New toys!

Mom has been pretty awesome lately, FYI. 

1)  We have an extra puppy in our home right now.  His name is Donner.  He's not staying with us for permanent, but just until he gets adopted. 

2)  We've been going on walks again.  I was on an exercise diet for 1.5 months, but Mom figured some light walking wasn't going to kill me.  Yes, I'm still limping sometimes, but it comes and goes.  Mom is still curious as to why I'm limping and we were supposed to get a referral from our vet to go see a specialist, but because of #3, we haven't been able to yet.

3)  We moved to a place with CARPET andddd SO MUCH SPACE!!!!  I don't have to back up everywhere anymore.  I can actually turn around!  I'm still afraid of the slippery floors in the dining room, but its so much better than before cause she got me some special rugs!!

4)  Mom made a new toy investment!  I had killed most of my squeakers in my squeaky toys, because they are my favorite.  I saw how many she bought last night, but she only gave us ONE last night!  (In her defense, she did also buy 2 new toys a few nights prior, and I snuck in the bags and pulled the toys out before she was even done unloading the bags!  She had to take them from me to cut the tags off..)

5)  She gives me lubbins whenever I ask her to and she is patient with me over the slippery floors and she turns Donner out of the way when I can't get past him to get to my food bowl and she gives me treats and she takes me to meet and greets and she endures my bad breaths and she says she loves me more than any other doggy that comes to my house, forever.


How about some videos?

Characters:
So there's me, Phil, the big, white, Greyhound.
There's Donner, the big, brindle, Greyhound (who is looking for his forever home).
There's Noodles, the "husky", long, Dachshund. (Aunt Courkie's dog)
And there's Judge, the teeny, tiny, smallest dog in the house, mini-Dachshund.  (Aunt Courkie's dog)

Here's a video of mostly just me with my new chicken.  We had to hide it after this video because Noodles is a little vicious with toys and Mom didn't want this one to have such a quick life.

Lets da gas begins!!

Hey internetz fanz!!  Joey here!  Foster Mom has been doin lots of blindin' wif da clicky-flashy-machine lately, so I wanted to share dem wifs you while I am takin a break from mah delicious noms da Foster Mom gibs me.  No worries, I'll show you what da noms is.  

Dis is me all curled up.  Mah butt smells don't smell, so dis was ok for me.

MMMM yogurt is one of de bestest noms.

Old Man Phil lets me habs a turn lickin da yogurts.

But den he takes it again.

Dis Old Man is bery serious bout some yogurt noms.

Den today, we gets bonez!!!!  NOMNOMNOM!

Foster Mom doesn't know what des are, but we lubs dem.
Dey de bestest noms for sure.

Me and mah bone dat I was crunchin' on.

Phil asked Mr. Ducky to help him hold his noms.

Den we traded!!!  Phil's noms are bery delicious.  Ebeen better dan my crunchy noms.

Phil seemd to like mah noms pretty goods.

I left about a quarder of its for hims.

Look at my big noms!

Dis is sooo delicihious!!  Fanks Foster Mom!

Phil saids, "Mom, you're a good Mom."

"These are yummy bones.  You're gonna love it when I fart later.
It's going to smell so pretty."

"Thanks, Mom!!"

Sooo much delichious nomsss!!!  I haz both da noms!!  Dat Old Man is a sucker!

Dis won't fits in mah moufs, but I tries.

Foster Mom is going to appreciate our dedication to dese noms when we start farting.  She always dos dis happy dance wifs her hands wavin her face when we makes da stinkies.  She also praises us wif a "Shooooo!!!!"  I know she is just telling us to dos it more.


Ok, I gotta go see if da Old Man left me any crunchies to bacuum ups!
I hopes my forever family haz dese delichious noms too!!

Oh noes!

Dis is Joey again, Old Man Phil is currently squeaking it up with a new toy.

Guys.. I killed da rabbit.  Life goal is COMPLETE!!!!  ...kinda.

Da Mother Bunny was supposed to be indestructible..  It hadn't met dis Ibizan hound before!  Hahah!  I showed dem who was indestructible!

Phil, hope you ain't mad, bro.

I was pretty worried Foster Mom was gonna yell, but she just saids, "Iz a toy, iz ok."  Den she was like da magics and started squeaking a brand new toy!!!!!  Da Old Man is currently showing me how it works, but I really wants to play wif izt myself.  I keep poking Foster Mom wif my nose so shes tells him to share, but she justs sayz to waits my turns.

Can Foster Mom sew de Mother Bunny backs up?  Or should shes just give up on de Mother Bunny?

I really liked frowing de bunny around.  I fink it was my favorites toys ever.

PS.  I don't finks de Mother Bunny is as tasty as real bunny would be.

I'm not for vacuuming!!!

Guys and gals...  I've been violated.  Mom just used her loud sucky machine on me!  She calls it the vacuum.  She told me to blame Sunshine's Mommy.  I have been pretty sheddy lately.  It's just so hot outside!

I did get a reward for standing still while Mom tried to suck my furs off.  A WHOLE PIECE OF CHEESE!!!  That's how I know I was the perfect boy.  Mom usually just sticks to carrots and mini milkbone bites and sometimes piggy ears.  I get Greenies sometimes, but only for ear cleaning and teef brushin days.  Mom says they are really expensive, so she's pretty stingy with those.

Then, at dinner, Mom surprised me again!  She gave me a whole yellow mushy thing!  Mom calls them bananas, but I don't care what they are called because they are delicious!!!!!

So maybe getting vacuumed wasn't so bad.  Maybe.  Next time I just won't fall for Mom's snuggle trick.

Leave me alone, Mom.  You violated me.

Donations needed

When my owners decided it was time for me to stop racin', I was brought to a place in North Carolina called Project Racing Home, which is like Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue.  They place Greyhounds in their forever homes, or get them to the people that can get us in forever homes.

But apparently they are having some mechanical problems!  I may also be a bit biased because Mom hails from NC and she talks good things about it and I've enjoyed my trips there.

If you're awesome, you'll consider helping these folks out.  Every $1 counts.  I told Mom that I'd sacrifice this week's treat/toy money to make sure my cousins are taken care of.

My first GEGR haul!

Hi!  Phil's Mom's here and I'm taking over to tell you about my first greyhound haul.

What is a haul?  It's where several folks from GEGR (Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue) meet some people who have some Greyhounds (from other places) that GEGR will adopt out to approved applicants.

So, lets start off with the waking up at 0300!  Which wasn't so bad because I was pretty excited.  My back was hurting, but I was a super trooper and just dealt with the pain.  Since it's just Phil and I, I took Phil out for a quick business trip, then we came back in and I gave him part of his breakfast, since I wasn't going to be here to feed him at normal breakfast time.  I left Phil, who I assume went back to his beauty rest as soon as I shut the door, and headed to the place where I was meeting George.

For this trip, I was George's copilot.  I wasn't sure what those duties entailed, but it wasn't very difficult.  Keep the driver awake!  That's pretty important.  Once I was in his car, we headed towards the meet-up location where we'd be meeting the "pup truck" (that's the name I just gave it).

A quick (and painful) 2 hour drive later, we arrived and we were the first ones there!  Adrienne was the next to arrive.  Then we noticed the truck had arrived.  We got out and chatted with 2 nice North Carolinians (yes, that is the proper form of "a person from North Carolina", I'm an expert on that place) who had driven 4 hours from Greensboro to meet us.  I could hear the hounds in the back of the truck rooing and whining and despite the waddling and the backache I had going on, I was sooooooo excited to see new puppies!

Finally, everyone arrived and pups were leashed and walked around so they could go business.  They were all so curious and... new!  There were several fawns, 2 black (and one had a white chest and white toes with black dots! /swoon), and a few brindles.  Hopefully, they all get to find their forever homes so they can be completely retired today!

George put 3 pups in the back of his car and they were so much fun (or maybe I was just really excited?).  We had Marbles, Rictor, and Siryn.  They were very curious and Siryn stood up almost the entire way to GEGR.

We stopped at McDonald's to pick up breakfast for me and all the dogs were very interested in the delicious smell of a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit.  I tried feeding them some bacon, but none of them were interested in it!  What?!  They obviously haven't gotten the hang of retired life yet, but I'm sure they will pick it up quickly!

Marbles and Rictor waiting on Siryn to get in the car.

Miss Marbles really liked the pettins.. even though I know she was just trying to coax me into taking her muzzle off.
Sorry, baby girl, no can do!

Radar ears!!!  <3

Batman was trying to help Adrienne drive!

Siryn wanted her muzzle off too.

The most awake I looked for the entire trip.  :)

Look at those brown eyes.  <3

Where are we going?
Where is everyone else??
Shhh, I heard something!

All the pups relaxing.

Even though the wake up is early, early for me, knowing that I'm getting Greyhounds a step closer to their forever home makes my heart smile.  I'm totally willing to do this again, although hopefully without the mysterious back pain to be my company.

And Drew will be pleased to know that despite all the cuteness that was new puppies, Phil still remains my favorite, with his bad breath and his leaning and his nails digging into my feet when he stretches and his patience of me when I'm hurting.  He's definitely my favorite puppy-luppy and it would be pretty hard for someone to usurp him out of my #1 seat.

We can't a blog without a Phil photo!!!
This was the night I picked Phil up after returning from Australia.
The blanket didn't last very long..  Touche' buddy, touche'.

Weekend cuteness.

This is what retirement should look like:

Don't mind Mom's mess.  She was doing some house cleaning while I surrounded myself with all my favorite things...  All my squeaky toys!!!!

This is my guilty nose.  That is dryer lint stuck to my nose, which means I had been messing in the bathroom trash..  Mom HATES when I do that.

Mom wasn't sure how I was comfortable laying this way.  She shouldn't judge me.
PS.  I refuse to eat that huge rawhide bone.  Anyone want it?

I'm ferocious..  look at my teeth... while I sleep.

Mom thinks she's sneaky..  she loves when she can see my teeth and not have to smell my breath.

If your retirement doesn't look like this, you're doing it wrong.

Meet & Greet #2 - California, MD Petco

Mom took me to my 2nd Meet & Greet (M&G) today.  It was fun and I love meeting my Greyhound cousins.  She used the flashy thing while we were there, which is acceptable since the cute level was increased by 3 since there were 4 Greyhounds in the pen.  There were more when we arrived, but their shift was over and they got to go home!

This time we went to California, MD (which is pretty much the same as Lexington Park, but someone wanted to be difficult)..  Mr. George hosted this one.  He brought his pups, AJ and Jazz, and there was another pup named Bach (short for Bachelor).

I love, love, lovvveeeee gettin pettins.  And there are always so many people willing to pet me and feed me treats at M&Gs.  Mrs. Lisa said I'd be an awesome M&G pup, and I was shinin' today.  I did try to take a treat from Jazzy's mouth, but I wasn't aggressive about it, I just love treats sooooo much!

My only other bad behavior was that I barked at a cat in the crates behind our pen.  Mom very sternly told me, NO!  It's the 2nd time I've barked since I've been in my forever home.  Mom loves that I'm quiet though, she says this way the neighbor's won't complain, despite the fact that I sound like a horse when I walk around the apartment!

Sorry, I got distracted.  Anyways, lets move on to the few pics that were taken.  Mom found some inspiration photos from the VA M&G that was yesterday about better ways to take photos while we're at M&Gs, so next time she's going to bring her better flashy gadget thingy and show you guys she can be trained too!

AJ, Bach, Phil

Jazz was pretty worn out.
Many people LOVED his handmade Giants collar.   Check out more awesome collars here!.

AJ and Phil and Mr. George

This boy just needed to grow another arm to pet us all!
AJ, Jazz, Bach

Phil, either Bach or AJ (sorry can't tell!), and Jazz w/ Bach's family.

I was pretty tired on the way home.  Mom didn't do too good for this photo, but she was driving the Zoom-Zoomer.
I felt like the arm rest was a perfect pillow!  I was tired after so much socializing!

I'm so excited for the next M&G.  Mom hasn't let me know if we're going to the Waldorf M&G at the end of the month yet.  I told her I wanted to go, but she says it depends on how she's feelin.  We're gonna be going on a road trip at the end of this week.  It's an 8 hour drive to NC.  I get to meet my cousins, Judge and Noodles (my aunt Courkie's Dachshunds).  I met several Dachshunds today, so Mom is pretty confident that I will do well around them.

YAY for so many adventures!

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 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.