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'.

Did you miss me????

Mom sure did!  I missed her too though.  I leaned and leaned and leaned on her when she came to pick me up from Mr Glenn's.  She was still in her black work pants and I fixed that black problem for her!!  But I'm getting ahead of myself..

So after my Kitty Kitty accident, I went to stay with Miz Monica.  I like staying with her.  I get to hang out with extra pups cause she's a Foster Mom, too.

Here's some highlights of my time away from Mom:

I'm best at this: NAPPING!!!!!  I take retirement seriously!

Playing with my mother bunny.

Despite this being a new toy (I usually shun those after a few days), this was the only toy Mom sent me with.  There were other toys to play with, but I found the squeaker in my mother bunny's tail!!

Miz Monica is friends with Mr Glenn who lives near me and Mom.  He adopted Miley this week!  Miz Monica brought me to his house so that way Mom could pick me up asap when she got back to MD.

I was outside in the yard when Mom pulled up and I got soooo excited!  (Don't tell her, but I really do love my Mom!)  I even jumped up and put my front legs on the fence.  Mom told me to get down, but I could tell she was excited to see me too!  If she had a tail, it would have been waggin hard!  Once I let her in the gate we hugged and kissed and I didn't want to let her out of my sight.  I leaned on Mom anytime she stopped moving, that's my signature affection sign.  Remember when I leaned on Dad and got adopted?  Yeah.

Miley also helped me "lighten up" Mom's black pants, cause she is a white Greyhound too.  Mom didn't mind cause she was so excited to be able to give me hugs and kisses again.  Mom and Mr Glenn loaded all my stuff in the zoom-zoomer and then Mom coaxed me in the backseat (nope, still not jumping in on my own, just that once).  It was too hot out for Mom to crack the windows (winter time was so much better!), so I just laid back and tolerated the ride home.

Once we got home, Mom changed clothes and we went out for a walk.  Since it was hot, Mom sprayed me down with the water hose at the car wash area.  She does this after every walk/jog now since it's so hot out. I don't mind because I used to get sprayed down after I did my speedy racing running, so I'm used to it.  She towels me off once we get back to our house and then we go inside where I drink my entire bowl of water.  Mom fills it up for me right away, so I'm not thirsty later.

A little bit later Mom fed me dinner and then she left for a little bit.  She came back with bags, but nothing for me.  Mom must definitely be trusting me more, because she's been leaving me out of my house more and more (including while she's gone to work... for the whole day!).  It was bedtime soon after that.  I'm sooooo glad to be reunited with Mom.

Some pics from before Mom left for Australia:

 Mom was trying to fold up my crate and I was protesting.
Evidence that I really didn't want Mom to leave. 

Fine, Mom, I'll get out, but I don't like it!

Absolut Greyhound

Back in May there was a private Absolut event and a few very social, not scared of thunder pups were invited to join the event.  The new Absolut commercial has "greyhounds" racing, so to have a few real greyhounds was pretty cool.

If you haven't seen the commercial:

Now you have.

It's a pretty cool commercial if you're into weird crap and greyhounds.  I mean, Mom's watched my racing videos and despite the fact that she knows I'm not injured, watching me trip and fall made her gasp and give me extra love to make up for the loss.

Anyways, what I really wanted to share with you are the pictures!!!

This lady REALLY liked getting her picture taken with me.

 

I was NOT pleased about this floor.  AT ALL.

I was looking around for safety...

but none was too be found...

Me and Mom!!  She had to direct me towards the camera, but YAY for fun times
(except for that slippery floor!)

We had a lot of fun.  The event started around 9pm and we left around 11:15pm, before the event was over because Mom had to drive an hour to get us back home.  I got so many carrots and got to hang out with Jozef and some other pups I hadn't met before.  I got lots of pettin and eventually, I laid down because it was way past my bedtime.

Mom said I did really good.  Especially since we left during my evening nap time and the event was after my bedtime.  I enjoyed all the people and pettins, despite the slippy floor (and Mom and Miz Lesley having to slide me across it).

I had an accident...

Mom searched high and low for a good place for me to stay while she is away in Australia.  She thought she found someone at work, and that turned out not so good, so at the last minute, she was scrambling again to find someone to watch me while she was away on her trip.  Miz Lesley offered and I was excited.  I've met her before and Jozef is really nice.

Mom dropped me off with Miz Lesley on Monday morning.  I got acquainted with her hounds and I thoroughly explored her backyard, making sure to take meticulous care to mark every single fence post.  Finally, I was called back inside and Mom had to show me the steps because Jozef and Hush are much smarter than me and have figured out how to jump up onto things.  Mom and Lesley set everything up and Mom kept hugging me and promising she'd be back soon.  She'd been saying these things all week, but I thought she was being silly.

Mom giving me "one last" hug with Jozef in the background wondering about the all the commotion Mom was causing.

Then, MOM LEFT ME!  She told me that I wasn't going with her this time and to stay and she walked through the door and she didn't come back.

Miz Lesley sent Mom photos of me hanging out at her house, she said that Mom was going to Australia, but she was coming back for me.  Miz Lesley has been known to keep puppies that come to her house, but Mom promised me she'd be back for me.

Mom isn't sure of all the details, but while she was trying to get to Australia, I had an accident.  You see, Mom picked me, Phil, because I was a "big, cat friendly" Greyhound.  She also picked me because I leaned on Dad.  Dad was the easiest to win over, Mom was the one that kept wanting to look at other hounds.  Silly, Mom.  She wasn't aware that I had picked them yet.

But back to my accident.  Miz Lesley, Jozef, Hush, and I were out for our evening stroll and Miz Lesley's Kitty Kitty wandered up to us.  Well, Kitty Kitty looked delicious to me, and I love treats, so I decided that Kitty Kitty was going to be my snack.  Miz Lesley was NOT HAPPY.  She fought very hard to get Kitty Kitty from me, I might have even hurt her a little.  Miz Lesley said I definitely hurt Kitty Kitty, who I never saw again.

Turns out, I'm not so cat-friendly.  Small dog friendly, yes, but not so much on the cats.  I had Mom fooled all this time.  We have a Kitty Kitty that is a stray that lives at our apartment complex (because the neighbors feed it).  I've seen her several times and I've never, ever tried to go after her.  She was bigger than a squirrel, so I wasn't interested.  I really love squirrels.  I also really love bunnies.

Mom says I have to apologize to Miz Lesley, who continued to care for me, even though I tried to eat her Kitty Kitty.  Miz Lesley and Mom did find another place for me to stay while Mom is gone, with Miz Monica, who I've stayed with before.

So, Miz Lesley, I'm really, really sorry about Kitty Kitty.  Thank you for continuing to love me despite my bad behavior.  I know Mom really appreciates it, since she isn't here.  I'm sure she's not very pleased with me, she doesn't like it when I act bad.  Sometimes she even yells.  She probably would have yelled this time.  Luckily, she's still away, so maybe she won't be so angry when she gets back from her trip.  Maybe.  We'll see.

Adding to the Toy Inventory

My Mom is pretty great.  I might have mentioned this.  But here is evidence why:

These are my two newest toys in action.  The red thing is actually a Mother Bunny and the blue thing is a Tribble.  They are supposed to be indestructible.  I'm a little sad the bunny doesn't squeak, but the Tribble does!

Mom's been telling me all week that she has to go away for a few weeks, so I think this is her trying to win my love.  I'll be staying with the Keller Family while Mom is gone.  I'm excited, but don't tell Mom, I want her to think I'm sad that she's leaving..

What to do when Mom buys you new things:

You remember this:

Well, I prefer this.

Joke's on you, Mom!  HA!

I picnic like a Greyhound.

This weekend was the GEGR annual picnic!  Mom has been planning on going to this since she found out about it, and I knew something was up, I just know things.  Then again, Mom did finally clean, so maybe that was the biggest clue...

First off, Fright night we had company.  Diane brought her two pups, Snowy and CJ to stay the night.  We started the sleepover early!  

After everyone was fed and went taken out for business, we put on our best retired faces.

The next morning was like normal, kinda.  I woke Mom up at normal time, but she wasn't having that.  But with some incessant whining prodding, she was motivated.  Really, I just wanted to see what Snowy and CJ were up to, cause I heard them and knew they were already awake.

They left after getting breakfast and Mom and I went back to bed, which is our usual ritual on Saturday morning.  Finally, when Mom got up again, she started getting ready and packing our stuff.  I asked her if I was going and she reassured me that today was all about me and my peeps.

When we got there, there was so much excitement to be had!  I saw Miss Scarlet and Temporary Mom and Brother from when Mom went to Scotland.  I think they missed me!  I also saw Mr. George, who I've seen recently.  I tried to make sure I said hey to everyone at the picnic.

Mom took some pictures to share with you.

A gaggle of Greyhounds..  pretending to not be retired.

We were allowed to run free in color coded groups.  Certain colors were allowed to roam around (muzzle required, and NO ONE liked that!) at certain times.  Mom got caught in the middle of a running pack and I just pretended not to know her.  Silly Mom should know better than to stand in front of a speeding Greyhound (no bus pun intended).

They were running really fast.  I didn't run with the group though.  I was off attending to more important matters...
Like marking every tree/bush/tall grass spot possible.

The pools were set out for the hounds to cool off in.  Several pups were just laying in the pools.  I was just thirsty!

Chillin' my paws. 

Scarlet and I hung out for a while when I wasn't marking what was mine running around saying hey to everyone.  Temporary Brother gave me lots of pettins.  I had a super fun time just roaming around, even though I didn't like my muzzle being on.  I tried to tell Mom that a muzzle isn't part of retirement by rubbing my nose on her leg, but she said suck it up.

Every time Mom found me, I was at Lisa's door.  Lisa's house was the first place I ever received TLC, so I really, really wanted inside.  

Excuse me, I'm being good.  I already looked in the window, I know you're home.  Just let me in please!!!
PS.  It's hot out here and I'm retired.  Duh.

After my Temporary Family left, Mom decided to go exploring with me.  She took me to the real water area.  Mom and Dad both have taken me to the beach, but I wasn't a super huge fan...  but it didn't really seem like they were either.  But this girl was nice enough to hold my leash while I was in the water, and since she looked like she was enjoying it, I figured it was safe for me as well.

It is pretty hot out here and this water is nice.

OOOOOOO, that was cold on my happy place!

Nevermind, it's niiiiicccceeeee in here.

Look how far out I am, Mom!!!  Look!  Look!!

This was the deepest I went.  The water felt really nice and I couldn't figure out the zoom-zoomers that were driving by.
The girls were really enjoying the waves after they passed though!

After I got out of the water, my tongue slipped out of my mouth.  Mom caught it for blackmail.

Mom actually won a door prize at the picnic.. but she also bought some stuff!

Top Left: Red Mother Bunny.  "Red for NC State," said Mom.
Top Right:  Yellow knitted scarf and hat Mom picked out as her door prize.  She also got a box of treats which didn't make it in the photo.
Bottom, L to R: My new collar (it has a matching tag collar.. I'm like a real retired greyhound now!), my new Tribble (which I luuuuuuvvvvv because it squeaks), and Mom's new GEGR t-shirt.

Overall, we had a super time.  I think once we get to know more people, since we are just GEGR babies, the picnic will be more fun cause we'll be like one of the groupies!  Now, Mom also knows what to expect for next year.  Eventually, she'll become a pro and bring her own tent and maybe she'll even spoil me enough to buy me my own xpen.  She says probably not anytime soon, but I'm working on her....  I mean she did get me that big bed a few weeks ago AND she bought me a Mother Bunny today.. and a Tribble...  She's a pretty great Mommy, even without an xpen for me.

Peer Pressure...

After much peer pressure, Mom went out and bought me a new bed.

My initials thoughts:

Excuse me, Mom...  You put a foreign object on top of my bed....

The first night Mom piled my dalmatian blankie on top of the new bed to even get me to stand on it.  She even laid on it to show me how it's done.  She's a pretty silly Mommy.  She wasn't able to get a picture of me that first night because every time she moved, I was up and ready for action.  I mostly laid off of it, but I heard her say if I didn't start appreciating it, she was going to return it!

Is this how this works?

 Earlier today she caught me like this:

Mom says I'm getting the hang of it.

Now if I just roached, I'm sure she'd never be mad at me again...

PS.  This is the biggest one she could find at PetCo and she found it on sale for $78!  The cover is removable for washing, which was very important to her.  Not that I get stinky, so I'm not sure why she was worried.

PPS.  I'm sure if times got rough and she couldn't sleep on her "cloud" (what Mom calls her bed), I could let her borrow mine.   I love her that much!