ADVENTURES OF LITA AND DONNA
By Donna
Arcaro
When I was looking to add
another Greyhound to the family, I really was planning on a black female. Then Lita (formerly known as Rosalita), a
little red “buff” girl”, followed me all around at the exercise area at
Hemopet, looking up at me with very big, soft, doe-like brown eyes, saying “I’m
all yours”. How could I resist?? So home we went, and from day one, she acted
like she had always been a part of the family, being “Little Miss Perfect”.
Quite some time later, I
was using a scrub brush in the back yard.
I laid it down and went over to turn on the faucet. I turned around and there was Lita behind me
with the brush in her mouth as if to say, “I think you dropped this and thought
I’d help you out by bringing it to you.”
So my mind started turning a little bit, thinking about possibly her
enjoying obedience—she seemed so eager to please. Again, some time went by. I heard at one of the picnics for Greys and
their families that they were going to be offering testing for the CGC title
(Canine Good Citizen) which involves basic obedience skills. She passed the test after only a short time
of training. Now I thought we’d try a
group obedience class. “Sitting” was the
first obstacle. As you know, our Greys
tell us they can NOT sit, but the secret is out—they CAN do it! After much positive motivation with food and
praise, praise and more praise, Lita began to think that sitting was the next
best thing to sliced bread. Every time I
looked around, there she was sitting, with a very proud expression on her
face. She ended up graduating 1st in her
obedience class!! I was thrilled AND
really hooked on continuing on with competitive obedience training.
I was so pleased that in
October Lita earned her CD (Companion Dog) title and also RN (Rally Novice)
title in 3 straight obedience and 3 straight rally obedience trials! She was also the highest scoring Greyhound at
two recent Greyhound Specialty shows. It
has been so much fun for the both of us-- her enjoying the training, “goodies”
and praise and me being able to watch her skills develop. She has a smile on her cute, little face and
a sparkle in her eyes as if to say “Look what I did, Mom! Aren’t you proud of me?” We hope to go onto the next level of training
so wish us luck!
So I guess the point of my
little story is that I would encourage others with Greyhounds to give positive
motivation obedience training a try using food, toys, praise or a combination
of all three. Your Grey just might
surprise you—it’s so exciting to stimulate their minds in things like this,
rather than them being couch potatoes all the time (well, at least not all
the time). Additionally, one big bonus
for Lita and I has been all the extra time that the two of us spend together,
training and playing. There is an
incredible bond that will develop between the two of you with this kind of
activity—one that can never be broken.
THERAPY VISITS
By Sheila Finch
“Your greys are so people-friendly, they ought to be therapy dogs!”
Perhaps you've heard that too? When my beloved Rosie was still with me, I looked into what it would take for us to visit the sick and needy. What I found out wasn't encouraging. There were so many hoops to jump through - obedience training, for one - for her to become a certified therapy dog that we gave up. I already knew Rosie wasn't going to leap onto people or get into fights, but the therapy organizations wanted me to spend money to prove it. By the time Annie and Jack came to live with me, I was retired and looking to do some volunteering of my own. I settled on a hospice near me and began spending several hours a week visiting the patients. Before long, the administrator asked me if I'd consider bringing the greys in once in a while.
We now visit once a week for a couple of hours, usually on a weekend, and I can't tell you how much all of us - patients, greys and I - enjoy it. All that the hospice asked of me is that I give them a copy of the dogs' city licenses and vaccination records. Typically, I tell patients ahead of time I have dogs and ask if they'd like to see them. Almost always the answer is yes! (Because some of the residents are immune suppressed or otherwise vulnerable, it's a good idea not to surprise them with two wet noses and eight furry paws at their door.)
We've had some wonderful experiences. Some of the patients want to hold the leashes for me, or hug the dogs (you know how much greys love that!) and they often tell me stories of their own beloved dogs who've passed on. We've had experiences of people in deep depression who wouldn't communicate suddenly touching the dogs and opening up to healing. The greys are very intuitive, seeming to know who most needs their love and giving it freely. One week, a gentleman who had no family to visit him saw Annie and Jack for the first time and held his arms out. They went to his wheelchair and smothered his cheeks and neck with kisses while he wept. Then he showed me an urn in his room with the ashes of his best friend, a golden retriever. I later took him a copy of the “Rainbow Bridge” that has comforted many of us in greyhound rescue. And a few days later, he died. I can't help thinking he was more peaceful as a result of Annie and Jack's visit.
I would encourage anyone with greys and a little spare time to consider looking into hospices and rehab facilities near them. Lots of needy people would just love the attention a sweet grey can give. Many of these places require little more than proof of licensing and vaccination. And the rewards all round are wonderful.
DEAR FRIENDS
By Brad and
Wendy Gilbert
The bright blue sky seemed
to go on forever as we made our way down to Aliso Viejo for the meet and greet
that Saturday in September. Our
intentions were simple; we wanted a dog, just one dog. With five cats already in residence, well, one
new four-footer seemed appropriate if not excessive, but that’s just the kind
of crazy people we happen to be. Discussing
our options as we cruised the 405 we came to two basic agreements: no females,
and certainly not a brindle. We were
excited, nervous, but committed.
Then we met Princess
Cordelia (“Coco”) whose brown eyes and sly
smile quickly captured Brad’s heart. The
only problem, well, there were two: she was a “she” and a brindle to boot. But none of that mattered as she pranced along
the sidewalk lingering to smell and lean on Brad. Falstaff (Raven) too was a natural. Big, slow, and steady he fell right in behind
Cordi nuzzling Wendy and into our hearts. It was a grueling week to wait for them to
arrive in Manhattan Beach.
They now live eight houses
from the Strand and take their morning and
evening walks along the beach venturing inland only to run free at the dog park
where their enthusiasm often gets the better of them.
It has been amazing to see
their personalities unfold like a rose ripens on the vine. Cordi is now a competent fetcher and amateur
thief who moves shoes, pillows, and t-shirts around
the house, that is, when she isn’t cleaning the cat’s plates on the counter, or
snuggling with her enabler, err… father. ‘Staff craves food like his namesake (Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare)
craved wine and women, but his heart is true. He isn’t the sharpest wit, but his sincerity
is as sweet as molasses, which is about how quickly his mind works. They make quite a pair strolling
the strand with almost every passerby extolling their grace and beauty. Too bad nobody sees how they hog the bed and
wrestle over new chew toys. They have
bonded with the cats who now seem to own the dogs like they own us. Oh, lest I forget they made national TV when
our Holiday card was shown and read
aloud on “The Regis and Kelly Show.” True
Hollywood wannabees, now they only
need sunglasses.
REMEMBRANCES
Our
hearts go out to…
To all who knew and loved him... Phil Epler
Bill & Inez Lintz for their early loss of Darlin
Kathy Eads for her loss of Paladin
David & Tracy Biddle for the loss of Alexus
David & Angela Savage for their loss of Tootsie
Howard & Norma Schlesinger for their loss of Gentleman Coal
Brian & Tracy Day for their loss of sweet Maggie
Arnie & Cathy Nance for the loss of their
beloved
George
Donna Arcaro for her loss of the indomitable Gee
Mike & Judy Bushnell for their loss of Carla
Cindy Hall & Frank Brown for their loss of
good friends, Sally and Lucy
Tom &
Cecilia Bamberg for their loss of Callie
Steve Sorensen & Kevin
Smith for their loss of
shy Mr. Carlton
WEDNESDAY NIGHT WALKS
By Carole Oglesbee
Our government has decided
to extend Daylight Savings Time, and that can only mean it is time for our
weekly walks around the lake! For those
who have not joined us in past years, please consider grabbing your greys for
an hour or so of relaxed social time. We will hold our walks every Wednesday
evening during Daylight Savings Time. We
gather in Irvine at Barranca and Lake in the Waters parking
lot. From there we walk clockwise around
the north lake of the Woodbridge community. Our meeting time is 6:00PM, and we are usually
finished up by about 7:00PM to 7:30PM.
We do not want to dampen the fun we can all have, however,
we do need comply with a few courtesy guidelines.
1) Please use a standard six foot or shorter
leash. No Flexies!!
2) Please be sure to have plenty of poop bags with
you.
3) If you have a high prey greyhound, please use a
plastic practice muzzle and remain extremely aware of small fluffies.
4) If you bring along a small dog for the walk,
please remember that some of our greys are high prey. You will need to keep your distance from those
greys.
5) Please try to stay to the right on the
path. Our walk is around a private lake
and we need to leave room for the residents walking, skating and riding in
their own neighborhood.
If you want to pass on info about Wednesday
evenings, just have friends log onto our web site at needlenosecrew.org. We have details on our events page for all to
see.
Send your articles and
pictures to:
Joy
Moss, Editor, Needle Nose Notes
4857 Royce Rd., Irvine, CA 92612
greytjoy@cox.net
