Irene has gone home!!!

After six months of scratching our heads about Irene and laughing at her antics, she finally found a home with people who are committed to adore her permanently. What's even better is that I can stalk her virtually through her own web photo album!

So long, Funny Face!

Slightly new schedule for our household

A little to the left... yeah, that's good.

We had a great Open House yesterday at the Falls Church PetsMart. There were four sets of people interested in Irene. When it rains, it pours! They all seemed like they would make a great fit for her - long walking/jogging, schedule-oriented folks already in the adopter approval process.

In case some of you are checking out Irene's blog, I've started a new job so our household schedule has shifted:

7:00-7:30AM - Potty break in backyard/ run around like crazy/ snack on new grass (this would be a good time for a morning walk if you don't have a yard)
8:30AM - Breakfast (Irene is at a good weight now and gets 1.5 cups of Canidae twice a day)
9:00AM - One more potty break before my husband leaves for work (I leave at 8AM)
5:30PM - Potty break
6:00PM - Supper (and then Irene conks out in a food coma)
9:00PM - Nighttime walk ~30-45 minutes
11:00PM - Last potty break before bed

The hounds know the difference between a weekday and the weekend. We try to do something more fun and active over the weekend. For Irene, this translates to an Open House where she can be petted and talked about for two hours. Yesterday, she was so tired from all the love, she didn't even bother to remind us about dinner.

Recently, Irene had another stint in a different home while we went away for a long weekend. We learned that her habits have a tendency to "reset," meaning that she will be upset with the new environment and cry for the first night or two. So, we can reasonably expect that, that will happen in her adoptive home as well. The good news is, when she came back to our home, she fell immediately back into the swing of things without any fuss. Irene also adapted very easily to me starting work and not being at home during the day. Although I wonder if she even notices that I'm not there since she sleeps all day anyway!

Irene is still here and still funny

Irene's new trick: sunbathing

I've been busy studying for the LSATs and haven't been able to update this blog as much as I'd like. Potential adopters are fast falling in love with Irene, but are inexplicably adopting other greyhounds at the last minute. I'm confident that she will find a good family match for her soon.

Much overdue update

Irene has been with us for a month now, and she continues to baffle us and make us laugh. She is no ordinary greyhound. A brief stay with another foster family while we were out of town confirmed a few hypotheses we were forming:

1. Irene is very smart and needs to be mentally stimulated (treat balls, kongs, and puzzles are great for keeping her brain active)
   
2. Any vocalizing in the crate directly correlates to the amount of exercise she receives
3. Irene is a fast learner and will benefit immensely from a formal training class
4. She is protective of her food/crate/toys when it comes to dogs (even other greyhounds) and cats (However, Irene is perfectly fine with humans, and I've been able to take food and toys out of her mouth without any trouble)
5. When there is no food/crate/toys involved, Irene gets along great with other dogs
   
6. Irene is a medium to high energy hound - she can be a couch potato provided she gets an hour of exercise per day
7. Irene loves children, but I'm not sure yet if they are immune from her protective behavior when it comes to food, toys, and personal space
   

Hello - I am very cute

I like to wedge my head into people like this

Even other greyhounds are not immune to my cuddling

The routine for Irene

Aside from the little scare we had earlier this week (which was the humans' fault), Irene seems to be settling in nicely. She understands our schedule now, which is as follows:

7:30-8:00 AM - Wake up and go outside to potty

8:00-8:15 AM - Have breakfast (currently 1.75 cups of Canidae and half cup of cooked rice - Irene still needs to gain weight)

8:30 - Another potty break before we leave for work

Somewhere between 12:00 and 3:00 PM - Dog walker stops by to walk Irene for 30 min

Somewhere between 6:00 and 7:00 PM - We come home from work and let the dogs out to potty

Immediately After That - Dinner (1.75 cups of Canidae and some rice again)

~9:30 PM - We go for a 30-45 min walk

Just Before We Go To Bed (anywhere between 10 PM and 12 AM) - Another potty break

Irene, like most animals, likes structure and lets us know if we've hit 'snooze' on the alarm clock too many times. Frankly, I've never been a morning person so I'm grateful for another reason to force myself out of bed.

The walk in the middle of the day is likely not necessary and can be easily replaced by a morning walk. As I mentioned, we are complete zombies in the morning and just can't get it together to fit a walk in before we're headed off to work. I think Irene would normally be okay without a midday potty break on a typical workday schedule.

I forgot to mention this earlier: we took Irene to an Open House last weekend and she charmed the pants off of everyone. She leaned into anyone who even brushed up against her and stood there until the person got tired. Irene even enjoyed a visit from a toddler whose "petting" was more like smacking. She happily endured the toddler's "loving," which answers our question about how she would act around small children. There were a few children at the Open House, and Irene appeared to be very pleased to be around little humans.

We will be attending Mighty Healthy Pet this Saturday from 11AM-1PM, which is located in College Park.

Good girl, Irene!

Irene has made huge strides in the past three days. She sleeps through the night and is feeling very confident about staircases. She has an excellent appetite and her stools have normalized. Irene walks remarkably well on lead and follows us around when in the backyard. It appears that she just needed some time to settle in and feel stable.

No, I don't need a smaller toy. This one fits in my mouth just fine.

We are providing Irene with two 30-45 min walks each day to ensure that she doesn't get a chance to feel restless in her crate. She is otherwise easily distracted with a Kong filled with treats and relishes in positive reinforcement, such as random treats given for being quiet in her crate.

As for other animals, Irene demonstrated that she is positively indifferent to other animals (small dogs, big dogs, cats, squirrels, etc.). The only time she makes a fuss is when her crate is approached by a cat or dog. Irene has made it clear that her crate is her sacred space and no one can come near. She is perfectly fine with people encroaching on her crate space, but she is very protective of it against other animals. This makes sense since Irene comes from a world where her crate was the only thing that belonged to her. She loves to pick up toys on her way out during potty breaks but always drops them before returning to her crate. It's as if to say, "These nice things can't possibly belong to me." It's enough to make me want to cry.

To quell her fears, we temporarily placed a blanket over the front of Irene's crate. That way, she cannot see dogs or cats approaching her space head-on and eliminates the need for unnecessary nervousness. I would recommend that her adoptive home does the same until Irene feels more comfortable. I am mostly concerned about any resident kitties that may feel inclined to stick their faces or paws into Irene's crate simply because cats like to do things like that. Well, that is exactly the type of thing Irene hates!

Irene just needs someone to provide her consistency and positive feedback because she is super sweet and cute as a button. I suspect that her ideal situation would be the sole pet so that she doesn't have to compete for attention or a home with a more submissive dog. Irene reminds me of our alpha female deerhound who is bossy to other dogs but melts in our hand.

Whytell Irene... that she is a bounce?

Occasionally, adopted greyhounds are given back to the organization because their families are no longer able to take care of them and they are called, "bounces" or "bouncebacks." Our new foster, Irene, is one such hound. Unfortunately, bounces are often prejudiced for something that was outside of their control; people give up dogs because of financial trouble, divorce, a new baby, location move, etc., and not because the dog is bad. Adoption organizations will try their best to make good, permanent matches, but some things are simply impossible to predict.

Irene arrived on the same January haul as our previous foster, Santana (now called, "Lincoln"). She has simply hit a little bump on her road to retirement, but she'll soon be back on path to warm naps on soft beds and unsolicited petting.

She may be fresh off the track, but Irene knows what toys are for

But first! It's back to basics for this cute girlie, such as handling stairs, learning to be alone at times, and acting mannerly around other animals.

Understandably, Poor Irene is a little confused and nervous right now, and is showing it with her output. We are putting her on a bland diet (cooked chicken and rice) until her stools firm up. Hopefully, that will happen soon so that we can then work on putting some weight on her bones. We will also place her on two rounds of dewormer medication, just in case there is another reason for her diarrhea and weight loss.

Irene's kennel name was "Whytell Irene" and her racing stats can be found here. She has had a puny number of races at 18 in total. Her last race was in May 2007, so there is quite a mysterious gap in her past. Another mystery is the scar on her nose. Well, at least Irene has made no secret of the fact that she loves people and food. We will have to wait and see what else we can learn about Irene in the coming days.

A new record!

We've had some quick adoptions before, but I think this is a record. Santana came off the racing track last Saturday and was "spoken for" by adopters four days later. He happily trotted off with his new family yesterday morning. Jon and I stood in the doorway, as we always do, to chuckle at the new parents struggling to pick up the 71-lb, limp greyhound into their car. It is a wonderful match and their meeting was a mutual love-at-first-sight. No worries here.

I'll take this opportunity to post the remaining pictures I took of Santana. Here are his many goofy faces:

Having been born and raised in Florida, Santana was not too sure about the "white stuff":

So long, Santana! May you tempt us no longer!

Welcome Santana!

Santana and his wiggly nose

When our deerhound, Burnie, left for the breeder's to make puppies, we realized that we had room in our house once more for a know-nothing greyhound bumpkin. We really missed fostering and jumped at the chance when our doggy count went down to two (albeit, temporarily). It is just our luck that we received the best-behaved greyhound EVAR [sic]. PLEASE! Someone adopt Santana FAST! We do not need this temptation! Three big, sleepy dogs and two cats is enough.

Here is the bio we submitted for Santana's profile on the Greyhound Welfare website:

They don't come much easier than this: our new ex-racing greyhound foster, Santana, is perhaps the quietest, most easy-going, sweetest foster to date.

Santana was already wagging his tail immediately after coming off the haul truck from Daytona, Florida. He leaned against the tub in relaxed bliss during his first bath. He ate his first retirement meal with enthusiasm and then fell asleep in his crate without missing a beat. He even had solid poops right away, which was certainly unexpected.

We are convinced that Santana must have read the greyhound adoption books because everything is going according to plan. He has nearly conquered the staircase after two days. Or at least, he understands the basic mechanics and occasionally gets confused about which foot goes where. Santana seems to accept his alone-training and stays quiet in his crate. Aside from a single howl when he is awake and he can hear a lot of activity upstairs, the only other noise we heard from Santana was a hilarious, whistled sigh.

Santana is very responsive to training since he is eager to please. Therefore, he walks delightfully on lead and stays clear of the kitchen counters now. He met our cat and tried to say "hello" via a butt-sniff. Unfortunately, his greeting was returned with a swat to the face. Suffice it to say, Santana is dreadfully frightened of the cats and avoids eye contact with them as if his life depended on it. He gets along beautifully with our two resident sighthounds, but people... ah, people are the love of his life. Santana practically "heels" to the nearest human in our backyard. Frankly, I suspect that he enjoys teeth-brushing and nail-trimming because of the people attention.

Santana is a no fuss, no muss sort of fellow. He has yet to meet small dogs and children, but given the way he glosses over squirrels and melts under a hand - I think he will make a terrific hound for any family.