AZ Greyhound Rescue (AGR)

July 4 brings with it lots of fireworks and people who illegally set off fireworks and cherry bombs.

Most dogs go nuts. Greyhounds are already sensitive to being startled and loud noises.

So many dogs escape their yards and get hit by cars because they are panicked.

Here are some tips to keep your greyhounds safe:

If you are going out for the evening, don’t let your dogs have access through the dog door while you’re gone. Keep it closed or locked. Dogs panic and when panicked could scale a tall wall or could hurt themselves trying.

If you will be gone, take extra special care to block access to windows.

Lily tries to go behind the computer when she’s afraid. I don’t know why but maybe because it’s a tight corner behind there. I have to barricade the computer area with chairs since my office doesn’t have a door.

If you leave or even if you stay, turn on music or TV really loud. You may have to wear ear plugs but it’s worth it.

Make sure your dog has current tags on in case they do escape.

Tonight on the news, they said to keep your dogs indoors. As always keep gates locked. They said to put one of your worn and dirty t-shirts on the dog so if you’re not there or even if you are — your scent will be close to the dog to calm them. I might try that.  Rescue Remedy (which you can get in some pet stores and Sunflower Market) is said to calm some dogs but it has never worked for mine.

Let’s keep our greyhounds and other dogs (and cats) save this July 4.

KZ

I’ve been with Moms Glenda since October 2007, delivering substantial amounts of DQDs in her back yard, at the doggie park, and scattered around the desert. Oh my God, she tells me, I must be sick.  So off we trot to the vet for tests, all of which were negative. The Doc said, Beamer may just have a sensitive tummy, but try him on a bland diet for a month or so and gradually reintroduce him to kibble.

Moms did this, but I also searched for help by typing a blog about my DQDs requesting input from anyone and everyone who had a greyhound with a similar problem.  You guys were awesome and we received lots of tips on things to try to cure this irksome problem - Moms has rocks in the back yard so collecting my contribution to the overall appearance of the back yard was problematic. You know these ‘A’ types; everything has to be perfect.  PLEASE - give me a break.

I was put on a bland diet of boiled chicken and yams for about a month. Then we gradually introduced kibble - tried six different types plus doggie enzymes, yams, yogurt, instant mashed potatoes, sweet potato - -. You name it, I eat it. Then she thought she was feeding me too much food, so my daily allotment was cut. That was a real bummer - I was hungry and my tummy would rumble, so she quickly relented and I was back to four cups of food per day and I was one happy camper. During the cooler months in Tucson, my stools improved quite a bit using the tips we’d received from people that read my blog. Mom was now the happy camper. Finally, there was some formation to my stools; however, this was not a consistent event.

Moms is a big fan of Home Depot and discovered a nozzle that attaches to the hose with different settings - her favorite is JET. Why?  Because she can disperse the DQDs with alacrity. So when my stools were less than ‘perfect,’ the JET was called into service and the yard was clean. Oh, I forgot to mention that I also like to nibble on poop in the back yard. Mostly Ice and Daisie Mae’s. An imperfection on my part.  I just consider it dessert, but Moms freaked out.  Now with the JET, she can clean the yard every morning and my dessert tray is usually demolished.  Damn Home Depot.

So now we’re into the summer months.  Hotter than a jalepeno pepper ripe for plucking and, guess what, my stools have deteriorated.  HA HA . More DQDs scatter the yard that need daily collection. I wondered how Moms would react to this.  Surprisingly well. She said to me, Beams, all the tests came up negative, you’ve maintained your weight, your coat gleams, your eyes are clear, your appetite is good and you love your walks, romps at the doggie park, and continue to toss those toys on the back patio.  So you’re a DQD poop machine. I will do poop patrol at night after the sun has baked it solid during the day, and use the JET to wash down the yard.

Moms is very careful with my diet.  No treats from the pet stores - who knows what’s in those things - just treats from the stuff that Mom cooks, good premium kibble, a dollop of yogurt in my morning meal and a splattering of organic or bison cooked hamburger in my evening meal. I also get a Kong with biscuits and a splash of peanut butter when Mom leaves for work.  Hey, works for me.

So the message is - sometimes we greyhounds don’t poop like other dogs, so our human caretakers need to adjust their expectations in this area. I’m one healthy and happy greyhound, but I don’t poop like Ice or Daisie Mae. So what. I think the vet was right when he told Moms, Beamer may just have a sensitive digestive system.

So for other greyhound guardians who have tried a myriad of tips to cure this problem, it didn’t work, and they’re obsessing over this issue, as long as your hound has been checked by a vet familiar with the breed, all tests come up negative, and your guardian feeds you appropriately, who cares if our poop is a little ‘out there.’  Just go to Home Depot and buy the JET hose attachment. Mellowed out Moms and may work just as well for you.

Beamer.

When Nash got adopted in mid-April 2008, I was glad that he found  a wonderful new home with a Chow female buddy. I was doubly glad to have Mom to myself, along with my two roommates - Ice an American Eskimo and Daisie Mae, a cross between a Retriever and Chow. Mom said, no more fosters for a while. She wanted to spend quality time with yours truly, and give me more time to bond with Ice and Daisie Mae. I was one happy boy. Trips to the doggie park where I could catch the ball without Nash beating me to the punch was sheer joy. That critter was quite an athlete when it came to chasing and nabbing that squeaky ball. Sometimes that made me mad because he usually beat me to the punch. But he’s gone - yea - Mom and the squeaky tennis ball is mine, all mine!  

Imagine my surprise one Friday night in late May when Mom picks me up after work and takes me to the kennel. O.K. What’s up. She leaves me in the car, all windows open, and disappears in to the kennel only to appear two minutes later with a whippersnapper in tow called Hobo, or as she calls him, Tiger Boy. “Beams, this is Hobo and he’s going to live with us for a while until he finds a good home.” Do I have any say in this?  Obviously not. Whippersnapper is muzzled and jumps into the back of my CRV.  Yes, he jumped, I’ll give him that.  Not many male dogs have a clue how to jump into a car.  Of course, I’m an exception. Did this the first time Mom rescued me from the kennel and took me into foster care.  So we sniff and circle and he growls, what a nerve. I completely ignored him and stuck my head out the window on the ride home.

Once home, Tiger Boy enters the house and Mom guides him to the doggie door and pushes him through with instructions to inspect the yard and realize this is where he does his business, not in the house. I guess he’s gone for about five minutes and then I hear the doggie door flap slam, and he’s in the house sniffing everything in sight, including me, Ice and Daisie Mae. But he got the message. This boy is a clean dude. He has not annointed anything vertical in the home and neither has he chewed ’her’ stuff.

Time for bed. Can you believe this. The whippersnapper has the audacity to commandeer my bed next to Mom’s and growls and barks when I try to tell him, hey kid, this is my bed. Thankfully, Mom intervened and told him to back off, showing him there were six other doggie beds in the house and he could choose his special spot from one of these. She tells me, Hobo has issues with regard to personal space. No kidding, I fathomed that out for myself.

For the next week or so, I have to put up with Hobo’s personal space issues.  It was time for a chat:

Me:  So what’s the deal? Why do you bark and growl at me when I’m just passing you on your doggie bed on my way to my bed?

Hobo:  You’re bigger than me, but I can take you on any time big boy.

Me: Take me on, are you kidding? I outweight you by 20 lbs.  Anyway, I’m not interested in fighting you, I just need to get to my doggie bed by my Mom’s bed, it’s mine, I was here first. 

Hobo: You don’t like me being here - I could tell that first night riding home in the car - you were miffed that Mom had taken in another foster. I’m the last in line of four dogs and I have to protect my space.

Me:  What’s with this space thing?  You never growl and bark when we go on walks, or go to the doggie park, or greet Mom when all four of us surround her when she comes home from work.  I don’t get it.

Hobo:  I didn’t go from the race track to the AGR kennel like you did.  I was alone and running in a field in Kansas, worried about where I was going to find food. I think I was dumped, but I can’t be sure. I just know that I was feeling very insecure and lonely and had to be tough in case I was attacked by some other creature. Then this guy stopped his truck, put a leash on me and hauled me off to Tucson where I was put in a cage.

 Me:  Well, I was put in a cage too, but I was fed good chow, exercised twice a day, and my cage was clean. It was only temporary because Mom adopted me.

Hobo:  After running free, being in a cage was a problem for me. I was there for five months. Nobody wanted me.

Me:  That’s because you growl and bark at other dogs. You did this at PetSmart - yes, you did, don’t deny it. I found out about this one night when I peeked over Mom’s shoulder when she was emailing Barb about you. 

Hobo:  I didn’t like PetSmart.  All those other dogs that come into the store kept getting in my face. I don’t like that.

Me: They just wanted to say Hi. They didn’t mean you any harm.

Hobo:  They didn’t?

Me:  No, they’re what humans called ’socialized’ meaning that they like to schmooze and chat with other dogs. You, my friend, needed to be socialized. Why do you think you’re here? There are four of us and, frankly, three of us have had it with your growls and barking. 

Hobo: I haven’t growled or barked much lately. Sometimes I just feel intimidated.  Being the last in the pecking order is not a desirable place to be.

Me:  So, does Mom treat you any differently than she treats me and the other two?

Hobo:  No, she treats me just fine. Lots of affection, just like she treats you guys. And those marrow bones - wow - are they something else. I’m feeling much more secure, but sometimes I just get anxious.

Me: You are improving, I’ll give you that. Just remember, you don’t have to fight for food or affection. It’s freely given in this home.  Me, Ice and Daisie Mae are lovers, not fighters.  We understand that Mom fosters because she wants to train the foster kid how to behave in a home. It sure helps to get greyhounds adopted into a loving permanent home. But if you don’t knock off the growls and barks, you will be hard to place. Mom took you in because, as she said, she found you ‘endearing’ whatever that means. But you’re out of the kennel and in a home and, for the most part, you’ve done extremely well.  You’re clean, you don’t chew her ’stuff’ even though you’re not yet two years old.

Hobo: So do you think someone will come along that will love me like Mom, take me for walks, buy me squeaky toys and marrow bones?

Me:  Absolutely. Now can we be friends?

Hobo:  I’ve never had a friend before, but I think that you, Ice and Daisie Mae are a practice run for me to get used to being around other dogs that give me my space.  So I’ll try harder not to growl or bark if I feel my space is threatened. Deal?

Me:  Deal.

You know, I never took any courses in doggie counseling, but I think I’m getting through to Tiger Boy. What do you think?

Beamer.

Friday, June 20 is a little known national holiday called, Take Your Dog to Work Day.

Please ask your employer if you can celebrate the holiday with your hound in tow. Or if you are an employer — raise morale and productivity and tell your employees to bring their dogs to work.

I guess if you work in a restaurant, that won’t work but certainly offices and at some retail establishments it will.

Check out the specifics and come back to comment if dogs were at your place of business.

Since I work at home, Lily, comes to work with me every day. She just has to learn how to NOT bark when I’m talking to a client.

KZ

Hello AGR Family Members,

So many of us here at AGR want to know how your newly adopted greyhound is doing after they have been in their new forever home.  We would LOVE to hear from you with stories or updates about your beloved new pet. If you have adopted a greyhound from us in the last year, please take a moment to send us a little email or add a comment to this story and fill us in.

We want to have our hearts warmed with your experiences and greyhound adventures.

Feel free to tell us if there is anything you would like to see AGR do in the future.  Please email any stories you would like to share to: fundraising@azgreyhoundrescue.org

Thanks,

Angy Shearer

Board Member and Greyhound Fanatic

Here is a great article (thanks David!) in the Arizona Daily Star about AGR’s first summer dog wash of the season.

Oh, those dogs. They looked so happy to be cooled off. 

And here’s a photo gallery in the Tucson Citizen.

Mark your calendars for the August dog wash at the Veterinary Specialty Center of Tucson.

KZ

We had 6 bidders in competition for the ultimate couch potato but in the end there could be only one winner.   The president of AGR, Mary Freeman, placed the winning bid on Ebay to take home that adorable fawn greyhound.  Congratulations Mary for the newest member of your family!

For the rest of you, keep an eye out for future Ebay postings…

Are you looking for the cutest greyhound to add to your ever growing collection? Well thank Nancy Garnett for her donation of this adorable, handmade fawn colored greyhound.
Our little friend is available now on Ebay and bidding ends this Sunday, June 1st. All of the proceeds go to AGR, so lets make Nancy proud!
If you are an avid Ebay shopper, you can write “handmade greyhound” in the search box and he will pop up in a list on your screen or click on the purple words in this announcement.
Check this cute little guy out to add to your family. Wouldn’t he look great on your couch?

Here’s a nice recap in the Salt Lake City Tribune….

…”During Saturday’s parade, many of the the dogs were dressed in human finery, ranging from sombreros to costumes of Canadian Mounties, vying for best costume honors.
    Most of the docile hounds were adopted after brief racing careers through a network of agencies that pairs the animals with people who want to provide them a comfortable life after the track.
    Event organizer, Claudia Presto, said this year, hounds came to Kanab from as far as England and Canada and from across the United States.”…

Here’s a big THANK YOU to the good folks — Chris, Marcelino, and Daniel – at Clues Unlimited mystery bookstore for hosting another fundraiser for Arizona Greyhound Rescue.

Author Ted Kerasote read from, talked about his experiences, showed a touching slide show, and autographed his bestseller - Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog. 

Greyhounds — Canelo, Misty, and Drifter — interacted with the audience and I believe it was Misty who was not shy and stood up there with Kerasote while he spoke.

Let’s just say that these greyhounds know how to work a room.

A good time was had by all and the light repast was delicious.

If you love mysteries and like to visit cozy bookstores, please support your local independent bookstore as they are a diminishing breed in the land of big box chains. 

Clues Unlimited will also order a variety of books for you and currently has some autographed copies of Merle’s Door (not a mystery) on hand. 

And if you have a greyhound, he or she will be welcomed by Canelo, Clues Unlimited’s resident greyhound.

Karyn Zoldan