Home Alone!

I think Mom is starting to trust me.  Which is weird, cause all I ever did was nap a lot.  I rarely even listen to things she says unless its dinner time, then I'm super quick about going to my house to wait.

Tuesday Mom came home for lunch.  She took me outside for business and we came back in while she ate lunch.  When it was time for her to leave, she didn't tell me to go to my house, but instead just dropped my favorite treat (kong with pb in it from the freezer) in my house and said she'd be back.  MMMMkkkk, I'll be here!

When she got home, I greeted her at the door.  I know what the sound of the key in the lock means now, FREEDOM!  But since I was already free, I figured Mom deserved some special attention.

That afternoon instead of Mom taking me on a run, we went to the 4-legged-folks-park.  There I met 2 other pups, one of whom wanted to play and the other who wanted to play at first till he was intimidated by my size, and 2 2-legged-folks who were so kind as to let me lean on them for pettins when I wasn't sniffing the fence and marking the trees.  I'm not really playful yet.  Mom's not sure if its because I'm still adjusting or if its because I'd rather just spend my retirement napping.  I will play with my toys for about 5-10 minutes before its nap time and when it comes to being around other dogs, I'd rather just get pettins from humans.

Wednesday morning, I woke up Mom with my whining (which I'd probably stop if she'd just deal with me shaking and waking her up in the middle of the night in her bedroom).  She took me out on a short walk/run and fed me breakfast.  Then she left.  No Kong?!!  Outrage, woman, O.U.T.R.A.G.E!

Mom came back pretty quickly, but I was sleeping on my bed in her bedroom so I didn't really hear her come up the stairs or unlock the door, but as soon as the doorknob turned I was up and peeping at her from the bedroom door.  She was pretty sweaty and smelly, so I left her to her wet water time and went back to my bed to resume napping.  She said she was really proud of me for being so good while she was away.  I'm Phil, of course I'm going to be good, I'm awesome at napping, Lady!

While Mom was at work, she put me in my crate, but I got my delicious black treat dispenser, so I was fine.  After Mom got off work, we went on another short walk since the wet from the sky had stopped.  When Mom had taken me out at lunch, I had difficulty finding my favorite business bush because I was standing in puddles and the wet from the sky wouldn't stop distracting me.  I napped while Mom played on her clickity-clackity lap thing, then she fed me dinner, then she left again!  Mom is a deserter!

I greeted Mom at the door when she got home, she had several bags in her hands when I made sure to thoroughly inspect.  Nothing for me this go around.  Well, kinda.  She bought some corner guards for the footboard of the bed.  It's got some pretty sharp corners that she (and I) often run into.  I think she's worried I'm going to hurt myself one day hitting the corners too hard, which I guess is good, cause sometimes it does hurt.  It's just hard to remember I'm so big!

So I think I've won Mom's trust for the most part.  That's good, right???

What I do best.

Mom bought this just for me and my most favorite delicious treat..
6 POUNDS of peanut butter for $14.
Mom = Trained.

First Meet and Greet!

As a Greyhound Rescue, we're kinda awesome and special.  Many people are curious about us and as a way to raise awareness and promote Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue (GEGR), they hold meet and greets at different pet stores.  I got to go to my first this weekend!  It was awesome.

I got soooo much pettins and sooooo many treats!  <3

I did go business while in the pen, which Mom was upset about.  She took me outside to finish my business since she interrupted me midstream, where I showed her who was boss by just letting loose on the sidewalk in front of Petco, HA, who needs grass!

I got to meet 3 of my cousins, Sarah, Tigger, and Dexter.  Mom took blindy clicks, which she calls pictures, but whatever, lady.

Yeah, come meet me!!!

This is what happened when there was no one to give us treats.

Me and Tigger with Dexter in the background.

Front: Dexter.  Left: Me. Right: Sarah.  Back: Tigger.

Front: Me and Sarah
Back: Dexter and Tigger

YAY meet and greet!!!

I just wanted pettins from everybody.

You have treats?

Clean up get ready to go home time!

Tim was trying to work and we were just tryin to help!

That was WET!

So today was a good day.  Mom and I hung out, she left for a little while and came back.. with no goodies for me..  I'll have to teach her better.

The evening went well.  We went on a medium length walk.  Mom was piddling around in the kitchen for a while.  I left her alone and laid in my crate watching her and napping.  She fed me dinner and continued her kitchen activities.

The evening was pretty lazy.  Every so often I'd find a toy, play for a few minutes, then resume my napping.

Tonight though...  was a different story.

I went into the kitchen to do some sniffing around.  Mom has pretty much taught me counter-surfing is a no go, but she always puts my kongs with peanut butter in this high thing.  It has a door on the top and bottom and its cold every time she opens it.  I figured I could just get my kong on my own, cause that peanut butter is tasty!  I was scratching at the door, but I heard Mom get up, so I stopped and greeted her as she came around the corner.  She was suspicious of what I'd been scratching at, but she thought I was just trying to get something from in front of the cabinets that maybe she had dropped on the floor.  She went and sat back down and I knew she wasn't going to be listening so I went back to my post.

I again started scratching on the door.  Then out of NOWHERE this water hits me!  I scramble all over these stupid, slippery floors... all the way back to my house.  Where I'm now laying dejectedly, staring at Mom.  She's smiling and I could tell she was laughing a little.  I'm not so sure what is so funny.

At least I know I'll get my kong tomorrow when she leaves for work!  She better put extra peanut butter in it after tonight's fiasco!

Siiiiigh.. Home sweet home.

First day with my new mommy!

Hi!!!  I'm Phil!  I'm Megan's new goofy greyhound.  I'm a super awesome pup, and I'm ready for retirement!  Foster mom was pretty cool.  She had 6 other doggies that I got to hang out with last week!  That was so cool.  

Last Friday, Foster Mom and Real Mom met up and I went home with Real Mom.  She seems pretty great.  Kinda silly sometimes, but she likes to give me hugs and kisses and pettins and treats and she feeds me pretty well and we go outside a lot.  She also likes to let me take naps, which other than playing with my squeaky toys is my favoritest thing to do.

Mom kept pointing this thing at me, so I was getting a closer look.

Riding in the car on the way home.  Mom cracked the windows for me so I could get some fresh air, but I wasn't really comfortable with the slippery seats, so when we were moving, I'd just lay down.

This is me, saving my new Mommy from a ticket.  No jk.  Really happened.  Talk about treat points for me!

This is my new mommy and me.

Like I said, she's silly sometimes.  She made a face at me since I wouldn't look at the camera.

Mom's bathroom is kinda tiny.  Or maybe I'm just really big.  I think its just the bathroom.

Then again, my head can lay on the counter, so maybe I'm just pretty big.

I always get a frozen kong with peanut butter in it when I go into my crate.  This is why my mommy is the best!

The first day, I got acquainted with the stairs (NOT FUN) and slippery floors (HATE!).  I pretty much confined myself to Mom's living room rug since it wasn't slippery.

Mom kept saying, "Phil come" and she would give me a treat if I would go to her, so I did learn something my first day!

I have a super big bladder and I really like being outside.  I LOVE to mark anything that remotely doesn't smell like me.  I also would probably like to have another doggie to play with when Mom lets me run in the dog play area.  Mom says the apartment is too small and she has to pay extra rent for doggies (which would come out of my treats money!), so at least for another year, I'll be an only child.

Mom let me sleep in the bedroom with her my first night.  She put me in my crate, but I started to whine.  Since it was my first night, she must have felt sorry for me, so she laid a Dalmatian (seriously, mom?) blanket in the floor for me to snuggle with.  I slept all through the night and only woke up when I heard Mom moving in bed.  I had no accidents, which made Mom very proud.

New Dog!

Hi!  I'm Megan.  I just adopted a Greyhound from Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue (GEGR), and I'm completely smitten with my new pup.  All I want to do is talk about him, seriously.  But, I know that for the sake of all my friends/family, they don't want to hear about Phil all the time.  So I started a blog to talk about all the awesome stuff that Phil does.  Sometimes, its really only awesome to me, but that's all that counts anyways.

When greyhounds are waiting to be adopted from GEGR, often their foster families will write blogs for the pups so that way people can semi-get to know the dogs better.  I thought it was a most excellent idea!  I love sharing pics and stories about my pets!

My boyfriend, Drew, came for a visit at the beginning of February.  I had been talking about adopting a Greyhound for a few weeks, since I had put my Dalmatian, Zeplen/Teh ZepZep, down mid-January.  My application for adoption was approved and Drew helped me choose a Greyhound his last weekend in town.

Why a Greyhound?
I wanted a pup that I didn't really have to housebreak, so that ruled out all puppies.  While they are adorable and precious, the frustration of potty training was not for me this go around.  I also knew I wanted a big dog.  I wanted a dog that didn't mind being lazy... a lot and also didn't mind going out for a jog a few times a week.

The other perks of choosing a Greyhound?
-Very rarely are they bark-ers.
-Crate trained.
-They won't mind being your exercise partner (as long as your not swimming or an olympic runner).
-They are trainable.
-They are lazy.
-They are often friendly with other animals, although sometimes not.
There are more awesome things about greyhounds you'll see as we go along, I'm sure.  There are also some difficulties.

Most adopted greyhounds are retired racers (to my knowledge).  They have fulfilled their racing time at the track and if they don't eventually get adopted, they get euthanized (again, from what I understand).  Which I believe is pretty awful.  These dogs have only ever known track life for the most part.  EVERYTHING they experience once they leave the track is NEW.  Stairs, trash cans, children, couches...  things we don't even see.  because they are so ingrained in our lives.

Why did we choose Phil (formerly known as Pals Spot Light)?
Because he was HUGE!  jk, kinda.  Phil was the first dog we took out in the yard to walk around.  At adoptathons (GEGR calls them meet & greets), the dogs are pretty nervous.  There's a lot of people around, they've been traveling for a day (from FL/AL/NC to MD), they have been removed from the environment they are used to, removed from all the other dogs they always knew..  I'd be pretty uncomfortable too.

When we took Phil out in the yard, I walked him around for a few minutes.  First measure of business was for Phil to pee.  Which took a solid minute.  This dog has a HUGE bladder!  He just kept peeing!  Then I handed the leash off to Drew.  Drew walked Phil around for a few minutes and when they stopped, Phil turned to Drew and put his head in Drew's lap.  He stood there like that until Drew started petting him, then he turned and leaned on Drew until it was time to walk again.

There was several other pups up for adoption that day and we took a few more out for a walk around the yard.  None were as large as Phil and none of the others seemed to be drawn to either Drew or I in the way that Phil had been.  It was decided.  Phil was coming home with us.  Well, me...  In a week.

Drew was set to leave MD that following Wednesday, but prior to that we were going to Colonial Williamsburg.  I had already informed GEGR that I wasn't able to take Phil till the 17th (which was the first day of a long weekend), so he was put with a foster family until then.

Fun fact:

This is out adoption photo on the GEGR website.
This is NOT Phil.  This IS Storm.
Phil had been taken by his foster family before we could get a photo with him, so we borrowed another adopter's pup who is a smaller version of Phil.  You can actually barely tell the difference!