out after another great gathering at One Last Cast BBQ at Flamingo Roads Nursery. It was a glorious day for what was probably the final Friends of Greyhounds outdoors gathering of the season. Bambi talking it over with her new whippet friend, Chili ---------- Some of the regulars were there -- Jerry B. brought Slinky; Mike had a grumpy Andy on his leash; John and the family brought Creepy, who's always a hit with the regulars. We also got to see Bambi and her parents. We saw several others whose names haven't burned into my little brain as of yet. And our hosts, Michelle and Jerry of Friends of Greyhounds, brought a couple of the kennel dogs, rambunctious Ralph and beautiful Randy. Everyone always has a good time at these gatherings spending time with longtime two- and four-legged friends. And it's always a kick when random nursery visitors and their youngsters s...