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.

Live the adventure!

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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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The meet and greet experience – or whatever your retired greyhound adoption group calls these events are wonderful for the general public to meet greyhounds available for adoption.

Spending a couple hours at a pet store, community event, or convention is a greyt way for people to discover how wonderfully unique these dogs are.

Usually these events bust a lot of myths about greyhounds:

Aren’t they hyper? Unequivocally no. I tell people greyhounds are the cats of the dog world – napping as much as 16 hours a day.

Don’t they need a lot of space? Again, not usually. Greyhounds seem quite content to give up the busy track life for a comfy couch or cushy dog bed. If you’ve got room for a crate, you’ve got room for the dog.

A big yard isn’t even a requirement. Greys are usually good walking companions and don’t need an excess of activity in retirement.

Do they bark a lot? Not typically. Greyhounds are less vocal than most breeds, a trait that makes them ideal dogs for those living in condos or close neighborhoods.

Of course we have the exception to the rule in Brody, but even he doesn’t bark incessantly and only sings happy birthday on request.

Additionally, new retirees can mingle with happily retired greyhounds at the meet and greet. This teaches them how to socialize with people and dogs of all ages.

This is a valuable way to learn good manners in the retired life. It’s also a good way for the group to learn more about the dogs fresh from the track.

There’s no pressure at a meet and greet to be anything but adorable and somehow most newly retired hounds know it. (the dogs leave the chatting to the people as long as there’s a hand dishing out lovies)

How can a person not be charmed by the big eyes and frequent smiles of these lean, lovely dogs?

Live the adventure!

p.s. Brody would remind you that the best part – if you happen to be the top dog in a house fostering a greyhound puppy – you get a couple hours of rest while he’s out of the house…and peace when he comes home exhausted!

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