Regan Black

I’m a big fan of the Olympic games and summer or winter, I watch from start to finish. I know the winter games are over, but I couldn’t resist this.

Today, to honor the greyt achievements of the greyhounds in Regan’s Zoo I’m awarding gold, silver, and bronze medals to the dogs in the following categories:

Snuggling – for best sharing of the couch:

Boo takes the gold,

Bandit the silver (he doesn’t ever try to steal the couch)

and Brody gets bronze, because he feels couches are for retirees only.

Ability to compact oneself when necessary (like sharing the couch or bed):

Gold goes to Boo (who frequently curls up so tight it supports her delusion that she’s really a teacup chihuahua),

Brody moves to silver because he will curl enough to share a couch with Boo or a human when he feels like amusing us,

and Bandit gets the bronze because he’s too young to have mastered the fine art of making himself small.

Running

Gold here must go to Bandit. Tall, fast, and talented, he would’ve been a star on the track.

Silver goes to Boo for speed, determination, and cunning.

Bronze for Brody – unless it’s a reindeer race – he’s a romper not a runner and no one should have a problem with that since he’s retired.

Vocal Talents:

Brody takes GOLD! Because he can talk, grumble and sing.

Bandit is the Silver medalist. He has a wide range, but less control. He’s working on it and will be a Gold medal threat by the summer games in London.

Bronze goes to Boo. (but she’s the winner in the more typical quiet and graceful category.

Gold Medal in Fetching goes to Bandit.

The other dogs do not compete in this category – they are retirees (in case you didn’t get the memo that means they don’t ‘work’ anymore).

And it’s a three way tie for Gold in the Telling Time competition. All of them know when it’s 7am and 5pm. Even more impressive, they know when it’s 7:05 and 5:05 and the food bowls are still empty.

And just to clarify, we only named one of our dogs, Boo, and it wasn’t just so she’d have a ‘b’ name.

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So we’d had Boo for a couple of months, she was settling in and following Brody’s lead on all things regarding etirement when we had the opportunity to dog sit a couple of great hounds.

Ransom was a real queen and her forever brother Ozzie had been one of our more interesting fosters (he didn’t like any flooring other than carpet and came up with creative ways to avoid tile and hardwoods).

But I digress.

So Ozzie and Ransom arrived and said good bye to their Dad and having stayed with us before, settled in easy enough.

Then came bed time.

Ransom, being a high queen, slept on the bed at her house and didn’t find cause to change habits when she stayed with us.

Boo was confused. A dog on the bed? She always slept on her comforter on the floor just like Brody. But now there was a dog on the bed with her mama.

Boo’s world tilted – as did her ears. The potential was undeniable.

And apparently irresistible. Some time in the night, she made the leap and I found her curled up next to my legs in the morning. Ransom was near my pillow.

So began a week of quiet, regal competition for supremacy . I would turn on the alarm system and head upstairs. Invariably, Brody and Ozzie were already up there, content with their portions of the floor.

Boo and Ransom however, finding it necessary to escort my every move, flew up the stairs and juggled for the spot closest to my head. By the end of the week, Boo was winning.

It was almost as if Ransom was content to abdicate the pillows because she was so pleased with Boo’s personal growth.

Most nights, Boo sleeps on the floor, though she’s happy to grace us with a few minutes of cuddling first.

But if Ransom’s in the house, you can be sure the bed will have Boo in it: as close to the mama as possible.

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In keeping with my alpha female kick, I’d like to introduce you to the unique world of alpha female greyhounds.

Racing greyhounds spend more time with their mothers and litter mates than other dog breeds, since they’re training to fulfill their purpose of learning how to race against other greys.

Like other dogs, greyhounds are pack animals – so they learn who’s boss of the pack (or the litter) pretty quick. You might imagine, Mom ranks as alpha female for a good many months.

And it seems that matriarch mentality can linger – even into retirement. Males who are bigger or older, will often defer to a younger female in the house.

In our early days of greyhound adoption, we were told by one elder of the group that you could add as many retired male greyhounds as you wanted to a home with a female grey, but rarely would they add a female to the mix.

Sounds paranoid to you? It’s actually proven to be a sound theory and accurate in more cases than not.

Our first greyhound, Bubbles, was our only hound until late in her life. When Kayla was dumped during an event, Bubbles was fine until we brought her home. Then we got the withering look, “You realize she’s still here, right?”

After a vocal scolding or two from Bubbles, Kayla just gave her a little more room until they settled. (took about 2 weeks) We had no idea Bubbles harbored such alpha female tendencies.

Eventually they were good friends. I was told this was a rare accomplishment and it might be, but it really comes down to knowing the personality and tolerances of your greyhound.

When Bubbles and Kayla passed on, Faith came to live with us. She helped us foster many dogs, mostly boys, but a few girls.

Maybe it was mothering experience (she had two very successful litters, including an amazing champion), but Faith didn’t have any trouble maintaining order with the newly retired girls.

It’s fun to watch a good alpha female greyhound teach newly retired hounds how to live the post-racing life. The alpha tends to keep everyone in line, usually with just a look – or a quick verbal correction.

With a good alpha female in the house, dog beds and couches are allocated fairly and with the proper deference for age, rank, and need. Most often a  female will rise to the alpha occasion as the joy of retired life sinks in.

(Boo is a prime example of a mid-rank female who learned from a guest how to run the show. She’s been enjoying her rise to power ever since. Tune in next week for her story.)

Alpha female greyhounds are a blessing on their adopted family. But once retired, we bestow a different moniker on the alpha female: Queen

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