An Oxymoron

Why, hello. And yes, I understand your desire to kiss my forehead.

I have a hard time explaining Coltrane to other people because he's a bit of an oxymoron. He seems to be working on a slight delay. Things that most fosters do, Coltrane does four days later. For example, most fosters howl and whine in their crates on the very first night. Instead, Coltrane gave a miniature rendition of this several days later. The first Dremel session is usually brief with frequent interruptions by the foster desperately trying to pull his/her paw away. Coltrane was a dream the first time I used the Dremel. Of course, it occurs to me that he was simply scared stiff! Now he will struggle a little, but remains very manageable. Coltrane is like one of those stoic children who like to pick up things at their own pace and express mild indications of the various stages of their maturation.

This is quite a contrast to our last foster, who apparently read "Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies" before leaving the racing kennel. She taught herself everything - leaving her foster parents nothing to do - and practically adopted herself out. With Coltrane, we are glad to be of use and perplexed by his extreme mellow behavior. He is not shy or sulky, by any means. Rather, Coltrane is quite gregarious and quick to learn certain things, like his name and how to eat biscuits. I guess he is simply taking the philosophy of retirement to heart.

Before I forget to mention this again - Coltrane has no dew claws! They were probably removed when he was a puppy or following a racing accident. He certainly doesn't miss them, and I find it convenient when Dremeling his nails.

We will be at the following open house this Sunday. We will probably leave Burnie at home this time since this store is small and Burnie is huge. Iris, our spook staghound, will be dragged along as always.
Date: February 24, 2008
Time: 12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Location: a.k.a. Spot 2509 Franklin Road Arlington VA 22201

Coltrane J. Frog

I am starting to feel like Coltrane is the dancing frog from Looney Tunes. He prances about, wags his tail, gives kisses, and does wiggly jigs... but only when we are at home! Granted, the open houses this past weekend were Coltrane's firsts; but even when we have visitors at home, Coltrane stands stock still and simply absorbs pets. Then again, he is the cuddliest foster we've ever had.

So, let me assure you that Coltrane is as sweet as he is jolly.

As a matter of fact, being the Seabrook ex-racing dog that he is (i.e., New Hampshire), Coltrane loved the flurries we received today. He chomped at the snow with his mouth and hopped around in circles, which undid his coat and got it wet and muddy. But he was very pleased with himself.

Coltrane continues to behave very well in his crate. He is happy to leave his crate and go for walks, but he also depends on the fact that he will return to his crate after each outing. Otherwise, Coltrane gets nervous, starts panting, and sheds dandruff. Our rescue group advocates crate-training (and subsequent crate-weaning) anyway, but this guy really needs it. His future adopter(s) will need to respect that.

"Brief" Interlude by Burnie

This is Burnie (Ch. Ladyburn d'Lux), our female deerhound-on-loan.

Burnie would not let me post the picture of her wearing men's white briefs, so here she is wearing striped boxers instead. She should go into heat in another week or so. We are hoping that she will be able to lure our missing deerhound boy, Haggis, out of hiding somewhere in Bowie/Lanham, MD.

Wylie Wagg Open House

Can you find Coltrane in this picture?

As predicted, Coltrane shed, sprinkled dandruff, sniffed some doggy bottoms, and leaned on people who offered pets. He was also keen on continuing the walk that otherwise would have been - if not for the interruption of the Meet-and-Greet. Thus, Coltrane spent the bulk of his time staring intently at the door and the fresh air outside.

We learned a couple of new things about Coltrane today: he is perfectly gentle around small dogs and babies, but he does not like my parents' pushy bulldog. He didn't know what to make of the assault of snorting and panting and drooling. Coltrane reared up like a panicked horse and tried to run away. He calmed down after the bulldog took offense and decided she wanted nothing to do with Coltrane.

Most of the greyhounds in attendance, like Sasha, were Open House professionals


But there's no need to gloat about it, Kenya


Pecan gets sweeter every time I see her


Zaire will break laws of greyhound physics to get cookies


Salem is embarrassed to be seen with Brian and his sweatshirt

Coltrane's Debut

Coltrane's calico feet

Coltrane will be making two appearances at Greyhound Welfare open houses this weekend:

Open House at Wylie Wagg
Date: February 16, 2008
Time: 12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Location: Fairfax Corner Center 11889 Grand Commons Ave. Fairfax VA 22030

Open House at the Falls Church Petsmart
Date: February 17, 2008
Time: 12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Location: Falls Church Petsmart 6100 Arlington Blvd Falls Church VA 22044

Coltrane is currently a happy puddle in his crate following a visit from potential adopters who are making their foster rounds. He was a complete love sponge, which leads me to think that he will do well at the open houses this weekend. Given his behavior at home, Coltrane will likely shed a little dandruff, lean on people, be affectionate, and then collapse.

We graduated to the Dremel today and I couldn't believe how easily Coltrane handled it. I didn't need Jon's help at all and finished his nails to my satisfaction (normally, the first Dremel session is a short introduction laden with tasty treats). Coltrane also put his paws up on our table today, but a loud clap and a "No!" did the trick and he hasn't tried it again. We'll see if this sticks or if he will need a confirmation that, that is indeed not the thing to do.

Questions about Coltrane's activity level arose tonight, to which we answer, "medium to low." Coltrane is showing more of his personality every day, so it's hard to say definitively. He is adaptable and will adjust to however long of a walk we want. He doesn't shuffle around much in his crate and doesn't run around when loose in the backyard. However, I think the latter point is due to the fact that Coltrane is still searching for the few remaining spots that he hasn't peed on yet.

Another question was whether or not Coltrane would make a good "only" dog. We think he would absolutely make a great only dog, as he is currently not too interested in the other hounds. And yet, Coltrane gets along with our shy staghound, Iris, and also our bossy deerhound visitor, Burnie. He hasn't exhibited any food aggression since that Greenie incident, and doesn't mind Iris's nose poking into his crate now. We don't yet know how he would act around children, but we know for certain that he has shown no prey drive whatsoever.

I still firmly believe that Coltrane will become his adopter's "heart hound" (ie, favorite, unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime dog).

Settling in, Getting comfortable

Hooray! I'm no longer creating spontaneous dandruff!

Well, I've been sick and missed work and school this week. The dogs are happy nonetheless to have me around, so they can sleep on the people bed instead of the dog beds. I leave Coltrane in his downstairs crate so that he doesn't get used to having other dogs around all the time. He will whine about being left alone, but he does it quietly and in short bursts - nowhere near the caterwauling that some fosters are known to do.

Coltrane is settling in wonderfully on the whole and is a poster boy for the crate/ignore method. Although he may act like he wants to be out of his crate, Coltrane pants nervously and starts sprinkling dandruff during the brief trip from his "downstairs" crate to the "upstairs" crate, and vice versa. The leash is the magical antidote to Coltrane's anxiety for reasons I can only guess (it prevents him from suddenly floating off into space?). He is appreciative of any human attention, even when it comes in the form of nail clipping, ear cleaning, and teeth brushing.

I'm also receiving some unsolicited help from Burnie, our slightly-bossy visiting deerhound; she is quick to growl at Coltrane when he tries to jump up on people. He does not yet play with the other dogs when loose in the backyard, although he loves trailing them so that he can cover their pee with his marking. Coltrane is still staying clear of our two cats, so I think he is quite cat-safe.

This is Coltrane's impression of the "Pedigree Adoption Drive" commercials

Coltrane continues to learn important things: How to eat a Greenie

Coltrane's serious face


Coltrane's silly face

It took a couple of days, but Coltrane is settling in comfortably now. He braved the stairs by himself this morning, gobbled up his breakfast, and even let out a puny little whine from his crate. Given his one-liner description from the kennel, I get the feeling that he was far from the kennel favorite and may have even blended into the background. Perhaps for that reason, Coltrane isn't bothered whether he is left all alone on a separate level of the house or whether there are people, dogs, and cats milling about. He quietly watches the activity around him or simply snoozes.

Coltrane walks very well on lead for a "know-nuthin' bumpkin hound," although there is a bit of slow zig-zagging. He doesn't pull and is not afraid of passing cars. He finds passing people and dogs utterly fascinating, but could hardly care less about squirrels. Coltrane is also a typical boy in that he must pee on every bush, tree trunk, flowerbed, blade of grass...

Another relief for us is that Coltrane is going potty on a regular basis. He did not poop at all on the first day, no matter how many times we walked in circles. He just kept passing gas and turning us green. He is not interested in toys yet, but really enjoyed his Greenie last night. Coltrane didn't know that he could chew on it and spent a good twenty minutes licking it instead.

In fact, he really surprised us when he growl/barked at Iris for sticking her nose in his crate. Fortunately, Coltrane's food aggression did not apply to us in the same way. We cautiously swung some stuffies near his face and the Greenie from outside of the crate. Coltrane stopped licking the Greenie but did not attempt to guard it whatsoever. And then we slowly waved our hands from outside of the crate and made small motions to grab the Greenie, and he was okay with that - if not a little sad and worried that he may lose his treat. We didn't want to try taking away the Greenie since Coltrane was inside his crate, and we wanted to assure him that the crate remains his sanctuary.

Aside from this one faux pas, we are quite proud of our staghound, Iris. She was such a shy spook when we first adopted her. She has since become a friendly hostess to our greyhound fosters. She welcomes them with a wagging tail and unimposing sniffs. /end parental brag :)

And this is why we love to foster

Stairs 101

Coltrane was a very scared pup when he first arrived yesterday morning. He shook like a leaf during his bath and had no interest in food. He did not want to draw any attention to himself and stayed stone silent in his crate. We still don't know what his voice sounds like. He was too traumatized to even sniff our staghound's bottom!

And yet, Coltrane is everything that I love about greyhounds. In spite of his world turning upside down in a matter of hours, he stiffly moved from the bathroom to the crate and all was well again. He is so utterly trusting of us even as we tug at his paws and manipulate him up and down the stairs. There is no aggression, no annoyance, just compliant greyhoundness.

Today was a new day for Coltrane. He ate his breakfast, did not tremble, and held his tail high when our visiting deerhound, Burnie, tried to play with him. Coltrane has not yet received the customary welcome swat to the face from our boy cat since he dares not even make eye contact with him. But Coltrane isn't a timid boy. His tail is never tucked under and he is not difficult to retrieve from his crate.

We had a laugh when we first saw Coltrane because he looked just like our last foster, Strauss. He is a lighter fawn brindle than most and truly looks like a bengal tiger due to his white belly and white chin. Suffice it to say, he is striking. It appears that he ate a little too well while waiting to be deployed from the racing kennel, so we are working to slim him down a pound or two.

We are quite fond of Coltrane already and have no doubt that he will make very good progress in the coming days.

Do I really have to keep going?

News on incoming foster

Coltrane (How it Works) brindle male, 10/1/05, 105E 34938. cat trainable, nice boy.

The information is sparse, but he sure is handsome!