Night One With Disciple Was A Doooozy!

Well, I sure hope night two goes better with Disciple then night one did. The poor guy had no idea where he was and whined, barked, and cried the ENTIRE night. Not true, he finally passed out from exhaustion at about 3am and slept until 5am. I did the same! I tried everything to calm him down. I gave him a bed, his crate, and lots of floor space in my bedroom, I gave him the entire bedroom, I tried to lay down on the floor with him, I put him on the bed with Rusty and I, I went into a different room, nothing seemed to calm him down. I'm not sure what finally did the trick but at least we got a couple hours sleep.

This morning wasn't much better either. I made the mistake of taking Rusty for a run and putting Disciple in his crate for an hour. When I got back, he had torn up Rusty's sleeping bag and had gone to the bathroom inside the crate. This is a tell-tale sign of separation anxiety so I called the Greyhound Society to find out what to do. She basically scolded me for taking Rusty away from Disciple so soon. How the hell was I supposed to know how he'd react! Anyways, she was going to take him to her house but I decided to give it a few more days and see what happens. I will be leaving Rusty with him when I'm gone and next weekend I'll try to get Rusty out for another run and see if Disciple still has anxiety. If so, I'll either have to foster a second greyhound to stay with Disciple, or bring him back. Rusty can't be punished and forced to stay home just because Disciple can't handle a bit of time alone. We'll see how things go this week.

On the good side, he learned the dog door in less then an hour and is doing his business outside. He tried to mark a few things when he first got here but hasn't done that today. He knows the word NO really well, and is a pretty good listener over all. I hope he starts to enjoy his new digs soon because he's a pretty good dog.

Wish me luck with my new friend!

Disciple on the way to my house

Rusty & Disciple on day 1. They seem to be getting along just fine, although Rusty keeps trying to "show his dominance"

Disciples Pedigree and Race Info

Disciple was born in June '03 and was 1 of 11 puppies. He ran in 110 races from December '04 to June '07. He won 17 races and came in 2nd 16 times. Most of his 550 yard races were run in just over 30 seconds. http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?i=1044468 in case you want to check it out for yourselves...enjoy!

Kitten Update...

The kittens and mom are doing well. They're getting more and more fun each day! Last night 4 of the 7 decided it was time to venture out of their room and down the hall. They would get about 6-8 feet out and come running back to the room. They thought they were pretty cool. I have gotten 5 of the 7 to eat, including the 2 young ones. I was worried that mom would kick them off her so I kept tempting them with yummy smelling viddles, it worked! Now I just need the last two to start eating and we're all set. It'll be really hard to give them back to the Humane Society, but unlike what people are saying, I'm not going to become the cat lady!! And besides, they're kittens and should be adopted out pretty quickly, at least that's what I'm telling myself every day.

A temporary addition to the family.

Well, I decided to start fostering Greyhounds so I talked with the AZ Adopt a Greyhound Society last week and got accepted. They gave us a tour of the track, history on the breed, and lots of information that I had never heard of before. It was a great time and I look forward to my new adventure. Did you know that the winner of each race is rewarded with a Twinkee?! Neither did I...

I pick up my first dog tonight and I am pretty excited. His name is Disciple (What, a religious dog?! I know, it doesn't suit me!). I don't know much about him except that he's a smaller chocolate colored male. Pretty sure he was a racer too.

As some of you know, I have wanted to adopt a Greyhound for some time now. It wasn't until Rusty picked me that I thought I was ready for a dog at all. The last two and a half years has been awesome with Rusty around and I think we're all ready for an addition to the family. Hopefully Disciple will get along with everyone, he passed his cat test at the Shelter so it should be fine. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I'll post some pictures after I have him. Wish me luck!

Kona eating.

Rusty bored from just having to watch and not play with the kittens.

Madison enjoying a bit of time alone.

Emily and Janelle having fun with the kittens! The kittens look forward to them visiting again real soon.

Where are those little kittens!