We brought Pana and Diamond home from Hemopet the last weekend in February of 2001.  While our children were young we always had dogs but as the family grew and changed we ended up in an apartment and were only allowed to have a cat. We once again moved into our own home and brought our very special Luffy (cat) with us but we lost her to the coyotes.  After a time we started talking about bringing another pet into the house.  We went to the Home Show in Anaheim a few years ago and ran into one of the greyhound adoption groups.  As we were talking, one of the dogs came up beside me and just leaned on me.  We are both suckers for a loving animal.  We considered the idea of bringing home a grey but were concerned about our work schedule.  We had a couple of ladies visit our home in the summer of 2000 and they expressed concern about our absence and hazards in the backyard, such as the woodpile and wooden fence.  They seemed to feel that maybe we should try other breeds because greys need too much special attention.  Mark came away from the meeting with the feeling that greyhound
owners were elitists and was not prepared to put up with them.  Sue, however, persisted.  She remembered the Needle Nose Crew from the Harvest Festival and made numerous phone calls only getting machines until reaching Carole Oglesbee. Finally, good fortune shined on us!  Carole was down to earth and encouraged us to visit Hemopet to become acquainted with a few dogs.  We started walking the dogs every Sunday morning.  We had the pleasure of meeting each dog there a number of times and Sue 

just fell in love with Pana.  Pana has such an outgoing personality, she believes that people are put on this earth just to love her and scratch her tummy.  Pana's kennel mate was Diamond.  Diamond is much more reserved than Pana and usually defers to Pana's pressure to get between Diamond and the human scratching machine. We heard about Diamond's depression after losing her first kennel mate until Pana's arrival so there was no way we would ever separate them.  Besides, we were looking for two dogs because of our work schedule. We finally made arrangements to bring them both home together. After an interminable wait for acceptable replacement dogs at Hemopet we finally made the much awaited trip to pick them up.  Their first weekend at home was a little tentative for both the girls and us.  We had an x-pen set up in the front room and they were much more comfortable in there than out loose.  We moved the x-pen into the bedroom each night so that they were with us but secure in their own space.  We gradually left the pen open more and more, and they began sleeping on pillows outside the pen and on a sofa in the spare room. We had very little trouble with their adjusting.  The first time we left them alone for a day they (Pana we think) sat in the back yard and barked so much that we came home to a note on the front door.  When we are away they are kept in the kitchen with large pillows on the floor but have free access to the back yard via a dog door.  We found that they like to dig in the dirt to create little nests for themselves so we have set aside an area for them.  

When bored, they will still dig holes in the lawn so we have to see that they have toys to entertain themselves and if we are gone for a long evening a frozen Kong filled with peanut butter keeps them very busy.

The x-pen is folded and put away now.  They have taken over the house.  Pana loves to lie with us on the couch.  She will usually flip over on her back to get her tummy rubbed.  In the morning Diamond will jump up on the bed between us for her morning scratch and remind Mark that it's time to walk. They look forward to their morning and evening walks and Diamond is even starting to accept attention from neighbors we meet on the way. When we return home from work we all go into the back yard to run in circles (the girls do the running), toss toys and just express our happiness to be together again. Thanks to the Needle Nose Crew and Hemopet we now have a wonderful pair of dogs. Pana and Diamond are still together and becoming more spoiled as they train us.  They are a joy to be around.

Does anyone have any experience with wire dog crates in vehicles?  River and I had an accident recently that put us both in the hospital emergency rooms.  He's fine.  No broken bones for either of us, but I had to be stitched up a little. We took Sunshine (not a grey!) to the groomer for her appointment and River came along for the ride.  We all went into the salon to drop off Sunshine and let them tell River how wonderful he is.  When River went back to the van to jump into his crate the plastic tray under it slid back because the clip did not hold, and his rear foot ended up upside down and backwards between the wires.  He had 72 lbs of forward momentum, but his foot didn't follow.  He started screaming. I was sure I could free his foot by just wiggling his pad out, but he kept biting me.  No growl, no snarl, just scream-bite-scream-bite.  He even bit himself twice.  The two groomers came out when they heard him scream and talked me into letting them calm him, wrap a towel around my arm, and call for emergency help. Poor scared pup, and his being a spook, too.  All those firemen around him – they used bolt cutters to get him free.  He instantly took weight on the foot, whew. I had a few paramedics mad at me because I jumped out of the ambulance after they bandaged my arm to help with River.  "Barbara, stay in the ambulance."  I just said, "NO" and envisioned them physically restraining me, but they waited me out and then took me to the hospital.  I knew River would at least feel better if he heard my voice and knew I was there. The groomers looked after River, cleaned and bandaged his leg, until Steve got there to take him to the vet.  Poor Sunshine must have been terrified, too!  She was shaking from head to toe when I picked her up, but she did have a pretty new hairdo. River's leg was bandaged, but fine.  He got pain medicine, anti-inflammatory, and we both went home with antibiotics.  My left arm and both hands were bit, but no breaks.  

BEWARE OF DOG

Unknown Author

Tanner has informed me that this was really not written about him – although I have tripped over him more than once! Editor

Upon entering a little country store, the stranger noticed a sign saying 'Danger! Beware of Dog!' posted on the door. Inside, he noticed a harmless old hound dog asleep on the floor near the cash register.  He asked, 'Is that the dog folks are to beware of?' 'Yep,' the owner answered, 'that's him.' The stranger couldn't help being amused.  'That certainly does not look like a dangerous dog to me,' he chuckled.  'Why in the world did you decide to post that sign?' 'Because,' the owner replied, 'before I posted that sign, people kept tripping over him.

Marienne Saviano for her loss of Miss Gina (Leenah)

Thanks for all the articles and pictures… keep them coming!

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