Coltrane finds a perfect home as Howie

Goodness me! I nearly forgot to make a very important post:

COLTRANE WAS ADOPTED! (last Sunday)

He was adopted by one of our organization's officers - no less. He now goes by the moniker, "Howie," which suits him perfectly (for his racing name, "How It Works).

Howie has an older sister in the 7.5-year old bossy greyhound, Fly. Luckily, he is used to bossy girls (aka, Burnie).

Here is a lovely email we received not long after he left:

"Dear Jon and Yeonwoo,

I wanted to let you know that we made it home safe and sound with both dogs today. Howie found a comfy spot to curl up in the back of the SUV and once he settled, Fly did as well. There was no growling or snarling and they rode peacefully the whole ride. At one point, I was a little worried because the both stood up and Howie had Fly completely pinned against the back seat because he was leaning so hard on her but she was very tolerant and just waited for him to shift his weight and then found herself another spot.

He has been quite content to lay and rest in the crate and ate his supper without any hesitation. We took them on a nice long walk and he was overwhelmed with all the new sights and smells but managed to walk nicely on the lead in spite of the newness.

I truly believe he will settle in here quite nicely and we want to thank you for the wonderful job you did with him. Feel free to come visit any time you like, we would love to see you again."

There's really no feeling quite like that of a great adoption match; it is a combination of a sense of accomplishment, lots of love, and optimism. Howie has found the best home he could possibly find.

* * *

As for us, we are going to take a long hiatus from fostering during the summer months. Jon will be busy sticking his arm up cows in order to get into vet schools, and I will involved in legal clinics for law school. Please check back in the Fall. In the meantime, I will see about finally getting around to updating our wee humble blog about our zoo family here: GrauHaus.

Taking the toys for a walk

These days, you are very likely to catch Coltrane doing this:

Photo Fest

We traveled far and away to Hanover, MD this past weekend to attend the Arundel Mills Petsmart open house. Coltrane made a good show of himself and was happy to be the only brindle around. I reminded visitors that all they had to do to keep Coltrane's attention was to touch him. So long as you continue to pet him, he won't wander off to smell biscuit boxes and doggy bottoms.

Coltrane and his borzoi girlfriend.

Sweet seniors Trudy and her brother, whose name I can't remember! Forgive me!

What sweet faces!

Notorious Z.U.N.I. - our first foster greyhound - was also present to make us laugh.

Zuni cleverly using her needle nose as pliers. (Worry not - we stopped the thievery after getting a good picture.)

Spring is here

I flop on my back on this patch of grass here and then I get belly rubs! It's clearly a magical patch of grass.

Tra-la-la - aren't I adorable?


Grr! Get out of my picture frame!


Anywho - now where were we?

We received a pretty good report card regarding Coltrane this past weekend. He whined in his crate on the first night and whined a less on the second night. He was acting kind of shy (per usual) at the open house and fumigated his hosts' home with nervosus fartus. Otherwise, Coltrane was his goofy, sweet self.

The experience is a good indication of how Coltrane will act in his adoptive family's home. Most greyhounds whine in their crate during the first couple of nights after being adopted. This can be remedied by placing a crate in the bedroom. If the family does not want to keep a crate in the bedroom, then ignoring the whining will work just as well (but make sure that the whining is not due to the dog needing to potty!). It is very typical behavior and will normally quell on its own after a few nights.

1 Month Update

Ho-hum. Where is my forever family?

First of all - I apologize to whomever might have been looking for Coltrane at last week's Chantilly Open House. We missed the hubbub due to a sudden change in our schedule.

Therefore, Coltrane is sleeping over at Sasha's house (see Feb 16th) this weekend. He will go to at least one of the two open houses and not miss out on the butt-sniffing:

Open House at Wylie Wagg
Date: March 15, 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: March 16, 2008
Time: 12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Location: Falls Church Petsmart 6100 Arlington Blvd Falls Church VA 22044

Meanwhile, Jon and I are going to be in the suburbs of Philadelphia visiting his family and sitting through his little sister's middle school musical. I got her a little gift to show her that I love her in spite of the fact that I hate musicals and will have a unfortunate grimace on my face throughout the whole presentation.

What does not make me grimace is Coltrane! He is a total love. Coltrane is bouncy and playful, and is now perfectly adept at sharing toys with the other dogs. Iris even snatched the wool turtle toy right out from his mouth the other day! He happily let her take his toy and grabbed another toy instead. Coltrane has a hilarious helicopter tail and has even charmed his way into Burnie's (a.k.a., "Miss Boys-Have-Cooties") good graces.

OK. I admit it. Coltrane is our fifth foster and the first that we seriously considered adopting. He is just a great dog: a great family member, a great animal sibling, and has a supremely velvety forehead. We finally decided against it because Coltrane would make the perfect greyhound introduction to a first-time greyhound owner or family.

Plus, he smells like sugar cookies

Coltrane's bumper sticker reads, "I'd rather be on a walkie."

Greyhound adoptions, too, ebb and flow throughout the year. There is usually a sharp rise in adoptions starting off the new year and then they slow down right around... now. This is the only explanation as to why Coltrane is still with us because he's the perfect, classic greyhound. Coltrane is playful during playtime, sleepy during crate time, hungry at meal time, and sweet during petting time.

At any other time, Coltrane would have been snapped up by now. Well, I suppose he could sell himself better at open houses, but the open houses have been sparse in attendance lately. Thankfully, we love having him around, so we are in no hurry to see him off!

You can meet Coltrane at the following open house this Sunday:
Date: March 9, 2008
Time: 12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Location: Chantilly Petsmart 13866 Metrotech Drive Chantilly VA 20151

We're back from hiatus

Through the persistence of Greyhound Welfare's PR spokesperson, Sally Adams, we garnered spots on local news networks (NBC, FOX, ABC) this weekend to bring attention to our continued search for Haggis. She persevered for three months and her efforts finally came to fruition in widespread media coverage of a very successful search rally.

Thank you, Sally, and thanks to all the volunteers who came out yesterday!
You can find the FOX news clip online here.

In the meantime, Coltrane continues to blossom. He is showing interest in toys for the first time (especially kitty toys) and even roached on the cold grass in the middle of our backyard. He is very waggy and happy at home, and enjoys chasing and being chased by Iris.

Coltrane is also getting used to standing around at open houses and takes advantage of the friendly people offering pets and scratches. Tiny, snarling dogs scare him quite a bit, although small, friendly dogs are worth sniffing. He does not enjoy halting drives (who does?), as he gets motion sickness. Today wasn't his fault, however, because I drove wildly in attempt to get to an open house that we were already late for. Sorry, Coltrane!

Dremeling Coltrane is a dream once again now that he understands the routine. He even swallowed four large Drontal pills yesterday without any fussing. He was so good that we had to make sure he hadn't cleverly tucked a pill under his tongue. Coltrane would make a great greyhound for first-time adopters due to his laid-back attitude. Naturally, he would be a breeze for greyhound veterans and would be the perfect dog for those who are concerned about any small animals already living their home.