Sweetheart's Story

More Eve

2011-11-28T18:14:00.000-06:00

Sweetheart is fully healed and Eve should get her spay stitches out sometime the middle of this week. Eve will now be ready for adoption. I am kind of sad about that because she is a funny little girl and I would love to keep her. Alas, I cannot since I already have three greys of my own. I guess I could always stick Sweetheart outside with a 'free to good home' sign around her neck. :) Yeah right, we all know that isn't happening.

Below are some more Eve pictures I took last night. Enjoy.

Eve

2011-11-26T16:51:00.000-06:00

Crate Hate

2011-11-24T19:09:00.000-06:00

Eve is NOT thankful for crates. She hates them.

This crate was against the dining room wall when Les put her in it at 2:00. I get home at 6:30 only to discover she transported the crate, with herself inside, into the middle of the dining room and has somehow gotten the crate pan out of the crate and horizontal in front of it. All of this with a muzzle on. She was still in the crate when I got home. Needless to say she does not like crate.

I have to put four to five clips on the door because she squeezes out of the latched door if the extra clips aren't holding the door down to the crate body itself.

Thankful

2011-11-23T21:03:00.000-06:00

What is everyone thankful for?

Sweetheart is thankful for a warm home, a nice dog bed and a full tummy.

Eve is thankful to be out of the horrible shelter and free of parvo. A full tummy and a nice couch are also things she is thankful for.

I am thankful that all my fur babies are happy and healthy. I am thankful I have great family and friends and two wonderful veterinarians that make my life a lot easier!!

Let me know what you are thankful for!

Jess and Sweetheart

Saturday

2011-11-19T17:24:00.000-06:00

Eve is home safe and sound from her spay and teeth cleaning yesterday. I picked her up this morning and she doesn't appear to be in pain or having any ill effects. Animals amaze me with their strength!

Sweetheart is healing quite well and her wound looks really good. She is back to being a brat and is kind of being fussy. She growled a bit at Cleo and Monte last night so she got corrected with some stern words! Can't have a diva attitude like that in this house. Dr. Kendi said she was being a brat like that the week she was there. I think she just doesn't like being away from me that much and doesn't like sharing me with other dogs. Big baby.

I weighed Eve today when I picked her up and she weighs 50 pounds. She has gained 8 pounds in the month and a half since she left shelter hell! She was 42 and half dead when I got her. Now she is growing a big, filled out nicely and so energetic and fun. It is so rewarding to see dogs recover and be happy, it makes this 'job' so worthwhile.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Jess and Sweetheart (bad dog) and Eve

Sweets

2011-11-16T16:38:00.000-06:00

Sweetheart is thrilled to be home. She is doing fabulous with not licking the wound. It is still closed and appears to be healing just fine. There is no swelling or puffiness around the area, whew!

The best part of this to Sweetheart is that she has to take antibiotics for another 10 days or so and that means CHEESE! Twice a day, morning and night. She knows the drill and has it down pat! I am glad she is greedy for cheese, makes giving her two pills twice a day a snap.

Hopefully she will be fully healed in a few weeks and since everyone is being muzzled now there shouldn't be any additional 'tooth' trauma.

Eve goes in for her spay this Friday. I am interested to know how much she weighs now. She has become a very happy and exhuberant girl. Her puppy nature is starting to come through too. This is a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. :) She has chewed a few things but only when she is left alone and is bored. She really is a good girl overall and lots of fun to foster.

Hope everyone is having a good week. I am much happier with my Sweets back with me.

Jess and Sweetheart

HOME!

2011-11-14T14:36:00.000-06:00

Sweetheart is home!!!!

She was so excited to see me when I picked her up. She wagged her tail and danced around. Then she went straight for the front door and pawed at it repeatedly, wanting OUT! :)

Dr. Kolar removed her stitches and her wound is closed. The infection is completely gone and her leg is back to normal size.

She will be on antibiotics for the next 10 days or so. She has to wear her cone when we cannot watch her because she still licks her wound a little too obsessively. She looks so funny with her cone on. She eats and drinks pretty well with it on.

She lost some weight while at the vet's office but that is to be expected. She is eating good now and will gain those few pounds back quickly I have no doubt.

I am glad to have her home, the house didn't feel the same with her gone.

Jess and Sweetheart

Saturday Sweets

2011-11-12T17:55:00.000-06:00

Sweetheart is STILL at Dr. Kolar's.

Dr. Kolar is waiting to see if the bottom half of the wound will open up (he thinks it will). If it does, he wants to be able to clean the wound and make sure there is no further infection. If it doesn't open this weekend I may get to bring her home this week and just keep an eye on the wound as it heals.

Sweetheart is being a snob to the other dogs at Dr. Kolar's. Dr. Kendi said the only dog she can be neighbors with in the outdoor runs is another greyhound that is currently being boarded there. She growls at all the other kinds of dogs! I've raised a snob. :) Sweetheart is making all kinds of people friends and Dr. Kendi said she was running around the clinic like a maniac today.

Below are a couple of cute pictures Dr. Kendi sent me a few minutes ago.

Goofy girl!

Silly Sweets!

Jess and Sweets

Sweets on a Wednesday

2011-11-09T21:35:00.000-06:00

I talked to Lynn at Dr. Kolar's about 11 today. Sweetheart was doing well at that time. Dr. Kendi texted me a bit later and told me Sweetheart is responding well to antibiotics. The swelling in her leg has gone down and the wound looks better. She was going to clean the wound today to get rid of some of the smell and gunk. Sweets wasn't ready to come home today and that is fine by me. She is in the best place possible and getting lots of love and good care. I hope to have her home by the weekend, but only if she is ready. I don't want to rush her recovery at all.

I think Dr. Kendi is getting attached to Sweetheart. :) Of course I don't know how that could happen.

I did schedule Eve's spay for November 18th. She has gained her weight back and is even getting some nice little bootie muscles. :) Eve is a joy and I just love her. Benny and Eve play and play outside. It is rather scary to see Benny tackle her and give her a bear hug. However, Benny is so sweet and gentle he never hurts her. The same can't be said for Eve when she tackles him. :)

Les has been gone to California for a month (yeah, good timing what with all the dog drama) and is coming home Friday evening. I will be so glad to have him home. He is my emotional rock and does so much with the dogs and their vet visits, etc.

Keep Sweetheart in your thoughts. She is in mine all the time.

Jess and Sweetheart!

Tuesday Sweets

2011-11-08T17:08:00.001-06:00

Sweets is still at the vet's and will be most of the week I am thinking. Her infection is slowly going away but her leg is still swollen.

Dr. Kendi said last night that Sweetheart hated the 'cone of shame' but that today she was learning how to get around with it better. She said she felt so sorry for Sweetheart she was thinking of taking her home at night. I told her to go for it!

Dr. Kendi let her run around the clinic today when they weren't busy. Below are two pics she sent to me. The first one could be a great ASPCA adoption poster! The second one is of her wandering around the clinic.

Dr. Kendi said she was wagging her tail the whole time in the crate.

Wandering around the clinic. She looks so pathetic in that cone.

Jess and the official vet dog Sweets

Monday Morning Blues

2011-11-07T10:11:00.000-06:00

I took Sweetheart to Dr. Kolar's this morning. He examined her and took her temperature. She has a slight fever and the bottom part of the wound is infected. Her leg is swollen due to the infection.

He is going to keep her for a few days to try and get that infection gone and her leg back to normal size. He put a 'cone of shame' on her and she just looked at my with 'why me' eyes.

Poor girl. I feel bad for her but I feel better with her being at Kolar's. I would hated to have brought her home today and had her take a turn for the worse. At least while she is there they can watch her and treat anything that may come up right then.

Dr. Kolar did say the bottom half of the wound will have to heal as an open wound since it is infected. We know Sweetheart can heal well, look at her leg. But still, I am just heartsick for her. All I did this weekend was sat around worrying.

Jess and Sweetheart

Sunday and worried

2011-11-06T19:54:00.000-06:00

Sweetheart's wound isn't healing like it should be. Her leg is swollen as well. I am going to take her to the vet's tomorrow morning right when they open.

I am sick about this and have been worried sick all weekend. I worry that this is going to turn into something more serious and disabling. I know I shouldn't be worrying about things that may not happen but it scares me.

Sweetheart is eating alright and is bright eyed but she is nervous and wants to be near me.

I hope they will keep her a few days so she can get antibiotic shots and be in a controlled environment. I will update when I know more.

Jess and Sweets

Update

2011-11-03T10:24:00.000-05:00

Sweetheart is doing a 100 times better today so that means I am less of an emotional train wreck. Her leg and chest appear a less swollen and bruised already and she is moving around on the leg with a bit more ease.

Sweetheart came into the living room with us last night about 8:30 or so and she slept in the living room all night. She was bright eyed and wagging her tail this morning. She has gone out a couple of times already today. Her appetite is good and she took her medicine with no problems.

I did put a t-shirt on her since she has started licking the bottom portion of the incision. I put a big one on her and she almost fell over tripping on it. I figured I didn't want her to break a leg so I put a smaller one on her. She isn't quite she about the whole t-shirt thing but she is such a good patient she is coping nicely. The other dogs are rather interested in the t-shirt. :) The Rimadyl seemed to help so I gave her one this morning. She isn't in as much pain (isn't acting like it at least) so I think we are good with the Rimadyl.

I am staying home from work today and tomorrow to watch over her and make sure the other dogs don't bother her. It makes me feel better to be able to keep an eye on her versus worrying about her all day at work.

Jess and Sweetheart

Sweetheart is Home

2011-11-02T18:35:00.000-05:00

Sweetheart is home and I am about to cry.

Her shoulder and leg are swollen and incredibly bruised. She is hurting and is in the bedroom away from the other dogs. I am going to give her a Rimadyl to hopefully help with the pain. I know that medicine is for arthritis but I figure she is full of pain and inflammation so it can't hurt.

I am just sick about this. I thought having her home with me would make me feel better but I just feel so guilty and so incredibly sad. I see her hurting and I wish I could take her hurt away. I hope she will be ok. I know she is tough but it is still so hard to see her this way.

Jess and Sweetheart :(

Sweets this A.M.

2011-11-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

I talked to Lynn at Dr. Kolar's office a few minutes ago. Sweetheart is doing great this morning all things considered. She can go home anytime today. I would love to take off work NOW to go pick her up but I will resist the urge and will wait until I actually am scheduled to leave work to go get her!
Whew, I am so glad my girl made it through the night alright and that she is bright and happy today. She is a tough girl.

Now I have to get the vision of her hurt and screaming in the back yard out of my head!

I am going to take some cookies to Dr. Kolar's this afternoon as a little thank you for letting me rush her in last night at 645! Hope everyone has a good day. Mine is looking up. I might post pics of her gnarly wound tonight, I haven't decided.

Jess and Sweetheart

Sweetheart is hurt....but ok!

2011-11-01T21:38:00.001-05:00

I hate writing this because I feel like SUCH a horrible dog owner.

Tonight I had Sweetheart, Cleo and Eve outside for a couple hours (it is beautiful weather). Sweets and Cleo were muzzled. Eve wasn't because she is a baby and can't really hurt the other dogs because of her overbite. About 6 p.m. I let Monte out (unmuzzled because I never have to muzzle him, haven't for years) and not 5 minutes later I hear a horrendous scream in the backyard. I run to the back door and see Sweetheart screaming with a HUGE gash in the front of her. OMG is what I kept saying over and over while thinking to myself 'this cannot be happening to her'. My thoughts are that Sweetheart tried to play with Monte and he lashed out. He would have been the only one who could have hurt her since Cleo was muzzled and Eve is too docile and has that overbite that prevents her from doing much damage to anything..

I frantically called Dr. Kolar's office and luckily Dr. Kendi was there. I was a basket case, which I normally am not, and I asked Dr. Kendi if I could bring her, didn't wait for her to answer, then sort of shouted into the phone that I was going to be there in 30 minutes. I got three of my dogs crated, a blanket in the car and Sweetheart loaded. I called my Mom and Dad and they came over and watched the dogs for me. I made it to Kolar's in record time. I get there, fling open the PT Cruiser back door and get Sweetheart out of the car very gingerly. As soon as I opened the door to the Kolar's office I just lost it and started crying.

Luckily Dr. Kendi was levelheaded and reassured me that it was only just a flesh wound. An 8 inch flesh wound but a flesh would none the less. She gave Sweetheart a shot of anesthesia and we carried her to the surgery table. It is scary watching a dog under anesthesia, I was so scared she wouldn't keep breathing. She did though and an hour later she was all stitched up. Dr. Kendi gave her some oxygen and a shot of antibiotics after the surgery and we carried her into the kennel area. Sweetheart was sleeping soundly when I left. Dr. Kendi said she would check on her in a couple hours (about 9 or 10 p.m.) to make sure she was doing ok.

After all was said and done, I walked outside to get in the car, I noticed that in my haste to get Sweets inside I didn't even close the door of the PT. It was wide open the whole time. Thankfully all was intact with the car and I was able to make it home in one piece.

I should be able to bring Sweetheart home tomorrow after work tomorrow. I was so scared for her and am so very very grateful that Dr. Kendi stayed late to sew her up. I feel like such a bad owner for not muzzling Monte. I haven't had to in years and years. It makes me so sad to think of Sweetheart suffering any at all. I will be muzzling Monte for the rest of his life I can tell you that.

On a brighter note, Eve is finally home. I got her home this past Saturday. She has kennel cough. She is only coughing a little at night and in the morning when she first wakes up. She is on antibiotics for another 7 days or so. She is filling out nicely and is super sweet. I cannot, however, keep her in a crate. She gets out of them like Houdini. Luckily she is a good dog in the house and doesn't tear anything up.

I am about to go to bed and try not to worry about Sweetheart too much. I am sure I will be texting Dr. Kendi tomorrow morning to make sure she is doing ok. Until she is home I will be worried I am sure. It isn't the same without my Sweets here. I love her so much!

Jess and Sweetheart

Tuesday

2011-10-25T17:40:00.000-05:00

So Eve is still at Dr. Kolar's. She is still coughing some and he doesn't want to release her home until he feels confident the 'bug' is gone. I wish I could bring her home now darn it.

Celine has a fractured toe on her rear right foot. She is in a splint. I did get to bring her home Monday morning. She goes back to Dr.Kolar's Saturday morning so he can check to see if the toe is healing.. If the toe is healing he will re-splint it and she will wear the splint for another two weeks. If he doesn't feel it is healing like it should, he will go ahead and amputate the toe versus struggling to get it healed. We have been through a couple toe amputations. They aren't bad unless the dog won't leave it alone (and Celine has proven to be a wound worrier) so she may have to wear a halo if it comes down to amputation.

ARGH!!! Thankfully my three are healthy, paws and fingers crossed that nothing else comes up with the fosters. When it rains it pours.

Luckily Celine is a natural on the splint. She goes up and down the steps outside like a pro. She also makes her way onto the couch with no problems. She looks so funny 'roaching' on the couch with a big ole 'off white' splint. :)

The doormat outside keeps 'moving' and I have my suspicions. :) I have a feeling Sweets is having fun with it. She is such a silly goof. I was cross stitching last night and she kept laying across my lap wanting attention, I wonder if she is spoiled at all? Surely not?!!

I hope everyone is having a good week. Mine is ok but will be better once Eve is home and Celine is healed!

Jess and Sweets

Eve update

2011-10-23T13:20:00.000-05:00

Eve developed a pretty rough cough this week. And Thursday night, Celine (8 year old foster) came into the house holding her rear foot up. She did not put weight on it the rest of the evening.

Soooo, Friday morning I took Celine and Eve to Dr. Kolar's. Eve had a runny nose as well as a cough. They decided to keep Eve over the weekend so they could give her shots of antibiotics. I believe Celine has a broken toe. I decided to have Dr. Kolar keep her too so that she could be off of the foot for a bit and so that I could get a little weekend to myself without fosters. I hope to pick both Eve and Celine up tomorrow by noon or so.

Eve has been a joy to foster. She is one of the easiest fosters I have had. She had to have been a house dog at one time because her house manners are superb. She hasn't had an accident, isn't food aggressive and sleeps well through the night. She did break out of her wire crate Thursday afternoon before I got home from work. The bottom of the wire crate was all bent up and the plastic bottom 'pan' of the crate was in the middle of the dining room floor. Eve was unscathed and happy as a lark when I walked in the door. Thankfully the cat was still alive and nothing in the house was disturbed!!!

Below are a few silly Sweetheart pictures. Hope you enjoy.

Haughty little look and SPOTS!

Mid yawn! Monte passed out on her right.

Lazy Sunday afternoon!

Jess and Sweetheart

Eve is home

2011-10-18T18:31:00.000-05:00

Meet Eve! She found the couch quickly!

I brought Eve home from Dr. Kolar's tonight. She looks like a different dog! Her eyes aren't filled with mucus, her nose isn't runny and she is clean. She is still super thin but she is chowing down on dog food as we speak.

On the way home she climbed into the front seat and put her paws up on the dash. I took her by my mom and dad's house on the way home and she did great. All our dogs mobbed her at first and kind of scared her but all in all she did good holding her own.

I am sure she has been abused because when I was outside picking up sticks she would cower and run away from me when I would try to pet her. That makes me sad to think she has been hurt at such a young age. However, she is very sweet and takes pets great if you are sitting down or stop while standing and talk nice to her.

She weighs about 43 pounds, up from 42.2 pounds last Monday night. She has a little cough but is on antibiotics for 10 days. I am also going to give her a liquid vitamin supplement like I did with Sweetheart. Her blood work wasn't too bad per Dr. Kendi so that is a good thing.

Eve must have been in a house before because she has sprawled out on the couch both times she has been inside. I cannot imagine anyone starving and abandoning this sweet girl. I am glad we were able to get her from the shelter when we did because I don't think she would have made it much longer.

She is kinda whiny in the house, I don't think she knows what to do with herself now that she is home and feeling good.

Jess, Sweetheart and Eve

Eve comes home tomorrow

2011-10-17T18:28:00.000-05:00

Dr. Kendi texted me tonight and said that Eve can come home tomorrow. She did great over the weekend and is eating like a horse. She will only have to be on amoxycillin when she comes home. I am not sure if they have gotten her blood work back from the lab yet though. I am curious to see if she is anemic, what with her having parvo or parvo like symptoms and being so incredibly thin.

They are going to give her a bath (yes please!!) before I pick her up for work tomorrow. I am also going to weigh her before I bring her home so I know how much she needs to gain.

Wish us luck that she is a good house girl!

Sweetheart has taken to playing with the doormat. I noticed it was on the bottom of the stairs yesterday. I didn't think anything of it and put it back on the top step. I look out of the door tonight and it is in the yard and Sweetheart is pouncing on it. I didn't get to see her play with it too long because she caught me watching her and ran to the door! I'm surprised she plays with it because it is pretty bristly.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Jess and Sweetheart

Eve update and the Komen 5K

2011-10-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

Eve is negative for heartworms and erlichia (tick borne disease). She does have internal parasites but these will be treated with Panacur and should be cleared up very soon.

Dr. Kendi said she was eating great again today and has not had to go back on IV fluids.

I am waiting to hear when I can bring her home. I would imagine not before the first part of next week. I don't want to rush her home and then have her have a set back. She is in good hands at Dr. Kolar's office.

I just hope she isn't a cat killer because Kitty would not be happy about that!

Tomorrow I am participating in a 5K walk for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Debbie will have been gone a year October 30th. I am having mixed feelings about doing this walk. I want to do it to honor her but I know seeing those survivors and those fighting this disease is going to make me so sad that Debbie is no longer here. A group of co workers and I are going to do the walk and we are having brunch afterwards so I think it will be bittersweet and fun at the same time. I just wish Debbie were here to do this with us. Be sure to tell your friends and family you love them because you never know when they will be gone. And give your fur babies lovies too. :) Sweetheart says so!

Jess and Sweetheart

Eve update

2011-10-13T18:16:00.000-05:00

Eve (shelter girl) is doing a lot better today. Dr. Kendi said that she is off of the IV and was scarfing down her dog food this morning. I just talked to Dr. Kendi and Eve is eating dry dog food well too.

She said Eve is making good use of her tail, just wagging it away!! I am so thankful. I was worried about her after seeing how weak she looked yesterday.

Dr. Kendi said she has to have a bigger dog bowl to eat out of because she has a pretty good overbite. :)

Hope everyone had a good day!

Jess and Sweetheart

Project

2011-10-12T19:45:00.000-05:00

The last time I wrote, Sweetheart and I were going to do a fundraising event at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City Oklahoma. We ended up doing four separate speeches to a total of around 100 jet mechanics. Sweetheart did FABULOUS. She was sweet and not afraid of any of the people there. I let one of the supervisors 'introduce' her to the folks as they sat down. I think a lot of people were touched by her story and how wonderfully she recovered.

This past weekend was hectic for me dog wise. My friend, who broke her wrists 6 weeks ago, ended up in the hospital with pacreatitis. I ended up taking her four dogs (two greys and two Ibizans) to Dr. Kolar's for boarding after hours on Sunday. Then, I met a hauler at 2 a.m that night.in OKC to pick up three new greys. I took them to Dr. Kolar's Monday morning.

Finally I ended up at the OKC Animal Shelter to pick up a new 'baby'. Her name is Eve (I named her as she had no collar, tag or tattoos). She was brought into the facility as a stray Friday October 7th. The OKC shelter gives a dog days for the owner's to claim the dog. She was not claimed by Monday evening so Les and I pulled her. She is in terrible shape. She is probably 10-12 months old and only weighs 42 pounds (I think she should be 55 or so at her age and size). Her eyes were runny and so was her nose. Eve was incredibly lethargic as well. In addition, she was scared from being in the traumatic environment of the shelter. However, she wagged her tail whenever anyone at the shelter would stop and talk to her.

I knew we couldn't expose her to our dogs at home because there is always a high chance that they will catch whatever the shelter dogs bring in. Once again, Dr. Kolar was there to help. I called him at 6 p.m. (he closes at 5) and he was still at the clinic and let me bring her in. I am so glad I was able to do that.

Yesterday I texted Dr. Kendi and they think Eve has parvo. They are treating her like she does at least. She is getting IV fluids and canned and dry dog food. She had horrible diarrhea yesterday but as of 2 p.m. today she had not had any more. She ate a little today and held it down. In addition to the IV's, they are giving her anti nausea medication in hopes this will help her appetite.

Eve is a touch and go sort of situation. I read a statistic online that 70% of adult dogs can survive parvo. If this IS what she has I hope she is one of the lucky 70%. Right now, Dr. Kolar's staff are just in the 'save her life' mode and are not worried about heartworms, spaying or teeth cleaning. This will come later, once she has gained strength and is 'out of the woods'.

I saw Eve today for a few minutes when I took my friend to get her babies out of Dr. Kolar's. She was still lethargic and looked so sad with her IV. I honestly don't know if she will make it. I hope so, as she is so sweet and friendly and seems like a good patient. She is getting the best care she can at this point and all we can do is wait and see.

I hope to be able to take some pictures of her when I visit here again. She will be at Dr. Kolar's at least a week and I plan on bringing her home to my house to foster her and help her recover.

Jess and Sweetheart

Fundraising Sweetheart!

2011-10-03T17:56:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I know it has been FOREVER since I have posted anything.

Sweetheart is doing great. She is holding her weight at around 61 pounds and is spoiled rotten as always.

Every year Fasthound participates in the United Way Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). The CFC allows federal workers to contribute a portion of their pay to a charitable group or groups of their choice. Fasthound has had the honor of being a part of the CFC campaign for the last several years. The generous donations from federal employees have allowed us to be able to do blood panels and other extras for all of our dogs and it has allowed us to focus more on greyhound adoption outreach and awareness versus fundraising.

From September-November the CFC outreach is in full swing. Federal agencies can request charitable groups to come to their offices and facilities to do speeches and such. Well, we have a big air force base in Oklahoma City: Tinker AFB. It employees thousands of civilians and of course air force personnel. Fasthound was asked to do a presentation to some of their civilian employees (jet mechanics I believe). Guess who is going? Yep, Sweetheart and I!!! I made up a flyer (which I am having a devil of a time saving correctly for printing at Staples) about her story. I am going to hand it out to each person attending the meeting and I plan on telling them all about her neglect and fabulous recovery. I hope she is a good ambassadog and doesn't act like a goof. :) Hopefully her gruesome story of neglect will open some of their wallets. I mean, really, who could resist her? Obviously not me!

Sweetheart and I will be going to Tinker AFB this Wednesday from 12-3. Wish us luck. I plan on spiffing her up with a bath and one of her fancy collars.

Puppy (Gracie) has been in her foster to adopt home for about a week now. She is doing fabulous there. After the event at Tinker Wednesday I am going to pick her up and dogsit for the weekend. Sweetheart will be thrilled to have her chew toy back. She was a bit bored after Gracie left.

I hope everyone is doing well. I am so excited that Sweetheart has the opportunity to do this event at Tinker AFB Wednesday! I will give a report of how it went Wednesday evening hopefully.

Jess and Sweetheart

Puppster & Sweets playing and Cleo's dust bowl 2011.

2011-08-30T21:48:00.000-05:00

Friend's Accident :(

2011-08-25T18:12:00.000-05:00

My friend Cathy had a horseback riding accident yesterday morning. She was riding some horse trails at a local lake with a friend. She was trotting and the horse lost its footing and went down on its front legs. Cathy flew forward and caught herself by her wrists. Unfortunately she dislocated and broke them both. She will have to have surgery on both wrists Tuesday.

Cathy and her partner Mike have adopted two greyhounds from us. They also have several Ibizans and Jack Russell terriers. In addition, they have ten horses, all of which are rescues (they came home from a recent horse sale a month ago with five baby horses because they could not bear to see them put down or sold for slaughter).

Les and I are dog sitting their greyhounds for as long as they need us to. Their greys are Lucy and Lucius. We will assist them in any way we can in feeding and watering their horses and other dogs and in taking care of Cathy.

I would normally never ask for help on the blog for others but I am making an exception. Cathy and Mike are super people with big hearts. If any of you who follow this blog can donate something via paypal to Cathy and Mike it would be much appreciated. All money will go for their animals food and health care. Oklahoma is in a severe drought and hay alone for the horses is pricey. They take excellent care of their animals and I know they would appreciate any help that is given.

If you or your friends and family donate via paypal, just be sure to note that the donation is for Cathy and Mike's animals so that way we can keep the donations separate from our regular Fasthound donations.

Again, thank you in advance for any donations you can give. I can personally vouch for how well they take care of their horses and dogs and the money will be well spent.

Jess, Sweetheart, Lucy, Lucius and Gracie!

Puppy and stuff

2011-08-21T10:32:00.002-05:00

Puppy 'roach'!

Sweetheart HATES the puppy. She won't play with her and gives her dirty looks when she comes near her. Sweetheart is also terribly jealous if I play with the puppy. I was playing with Gracie yesterday and had a sense of some evil force :) and I look up and Sweetheart is shooting daggers at me from across the room (and continued to do so the whole time I was playing with Gracie).

Actually it is quite funny to me that Sweetheart is jealous. She has been used to being the center of the world for the past year that it must be kind of hard when a pretty young things horns in. :) At least Sweetheart hasn't been aggressive towards Gracie, she is content with giving me nasty looks and sometimes standing in between us and growling (which I don't allow of course).

Grace is heartworm negative but she had a pretty good load of hookworms (these will be taken care of with Trifexis) and her blood work came back that she is anemic. So it looks like I will be giving her Petinic twice a day for a month to build that blood back up. I had to do this with Sweetheart so I am used to it.

Gracie is a pure joy, which is not what I usually say about puppies. She is very sweet and loving and has pretty good house manners for a five month old pup. We fell asleep together 'spooning' on the couch last night. :) Lester said he didn't have the heart to put her in her crate when he went to bed because she looked so comfortable on the couch with me.

Monte had his yearly vetting this past week. Not such great news for him. He is in the first stages of kidney failure. Dr. Kolar is recommending we put him on a prescription diet in hopes of helping his kidneys. Monte is 10 and a half and is just a love. It hurts my heart that he is already showing his age so much. However, we will do whatever we need to to keep his quality of life high. We are lucky he is such a happy boy. I hope this food helps him. I will ask Dr. Kolar when he wants to do another blood test on Monte so that we can see if his kidney levels are holding steady or getting worse once he is on the prescription diet for a bit.

My silly Monte. Isn't he just a doll?

Jess, Sweetheart and Sweetheart's nemesis, Gracie! :)

Puppy

2011-08-17T22:11:00.000-05:00

So I get a call from a woman in Oklahoma City last night. She says she saw our group at an outreach event. She decided that she liked the greys and wanted one. So she sees an ad in the newspaper for greyhound puppies. She goes to the place and sees the brindle female and falls in love. She gets the puppy home and a month and a half later realizes that a puppy is too much to deal with. So guess what, Fasthound now has a new five month old puppy!!

Her name is Gracie and she was bred to be a coyote hunter. For whatever reason, the breeder decided not to use her for hunting (thank goodness). Sweetheart wasn't too thrilled at first but I think they will have a blast once Sweetheart warms up to her.

I will be taking her to Dr. Kolar's tomorrow for vetting. Thankfully she has already been spayed and had her rabies shot. We will have her heart worm tests, fecal, full blood panel and additional shots. Hopefully her blood work and heart worm test will come back good!

Below are a couple pictures of Gracie.

How beautiful is she?!

Below are two pictures of Sweetheart eating some of her birthday cake!

Jess, Sweetheart and Gracie

Sweetheart's Cake

2011-08-12T23:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of the cake I made for Sweetheart's Birthday party tomorrow. It isn't perfect but that's OK, I love her very much and am happy to have been able to make this for her party!

This cake took a box and a half of cake mix. The rest of the batter I made into a small square cake. I let Sweetheart have two pieces of the small square cake (without icing) while it was still warm. She LOVED it. She followed me into the kitchen and watched me ice the heart cake, hoping I would drop it on the ground for her.. :)

Jess and Sweetheart!!

Birthday Girl!!!

2011-08-11T17:47:00.004-05:00

Sweetheart's "Birthday" is Saturday!!! I cannot believe it has been a year since we rescued her. She is an amazing girl and I am so thankful to have her healthy and happy and spoiled rotten. Dr. Kendi (actually Dr. Horner but I think of her as Dr. Kendi) from Dr. Kolar's office is going to be there with her own personal greyhound. I am so excited to have one of the vet's who was with Sweetheart from day 1 and instrumental in her recovery be there to share in this! Without Dr. Kolar, Dr. Kendi and all the Prague Veterinary Clinic staff Sweetheart would not have made the wonderful recovery she has.

Sweetheart's Birthday party will be at Mann's Best Friend Pet Boutique this Saturday, August 13th, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mann's address is: 10700 S. Penn, Suite 24, Oklahoma City OK.

One of Sweetheart's blog friends is auctioning a gorgeous silver and turquoise greyhound pendant on EBAY in honor of Sweetheart. All proceeds from this auction will go to the adoption group of Sweetheart's choice :) The link to the auction is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/150645043159?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp5197.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D150645043159%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1#ht_500wt_949

The item number is: 150645043159

If the link doesn't get you there just copy the item number and paste it into the EBAY search box and it will take you to the item.

I am excited to share Sweetheart's recovery with everyone who is able to come to her party! Thank you to everyone who has followed her story over the past year via this blog. I hope there are many years and many stories to come!

Oh yeah, Benny has gained close to 30 pounds and weighs about 100 pounds now!!

Jessica and Sweetheart.

Short video.

2011-07-28T17:11:00.000-05:00

Pictures!

2011-07-17T14:07:00.000-05:00

60 and a cold

2011-07-06T19:23:00.000-05:00

He's just a big hunk of dog!

Benny is VERY sweet and gentle

Sweetheart now weighs 60.2 pounds as of this Tuesday! This is very very close to double her weight when rescued. I think at least 2 pounds are spots!

Benny had to go to Kolar's this past Saturday. He had some bloody discharge from his nose. Dr. Kolar thinks he had a cold and that he probably has ehrlichia and that his bloody nose was a sign of it. I had them keep him until Tuesday so that way they could monitor him and change any medication that might be necessary.

While Benny was at the vet Sweetheart started coughing. ARGH! Sooo, Les took Sweetheart in Tuesday and Dr. Kolar thinks she got the Benny Bug. She is now on antibiotics for seven days I believe. The cough hasn't slowed her down a bit. She is still wild and bouncy and silly.

Benny is now home and looking and feeling SO much better. The pictures of him above are from today and he looks like a different dog, all bright eyed. He no longer growls at the other dogs and he doesn't 'guard' the food bowl. He is very gentle, sweet and laid back.

Ollie came back. She kept pooping in the house. I think of it was that she was bored and needed another dog. I also think she still had some residual stomach issues. She is also on antibiotics again. So that makes three dogs we have on pills. Luckily Les is overseeing the medication and that is a big help to me. Benny will be on doxycycline for four weeks to make sure the ehrlichia is under control.

On the prowl looking for trouble!

I am excited Sweetheart is having a birthday party! Never thought I would say that about one of my dogs. :)

Jess and Sweetheart

Birthday Party!

2011-07-04T15:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I have officially entered into crazy dog lady territory. Yes, I am going to have a birthday party for Sweetheart.

Sweetheart's birthday party will be held on Saturday, August 13th from 5 p.m-7 p.m. at Mann's Best Friend, 10700 S Penn, Suite 24, Oklahoma City, OK 73170. All of Sweetheart's fans are invited as are your dogs. The planning is in its initial stages but I hope to have cake, punch, finger foods and beverages for all who attend. Mann's provided many great things for her party in October 2010 and I will be working with them over the next month to finalize all the details.

I hope some of you who live in Oklahoma are able to make it. This will be a special day for me as it will be exactly one year from the day Fasthound rescued her. She has come such a long way and deserves a celebration!

Hope to see lots of you there!

Jess and Sweetheart

Thoughts

2011-06-29T20:44:00.001-05:00

Sweetheart is not too thrilled with Benny being here. He is huge and rather intimidating to her. He also mad dogs the food bowl (which we are diligently correcting) and this kind of freaks her out. She has been acting demure and rather subdued lately. It is kind of nice in a way but I wouldn't want her to be that way forever.

Benny has a cold. Dr. Kendi said it is from stress most likely. He got a shot of antibiotics and some pills for 7-10 days. He is coughing a tad and has some mucous discharge from his nose but it is slight so hopefully the pills will kick in and he will be tip top in no time. He has gained ten pounds and now weighs 78 although he is still thin as a rail. He isn't growling at the other dogs as much and we will cure him of this food bowl guarding I have no doubt.

I was kicking around the idea of having a birthday party for Sweetheart on Saturday, August 13th. I decided a while back that that date is going to be her birthday. I wonder if anyone would attend her party if I held one? I put this as a poll on the blog. Let me know what you think by voting and/or commenting.

I hope everyone is having a good week. I have a four day weekend starting Friday and I am super excited about it.

Oh yes, I keep forgetting. Prior to Benny coming here Sweetheart starting getting into my stuff. She would nose around in my bag and pull out my cross stitch, yarn, knitting needles, pill bottles, books, etc. I would wake up from a nap and discover things just trailed all over the living room floor. Thankfully she did not ruin anything, although one of my new books is missing a corner and has a few teeth marks in it. Oh and she is excellent at unwinding a ball of yarn and heaping it into a nice pile! She 'fishes' for these treasures all around my recliner. But, as always, I can't be mad at her. It is rather amusing actually!

Jess

Sweetheart and the snake!

2011-06-25T20:38:00.000-05:00

She looks so sweet and innocent. She's NOT! :)

Every time I see a picture of her all I can see are SPOTS!

As some of you have read in prior posts, Sweetheart likes to patrol the backyard at night and bark at anything she feels is a danger to her territory. :) She has been doing this from the day she came home, weighing a fearsome 35 pounds no less.

Les let the dogs out last night. He was in the house and heard her barking (again, not unusual). He looks out the window and sees her barking at the ground. He doesn't think anything of it and lets them all back in. About an hour later they go outside again. Sweetheart goes to the same spot again and starts barking and dancing around. Les decides to get the flashlight and take a look to see what all the fuss is about. He goes over to the dead tree stump she is dancing around and discovers a snake, about four feet in length, coiled and ready to strike. I guess the snake didn't appreciate Sweetheart barking at him. Les ended up killing the snake because he did not want it to try to kill his chickens. Who knew I had a fearless snake hunter in Sweetheart!

One of our volunteers had Benny at her house for the last two days. I brought him home today. He growls at the other dogs but he hasn't tried to bite or snap. I think he is more scared of them than anything. He IS getting along with Monte well though. Cleo and Sweetheart he isn't quite sure about. He is eating well and is very friendly to people. I took him to Tractor Supply after picking him up from our volunteer and he did fabulous in the store. He walked around wagging his tail most of the time.

Sweetheart isn't so sure about him. They stood beside each other in the house and he growled at her and she tried to posture like she was tough. Of course we don't let this go on and correct both of them. After that bit of posturing and growling Sweetheart has been keeping her distance. When they go outside she just sort of watches him walk around the yard. It really is quite funny to see her acting so docile around him when normally she is trying to chew on new dogs. :)

This photo makes me laugh. Her expression is almost cartoonish.

Benny is so big he makes Sweetheart look rather wimpy. :) When he fills out I would imagine he will be about 90-100 pounds easy. Oh, and I doubt he will ever be cat safe. He was in the crate and lunged at Kitty when she came out of hiding. He then kept looking around the living room for her after she ran off. She is safely ensconced in the bathroom with her food, water, litter and beds for the time being!

Benny is also a collector of toys, a counter surfer and a trash digger. He also likes kiddie pools. I have my hands full with this one. He is so huge that nothing is too far from his 'reach' :) Benny isn't extremely photogenic but I wanted to attach a couple of pics in the blog so you guys can see more of him. He is way more handsome in person.

Benny with a pair of boxer shorts he got from the laundry room.

You can kind of get an idea of what his coat looks like and how thin he is.

One more thing, I should be finalizing on Ollie this coming weekend! YAY!

Jess, Sweetheart and Benny

Tired

2011-06-21T22:29:00.001-05:00

Just thought I would share a cute picture of my foster boy passed out in his crate tonight. His name is Cash and he is one of the most handsome greys I have had.

Sleepy theme continued. I know I have posted this one before but she looks so sweet and innocent in this picture (please overlook the stuffing from the toy she just 'killed') She has even more spots now than in this picture!

Long time no post!

2011-06-20T21:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while, a long while actually, but I am doing good and Sweetheart is too. Sweetheart continues to be a joy for us. She is absolutely spoiled rotten and I just love her. She continues to act like Bavarian in many ways.

I did find out she isn't a big fan of crowds or big groups of other dogs. Every June we have a gathering of adopter's and their greys at my house. We have kiddie pools for the dogs and everyone sits and visits out on our back porch. Sweetheart wasn't thrilled. At one point I look over to the side of the yard where no dogs are and see her curled up by herself in a little hole. She was really quite pathetic looking. I almost felt sorry for her until I went over to pet her and she starts gnawing me. Silly girl.

Ollie is finally doing well. She had a few setbacks with the strong antibiotics hurting her stomach and some intestinal worms. However, she is finally done with antibiotics and should be worm free! My good friend and co-worker has been fostering to adopt Ollie the last three weeks. He was gone to training this past week and I took care of her. He came to pick her up tonight and both were so happy to see each other, it was quite heart warming. :) Below is a picture of Ollie in his car on his way home with her tonight. She looks so pretty in this picture.

Sunday I went to the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter to look at a supposed full blood greyhound. Les and I get there and look at him and full blood he isn't. He turned out to be a lurcher, half greyhound and most likely half deerhound. We normally don't take in mixed breeds but I couldn't leave him there. He was so beautiful and sweet, how could I? Les named him Benny and he is absolutely gigantic! His head almost hits my hip when he stands. He has fuzzy, coarse hair like a deerhound and a sweet greyhound face. I took him to Kolar's yesterday afternoon and he was vetted today. He is heartworm negative and we are waiting on blood work to make sure he doesn't have other issues. His poor ears are fly bitten and he only weighs 68 pounds when he should weigh about 80-85 at least. However, if he comes here you all know I will fatten him up. However, I don't think he is going to be cat safe so if he does come here Kitty will have to live in the spare bedroom for a while.

Look at all that fuzzy hair!

How could I leave this face at the shelter?

I hope everyone is doing good! I will keep you posted on how Benny is doing.

Jess and Sweetheart

Wednesday

2011-05-18T19:39:00.000-05:00

Ollie is back home this evening. Dr. Kolar said she is doing good and that her tummy is all better. He thinks it was a reaction to being on heavy antibiotics for four and a half weeks. I am so glad she is doing well.

Les picked Ollie up and brought her and Sweetheart to my work. One of my co-workers is going to foster Ollie starting Saturday to see if he is interested in getting a grey. Of course Ollie looked all sad and ratty. Her hair is still pretty ugly and fuzzed out and some of it is different colors from laying in the dirt holes in my yard. I assured him I would give her a bath and put a new collar on her prior to bringing her over Saturday.

Sweetheart had a blast at my job. My co-workers all know her story after hearing me go on about her for months. The last time she was at my work she was still pretty thin and her leg was still bandaged. Today she was so happy and friendly, going up to everyone, wagging her tail and batting her pretty eyes. I do so love watching her acting sweet and silly with everyone. They were all so surprised at how good she looks. They said she looks like a different dog! I must say that she does, especially with all the muscles she is building.

I will get some pics of Ollie once I give her a bath. Sweetheart is getting one Saturday morning too. This should be interesting as I have never given her a bath since she had her very first on at Kolar's. Instead of white she is sort of a yellowish, not the prettiest color. Sweetheart will be accompanying me to a fundraising and outreach event in OKC from 1-4 Saturday so she does have to look her best. I will have to break out one of her fancy collars too!

Hope all is well with everyone. Ollie is FINALLY done with antibiotics and I hope this is her last visit to the vet for a long while. Poor girl has had a rough two months.

Jess, Ollie and Sweetheart

Vet visit

2011-05-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning I had to take Ollie to Dr. Kolar's. She has been having issues with her stomach this last week and she has been having accidents in the house. I stopped her antibiotics because I felt they were upsetting her stomach. Kolar examined her and feels her intestines are inflamed/upset. He is keeping her until mid week so he can keep an eye on her and give her her meds (she is a horrible pill taker). Her antibiotics should be over with so hopefully she can be done with feeling icky. Poor little thing, she is so pitiful looking when she isn't feeling well.

I decided to take Sweetheart with me to Dr. Kolar's so that they could see her. It has been a while since they saw her and I wanted to have her visit them for a happy visit and not for treatment. She did NOT want to stay in the office at first. Dr. Kendi sat on the bench and was loving on her and hugging her and Sweetheart kept shivering. Poor girl, she just knew she was going to have her leg scraped on. :) After a bit she calmed down and started warming up.

Everyone at Dr. Kolar's is amazed at how great she is doing, both physically and mentally. Dr. Kolar saw her and said 'she looks pretty good for a dead dog'! :) He is very very pleased with how well her leg has healed and how much control she has over it. For a time he was worried that she wouldn't have the full use of it. Kolar is also pleased with all her muscles and he feels she is doing above and beyond what he ever expected. I must admit I was a proud 'Mom' to hear my little girl praised!

After the vet visit I stopped by my mom and dad's house. We sat out on the porch and watched the hummingbirds (my parent's have about 15-20 hummingbirds at any one time during the warm weather). They were buzzing around and chattering and Sweetheart just watched and watched them with her ears perked. It was so cute, she didn't know what the heck they were all about. She got a couple of walks around my parent's property and my dad said she was like a bloodhound, sniffing all the scents along the trails.

We got home and Sweetheart passed out for a while. All that excitement wore her out!!

Ollie will hopefully be home mid week sometime. I hope she comes home with a settled tummy and is accident free in the house from here on out I will try to get some pics of Ollie and Sweetheart soon. I haven't posted pics in a while and I know everyone is wanting to see a few!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was great and I think Sweetheart's was too. :)

Jess and Sweetheart and Ollie

9 months!

2011-05-13T20:46:00.001-05:00

Friday the 13th will always be a special day for me. 9 months ago on Friday, August 13th I took Sweetheart out of the Chickasha Animal Shelter and our odyssey began. It has been 9 months of ups and downs but I must say the ups far outweigh the downs.

I never thought she would be doing so well and that she would be able to have all four legs, let alone run around on them like the wild Peanut she is. I am so grateful for all of your support these last 9 months. Every one of your comments has meant the world to me.

I am going to celebrate Sweetheart's birthday on August 13th 2011. I figure it can be like a rebirth for her. Perhaps I could have a Sweetheart birthday party for her.

Thanks for keeping up with us through all the ups and downs. I promise there will be more blogs and Sweetheart stories to come!

Jess and Sweetheart

58!

2011-05-08T18:24:00.000-05:00

So for the last week or two Les has been commenting about how Sweetheart appears to be getting a little "bulk" to her. I really hadn't noticed but once I started looking closely, I started seeing it too. The muscles on her thighs and her front shoulders are getting more defined and 'bulkier'. Well, I took her to Petsmart yesterday and decided to weigh her on their scale. Sure enough, she is now 58 pounds. The last time we weighed her she weighed 56. I supposed all of that digging and running after the other dogs has helped my little Peanut become a bit bigger Peanut. I am excited to see if she will gain any additional weight by August 13th, her one year 'rescue' anniversary.

Ollie is doing great. She is pretty much normal weight now, or at least appears to be and her coat is nice and soft and still fluffy. She is very very sweet and likes to snuggle on the air bed with me when I let her. She is doing better with her food aggression and doesn't growl any longer when the dogs come near her when she is eating or when she is lying on a dog bed. She still has about 10 days to go on antibiotics for her tick borne disease. Then I suppose we will have her blood work done again to make sure she doesn't need to stay on them even longer.

I will try to get some pictures of Ollie soon.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. Friday Lester made steaks and baked potatoes. After we finished dinner I let the dogs in. I was sitting in my recliner relaxing and watching TV. All of a sudden I see Sweetheart run into the living room from the kitchen with something in her mouth. She drops the 'object' in the middle of the floor. One guess what it was....half a stick of BUTTER! ARGH!. I took it away from her and made her feel guilty. She went into her crate and hung her head. After she was 'punished' I gave her, Ollie, Cleo and Journey a few licks of the butter. Yes, I know, I am a sucker. What makes this all the more hilarious is that Bavarian had a butter fetish and swiped a tub of margarine (not a full one thank goodness) off the counter a few times when we were gone. As time goes on Sweetheart is showing more and more little Bavarianesque characteristics. However, at least Bavarian would wait until we were out of the house, Sweetheart is just downright brazen!

Jess, Sweetheart and Ollie

ARGH Sweetheart! What did you do?!

2011-04-21T17:24:00.000-05:00

I know it has been a while since I updated the blog but what I came home to today made me want to share with all of you.

Below is a picture of Sweetheart's handiwork. Les was outside tending the chickens for no more 15 minutes and this is what happened.

That is Journey in the midst of the rubble!

Les said Sweetheart was standing right in the middle of it as proud as she could be. ARGH!!! I have yet to pick it all up. I am sitting here looking at the carnage and thinking it is going to take a while to get each and every little piece picked up!

Ollie is great. She is currently on antibiotics for her tick disease but she is no longer coughing and does not have a runny nose. She is gaining weight quite nicely and her coat is finally starting to soften up and not look so ratty.

Ollie and Sweetheart have taken a little liking to one another. Ollie likes to run outside and bark with Sweetheart at night. I am sure the neighbors just love it. I know I do when I let them out at 3:30 in the morning. They will also lay together in the giant dirt pit off the back porch.

I hope you all enjoy the picture of Sweetheart's destruction. She is spending a little quality time outside as we speak. :)

Jess, Sweetheart and Ollie

Heading home!

2011-04-11T10:37:00.000-05:00

I talked to Dr. Kolar an hour ago and he said Ollie still has a little bit of a cough but she mainly coughs when they go to check on her at night. He thinks it is drainage. She isn't coughing continuously and whenever she does cough, she stops after a minute or so.

Dr. Kolar said I can bring her home today and that he will send me home with some cough suppresants. He wants me to start her back up on tetracycline for her tick borne disease. She hasn't been on it this past week because he doesn't like to have them on both antibiotics at the same time. Hopefully the tetracycline will knock out any residual bacteria that may be left in her respratory system.

Dr. Kolar did say she continues to eat well and that she is quite lively!!

I will pick her up after work and should have her home about 5:30 or so. I hope to have more pictures of her to post over the next couple of days.

I hope Ollie continues to be cat safe now that she is feeling better. You never know, she may be feeling feisty enough to want to 'play' with Kitty. :)

I am interested to see how Sweetheart does with Ollie now that Ollie is going to be feeling better.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. The home visits I did Saturday and Sunday went well and I am hopeful Selleck and Tuscany have found their forever homes.

Jess, Sweetheart and Ollie!

Friday Night

2011-04-08T18:34:00.000-05:00

I spoke with Dr. Kolar earlier today and he said that Ollie is still coughing a little. She is eating well and seems to be feeling better each day. Dr. Kolar wants to keep Ollie this weekend so he can watch her and make sure she is recovering like she needs to be. I will call him Monday to see if she is ready to pick up and bring home.

I didn't deliver Tuscany to her foster to adopt home Thursday because the foster parents wanted to make sure she didn't come down with the respiratory bug that Ollie has. So far Tuscany is fine and I hope to deliver her to her new home in the next few days.

I am taking Selleck to his new foster to adopt home tomorrow morning.

I am hoping each dog does well in their new perspective homes.

Hope everyone has a good weekend. I had a nice day off today, planting flowers and spending time with Les and the dogs, chickens and cat!

Jess, Ollie and Sweetheart!

Thursday

2011-04-07T16:47:00.000-05:00

Dr. Kendi (her first name is Kendi but I think of her as Dr. Kendi, not Dr. Horner) texted me today and said that Ollie is feeling better today, she still has a little cough but not too much of one. She said she is almost as big a chow hound as Sweetheart was!

This is wonderful news. A good appetite means she is feeling a thousand times better. I am waiting to see if I can pick her up tomorrow and if so, at what time. I would like to get her home so she can start settling in.

I decided to treat myself with a day off tomorrow. I have been doing so much dog stuff the last few weekends I figured I would give myself a day to do nothing.

I will update everyone once I know when I can go get Ollie.

Jess

Evening

2011-04-06T18:20:00.000-05:00

I talked to Dr. Kolar about 2:45 today. Of course Ollie hasn't coughed once while at the vet's office. ARGH. She does have a runny nose though. He is going to start her on penicillin and will keep her for a couple of days so that she isn't contagious and so he can see how she does.

I told him I would watch my dogs and if they started acting puny I would be seeing him for antibiotics! Goodness I hope none of mine get sick, I don't want to give five dogs antibiotics.

Tomorrow night I am taking Tuscany (foster female) to her foster to adopt home in Norman. I hope they like her. She is awfully sweet and such a good girl. I will be doing a foster to adopt placement in Duncan (same town I went to last Saturday to pick up Ollie from the shelter) to place Selleck (foster male). Wish me luck in both placements.

Jess, Sweetheart and Ollie

Back at the vet

2011-04-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

I crated Ollie last night and she coughed and coughed all night. I found a little bloody mucus on her crate pad. I decided in the middle of the night to take her to Dr. Kolar's this morning. She has a runny nose and she coughed most of the way to the vet's office.

I left her at Kolar's this morning about 8. They are going to examine her and see what is going on. Hopefully the tetracycline will kill off whatever respiratory bug she has but I didn't want to chance it and have her get worse. Poor thing is pitiful looking enough being so thin and ratty looking.

I am hoping that whatever she has is not going to move on to my five. They are all vaccinated for kennel cough so hopefully that is what it is and they won't be suseptible to it. I don't really fancy having to give six dogs antibiotics. :)

Ollie did well with the cat last night and didn't have any accidents in the house or in her crate. She does not like other dogs coming around her space or close to her when she is eating. She snarls a little and growls. We are working on that and correcting her any time she shows any sort of aggression.

Sweetheart still can't figure out what Ollie is all about. She kept trying to go over to her last night and each time Sweetheart would get near Ollie, Sweetheart would put her tail almost straight up in the air and perk her ears. Finally Lester sprayed Sweetheart with the water bottle. Sweetheart jumps back, Les looks at her and tells her no and then Sweetheart bows down and barks at him. She takes correction so well. :) All we could do was laugh at her, silly goose!!! I have no doubt Sweetheart will be fine with her, she is just such a goofy little dog that new things are always interesting for her!!

Jess, Sweetheart and Ollie!

New project!

2011-04-05T18:18:00.000-05:00

So I have a new project now. Her name is Ollie and she came to Fasthound by way of the Stephens County Animal Shelter in Duncan Oklahoma. She and two other male greyhounds were found roaming the shelter's parking lot one morning last week. Thankfully the three stuck together and were very friendly and easy for the shelter staff to get into a fenced in area. I went down with a volunteer from another Oklahoma greyhound group this past Saturday and Fasthound took her and the other group took the two males.

Ollie is not tattooed so I don't know if she was bred for racing or coyote hunting. She is 5-7 years old.. She is one of the smaller greyhounds that I have seen. She is a bit shorter than Sweetheart in height and is pretty fine boned and delicate. She weighs 46.6 pounds and I feel she should probably weight around 53-55 even though she is fine boned. She is heartworm negative (whew) but is positive for ehrlichia (tick borne disease). She has a little cough and a bit of a runny nose. However, she is going to be on antibiotics, 3 pills a day twice a day, for the ehrlichia so that should take care of the respiratory thing. Her coat is really fuzzy but not in a good way. I think it is going to all shed out eventually because it just feels old and dead.

Right now she is sleeping on a bed and I can hear her nose whistling. She has seen the cat several times and not moved an inch. I am hoping this is because she is cat safe and not just because she isn't feeling good!

Below are a couple of pictures of her. They are of her in the same pose. I didn't have the heart to make her get up so I could get body shots. I will do that a few days out from the spay.

Oh, Sweetheart isn't too thrilled I don't think. She kept going up to her in the backyard with her tail almost raised straight up. I had to tell her to back off numerous times. Sweetheart would just look at me like "What, I'm not doing anything"! She is so spoiled I swear. Jealous too. :)

Hope you guys are up for following another 'project'. At least she isn't as bad as Sweetheart was and she doesn't have any open wounds!! It's funny what you end up being thankful for when you are in the dog rescue business.

Jess, Sweetheart and Ollie!

Chick Cam

2011-03-31T16:44:00.001-05:00

Our herd has grown by 50 chicks! They came in the mail yesterday morning. They are cute as can be. They are bantams so they won't get very big. There are Silkies, Dominiques and Ameracaunas. The Silkies are my favorites as they have feathers like fur and are sweet. The Ameracaunas lay blue and green eggs and are known as the Easter Egg chicken!

This is our third foray into the world of chickens. We have had a problem the previous two times with raccoons. This time Lester is going to hot wire and fence the perimeter of the coop so it will be like San Quentin prison when he is done with it!

I hope you enjoy the video. Les took it last night. It is a long video but there are some really cute parts in it, especially when they are falling asleep on their feet. Turn up the volume and let me know if the little peeps get your hounds attention?

And no, I doubt Sweetheart would be chicken safe so I am not evening going to 'chicken' test her. :)

Jess

Peanut Backsass Pants!

2011-03-29T21:53:00.000-05:00

Yes, Sweetheart's list of nicknames is growing as her personality grows! She has taken to barking at us at times when she is outside and we correct her (I use the term correct loosely because most of the time we are teasing with her). She thinks it is a little game. She also is backsassy when she comes up to me when I am on the couch or recliner and tries to bite my feet or hands. When I jokingly tell her no or snatch my feet away she bounces a bit, snarls very scarily and will sometimes bark. She is oh so frightening in her backsass mode. :)

I am still amazed by my little Peanut. I am sure some of you have seen the story of Patrick, the New Jersey pit bull that was starved and thrown down a garbage chute. He is a Facebook sensation and those pictures of him brought back so many of the feelings that I had in those first weeks and months of rescuing her. I can only imagine how that vet staff feels caring for him. I know the worry for Sweetheart was immense for me and I know it is for them.

I am dog sitting one of my favorite fosters this week while her 'family' is on vacation. I do this from time to time for a few adopters. Her name is Lilly and she was a stray found in Edmond Oklahoma. She was heartworm positive when we got her and went through treatment and recovery at my home. She was adopted about a year ago and we still love taking care of her when we get the chance (yes I am insane to get excited about taking in yet another dog). She is a gorgeous champagne colored brindle who is gigantic. She is as tall as Bavarian was and probably weight 70-75 pounds. She is an ultra love lush and crawls up on the couch and recliner with me. Sweetheart has gotten a little jealous of this at times and just sorts of gives me "the look". You know "the look", the one that translates to "how dare you pet that dog". :) It is kind of funny watching her get jealous because she becomes more affectionate and does her Kitty Cat rub thing more. :)

I hope everyone is doing well. I am waiting to hear from a shelter about a possible grey that I may get tomorrow or Thursday. I am hoping the owner doesn't claim her so we can take her into rescue. I picked up two greys from the Tulsa shelter Saturday and will be going to another shelter Saturday to look at three tattooed greys, one of which we will take while another Oklahoma grey group takes the other two. I don't know what the deal is, economy or things just happening in threes, but I am glad we are able to have room to help these shelter dogs. I can't stand the thought of them dying in a shelter when we can take them.

Ok, I am done rambling for the evening. Hope everyone is having a nice week!

Jess and Peanut Backsass Pants!

Long time no post

2011-03-25T19:41:00.000-05:00

I apologize for not posting recently. Things have gotten kind of hectic with Fasthound (in a good way).

Sweetheart is doing great. She has now decided I am a fabulous playmate and chew toy. My arms have quite a few small bruises from our daily play sessions. Of course I am a sucker and let her play rough with me. She has come up with a new little game. When I am sitting on the recliner she will come up and randomly start gnawing on my outstretched feet. She likes to take my socks off one at a time too. Then she likes to chew on my feet. When I pull my feet away she leaps into my lap and tries to chew on my hands or whatever else she can bite. Ugh, I have created a monster. :)

She is also doing this new thing at night at bedtime. I sleep in the living room on the couch so that I can let the dogs out at night. I go to bed about ten on weeknights and Sweetheart will walk up next to the couch and sit her little butt on the couch. She will then lean into me and let me pet her for a while. It has become a nightly thing and it is a nice and relaxing way to end the day (after being chewed on that is). :)

I hope everyone is doing good. I am still missing Bavarian a lot. I miss kissing his little forehead and pestering him when he was sound asleep. Most of all I just miss him. I am grateful to have had him for almost eight years but darn it, losing him has been so hard. These heart dogs are so special. If you have one in your life right now, give them a big hug for me.

Jess and Sweetheart!

A little video.

2011-03-08T19:48:00.000-06:00

Monday

2011-03-07T19:36:00.000-06:00

Our obedience instructor is allowing Sweetheart and I to restart obedience class later this month. I told her I needed a do-over, especially since losing Bavarian. She graciously agreed and I couldn't be happier. We start again March 24th.

Sweetheart has a new nickname: Kitty Cat. :) She always comes up to Lester while he is sitting on his computer chair and she rubs up against him and arches her back to be pet like a cat. So Kitty Cat it is. :) Silly I know but it somehow works for her, well ok, for us.

Anyone want to send me stories of their heart dog or cat? I would love to hear them like I loved hearing about your fur babies. They do not have to be stories about heart dogs/cats that are currently alive. I like to hear stories about all pets from all points in people's lives.

I am missing Bavarian so much. Sometimes I wonder if I am making too big of a deal out of his passing. He was so special to me and I miss him. I am comforted by those of you who have commented and told me that even after several years you still miss your heart dog and tear up at times. I think it is only natural when you love your pet and share your day to day life with them.

Blue Weekend and Fur baby Story #5

2011-03-06T10:03:00.001-06:00

Thank you to everyone for all of your kind words, thoughts and prayers. Losing Bavarian has been hard for Lester and I. These last few months I have been preparing myself for his loss but actually losing him hurt a lot more than I expected. I think the fact that he was my heart dog makes his passing harder. I love all of my hounds but Bavarian was always my special guy and he always will be.

I think Sweetheart came into our lives for many reasons but a big one of these is that she has become Cleo's good friend. Cleo loved Bavarian and would always pester him and follow him around at times. I think had she not had Sweetheart she would be missing Bavarian quite a bit. I have not really noticed her being mopey or sad since we lost him and for that I am grateful. In addition, Sweetheart is a lot like Bavarian in several ways. She is a people dog like he was, she eats bread like he did (tearing it off in little pieces and savoring it) and she can be fussy at times like he could too.

Today I took Monte with me to pick up donuts. I bought him some donut holes and he enjoyed several while we were waiting at the Sonic drive thru for my daily dose of caffeine. Monte loves to go for rides and loves to stick his head out the window and smell the fresh air regardless of the temperature outside.

Below is another fur baby story. This one is quite sweet and like all the others I just love it. I know that this big Iggy is his mom's heart dog, no doubt about it. This story is being presented to you just as his mom sent it to me. I don't think I need to change a thing so here it is as written by Charles' Mom.

I give you Charles Woodrow, the really big Iggy!

"I adopted Charles Woodrow, 'Charlie', almost two years ago. He has changed my life for the better in every way (okay, maybe not the squirrel chasing). I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder at age 25 and ordered to bedrest for well, probably decades. After two years, I wanted something to wake up and look forward to every morning, besides another day of pain.

I went through a rescue organization with the intent to adopt a small, blue girl. My sister had one and I thought it was just what I wanted. When I went to the house she was being fostered at, a little face saw me through the window as I walked up and his eyes opened wide and he ran for the door. It was somehow like he recognized me.

He met me at the door and was so excited to see me that I could hardly get in. There were six other dogs in the house that kind of came to look at me but quickly went back to their business. I came in, sat down, and he was immediately curled up on my lap. I kept trying to say, 'oh that's nice, but where is that little girl dog I wanted to see?' She wanted nothing to do with me. Charlie wouldn't leave my side but I kept thinking he was too big (25 lbs, big for an Italian) and I just didn't think I wanted a boy. So I gave him a kiss and left, thinking I would find another one.

The foster parents called me the next day to say that Charlie had cried for two hours after I left, going from window to window, trying to find me. I begrudgingly went back, and the same thing happened. Again, I said no. He even tried to get in my car with me. Long story short, I came back one more time and that was it. He fell asleep on my lap on the car ride home.

Charlie has never left my side since. We go on a walk every day, but other than that, he is laying right next to me, all day. He knows the days I'm hurting and takes the stairs one at a time with me. When I go out of town for a night, he spends every minute looking out the window for me to come home.

He is my godsend, my absolute angel."

Below is a picture of this darling angel. I love this picture because he looks so regal and adorable at the same time!!!

Who could say no to this guy?

Jess and Sweetheart

Flying Bavarian aka, Bavarian, B-Man, Newbie, Snoobie, Green Trees and others I cannot publish!

2011-03-04T16:09:00.002-06:00

Today Les and I had to put down our very first greyhound Bavarian. He was 12 and a half years old. Les let him outside with the others this morning. When he looked out the door a little while later he saw that Bavarian wasn't using his back leg. He barely got him into the house and then Bavarian laid down in a crate and did not move.

We took him to Dr. Kolar's at one thirty today. It turns out he had broken his femur. Les thinks that he may have been trying to get up and that the femur broke from all the pressure Bavarian put on it pulling himself up. Bavarian's hips had been bad for a while now and he had been having a hard time getting his legs under him for a while now. However it happened we made the decision to go ahead and end his suffering . He had a long life and was a wonderful friend to us.

Bavarian was my heart dog. He made me fall in love with greys and made me want to help them however I could. He was loving, funny, spoiled, maddening and a trash raider all rolled into one. There will be no dog like him and I am thankful to have been able to have had him for seven and a half years.

No trash can left unattended was safe with him. He also loved to counter surf if we were fools enough to leave food on the counter when we left the house. Just this weekend he snagged half a box of fig newtons and ate every one of them.

I miss him dearly and will for a long time to come. I know that it will take me a few days to stop expecting him to come through the door when I let them in from outside. He was always the first one to charge through the door. I always count them as they pass me coming into the house and tonight there will be one less to my total.

It just won't be the same without my beautiful brindle boy with the missing toe, fancy tail and bad breath. I am thankful for my fur babies at home, that helps ease the pain somewhat but I still miss him.

Give your fur babies a hug for me.

Bavarian - 7/16/1998 - 3/4/2011
Tattoos 74775 and 78C
Racing name: Flying Bavarian

Caution: Gorgeous furbaby pics in today's blog - May incite jealousy!

2011-03-03T18:45:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't been updating the blog on a regular basis lately. I could say I have been busy but I have really just been lazy. :) I blame it on the lazy greyhounds I have!! Plus the weather here has been wonderful and I have been working outside trying to cure a terrible case of Spring fever!

I am so happy with the new header photo. I love how it turned out. I am also happy that you all like it too. I have another header photo that I will be using from time to time. It doesn't use her shelter photo but the one taken right after her first bath on August 13th.

I am sure the title of this blog caught your attention. This furbaby is unique in the world of adoptable hounds, at least for me and you will see why once you see her pictures. It all has to do with color. Yes I know, that sounds weird but trust me on this one.

Without further ado, I give you furbaby story #4 (from across the pond): Song!

Song's mom adopted her on February 16th, 2009 when Song was 6. Song must have been a great racer because she raced right up until August of 2008! Song's racing name was Song Song Blue (hint as to what I mean by the color thing). This girl had a long career and I am sure she was more than ready to retire to a comfy bed.

Before she adopted Song, her mom owned a Jack Russell. In January 2009, Song's mom had to have her Jack Russell put to sleep due to health reasons. As all of us know, this is heartbreaking to have to do even though it is necessary when a dog doesn't have a good quality of life. The day she had to put her Jack Russell down, Song's mom decided to call the local Retired Greyhound Trust kennels to see if they had a small female. Song's mom had always wanted a greyhound and was disappointed when the lady at the kennels said there were no small females currently available.

Thinking a male grey might work in her household, Song's mom again called the lady at the kennel. To her surprise, she learned that a female greyhound that had been reserved for another adopter was now available. It turns out the person who Song had been reserved for did not want her after all. Lucky for Song and Song's mom huh?!

When Song's mom arrived at the kennels all the goofy greys (yes they are goofy, especially a herd of them, hehe) came up to the door and stayed there, except Song. Song came up, sniffed her hand and went back to bed. After walking two large males that just weren't clicking with her, she took Song for a walk. As her mom says "Song walked like a robot, it was heartbreaking to see how she was". Like most of us who love the underdogs, Song's mom was hooked by the little robot right then and there!

Song arrived in her new home after having having previously been in another home for one night. All things considered, Song settled in quickly even though the house training took a little while longer to master. Song's mom had patience with her and after a few months Song mastered house training.

Song started coming out of her shell soon after and is now enjoying her new home and her mom immensely. Song's mom credits Song for healing her broken heart and for bringing joy back into her life. One look at the pics below will convince anyone that Song is a special girl!

Do I smell BBQ? I love her little buck teeth. Bavarian has them too!

A 'blue' hound!! These you do not see very often.
GORGEOUS!

Isn't Song gorgeous? She makes Sweetheart look kind of ratty. :) Just kidding, I love my little spotted (ratty) girl.

It isn't often, at least in the States, that you come across a blue/grey greyhound. Song is quite striking, especially with those white accents on her legs, tail and face! I hope you enjoyed Song's story, I loved it. It seems Song and her mom both found each other at just the right time! Thank you to Song's mom for sharing her story and her beautiful girl with me and now with all of you!!

I do have a confession to make. I have been lazy in training Sweetheart. I feel bad but I guess guilt goes along with being a fur parent. Since I don't have real children I guess I need my daily dose of guilt from somewhere. :) I am going to a make up class tomorrow night and I hope she does well. I think she will even if I haven't worked with her a lot. I still think the socialization is great for her even if her mom is lazy with her homework! :)

Let me know what you think of Song!

Jess and Sweetheart

New Header

2011-03-02T18:17:00.003-06:00

Do you guys like the new header?

Big thanks to two volunteers who made it possible!

Looking forward to hearing what you guys think!

Fur Baby Post #3 and obedience update

2011-02-22T21:39:00.001-06:00

After days of saying I was going to post another fur baby story I am finally getting around to it!! Thank you all for your patience with me.

Andy and Kai's 'mom' is the generous lady who sent Sweetheart her 'Beach Bum' outfit.

I have borrowed heavily from Andy and Kai's mom's own words. I hope you all enjoy! Without further ado, I give you Fur Babies Andy and Kai!

Andy, his mom's first greyhound, has been in his forever home for 7 years. He is now 10. When she first adopted Andy he had been racing for about 6 months and had gotten hepatitis and was then trampled during a race. His foster mom called him Ruckus and here is why. There was no trash can, door, or bin that could not be opened. In addition to being a trash/door/bin crasher, he seemed to have an affinity for wood. He ate part of a banister and part of a 300 year old chair. I am sure everyone out there is cringing a little. Andy's exploits have also earned him a free, well not free for his mom, trip to the doggy ER. During one of his counter surfing missions, Any stole and proceeded to inhale a stick and a half of butter, 4 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and 2 cups of kibble, including wrappers (what meal is complete without packaging). After the contents came back up (not what Andy expected when he was eating them I am sure) the vet techs were rather surprised when he then proceeded to go after their trash while in the exam room. :)

For most of his life Andy was a very quiet boy who only got the "bouncies" (anyone with greys know what the bouncies are all about) when the leash would make an appearance. Some people thought he didn't have much personality; didn't wag his tail much, wasn't interested in toys, didn't come up for scritches, but his mom knew that he was a sweetheart.

Three years ago Andy got a GH puppy from rescue. :) Well, maybe I should say his mom got a puppy because Andy has never really forgiven her for foisting this terror on him (more on Kai the terror below). The amusing thing is that even though Andy avoids Kai like the plague, Andy has started to come out of his shell. He has also started going to daycare with Kai. Andy is now smiling more and he loves to play with a few toys. As Andy's mom said to me in her email "There is nothing better than seeing an 86 pound hound flinging himself bodily on a toy with such gusto and a twinkle in his eye". At first when he went to daycare he just sniffed everything and hung out with the handlers. One day he started to play with other dogs a bit. He would only play with brindles (snobbish?). Andy then found his inner zoomy. Nowadays they have to bring him in by his collar and hold him for awhile until he settles down. Otherwise he comes in "on fire" and gets everyone else whipped up into a running frenzy. The staff love to tell his mom about his daily exploits: how much he is enjoying himself, who Andy's girlfriends were that day, and just how many times he got the "zoomies" (yep, those of you with greys are nodding your head because you know what zoomies are)!

Kai, a.k.a Andy's nightmare, was adopted by his mom as a puppy from GALT- TX. As many of you who are familiar with greyhound rescue know, greyhound puppies do not come up for adoption very often as most greyhounds are not normally adoptable until AFTER they flunk out of racing or retire from racing (usually between 1.5 to 5 years of age) Kai's mom said in her email "Kai was just the cutest thing at 8 weeks old; all legs, tail and teeth". Puppy Kai was in constant motion. Poor Andy put up with lots of pestering for a while. Kai has now grown up to be a sweet, gentle hound who always squeaks when he wakes up EARLY at 5 a.m. He is a regal looking fawn boy with Egyptian eye liner (my Cleo has the same eyeliner, hence the name Cleo, short for Cleopatra). Kai loves his hugs and full body scritches at the end of the day, and one harsh word will send him into "tears". He's not totally an angel though (don't all hounds have a little 'bad' in there somewhere)?! He loves paper, especially toilet paper". You can only imagine the messes he makes with that!

Below are pictures of Andy and Kai. Both are gorgeous hounds, don't you agree?

Kai looking quite handsome!

AWWW! What more needs to be said about
Andy in this pic.

Perhaps I should ask Andy's Mom to send
me that bed, looks comfy.

I hope everyone enjoyed Kai and Andy's story. I know I did. Bavarian is my trash hound and if we leave the kitchen trash within his range we will come home to utter destruction so I can definitely sympathize with Andy's mom!

Sweetheart did great in class Monday. Well, great for her at least. She wasn't super focused on the other dogs and she actually listened to us when we were working with her! WOOHOO! I didn't work with her a lot last week but I think the little I did do with her helped. I was so jazzed that Sweetheart did well.

This week we are supposed to work on her walking beside us, waiting at an open door and 'leave it'. Wish us luck!

A big thank you to Andy and Kai's mom for the fabulous gift. Les and I just love it. I hope that you approve of your fur babies blog post!!

Jess and Sweetheart!

Beach Bum!

2011-02-19T18:52:00.000-06:00

Sweetheart got a package in the mail from one of her fans in California yesterday!

Below is a picture of the package. Notice that Sweetheart gets her very own mail and I am just the 'in care of' person. I have been relegated to Sweetheart's secretary now, in addition to her fan club president. :) Les and I laughed when we saw how the package was addressed. Too funny.

Below is what came in that package!

Sweetheart wasn't too thrilled wearing this at first (it couldn't be because I kept yanking the hood up over her head for pictures) but after a few minutes she was cool with her new beach attire!!

Thank you SOOO much to the Sweetheart fan in California who sent this to us. I just love it, too cute for words.

Tomorrow I will do fur baby post #3 and it will be about the dog's of the fan who sent this to Sweetheart!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I worked in the back of my property clearing brush for about six hours today and I am tired. I haven't worked with Sweetheart on obedience this week like I should have. I feel guilty. Am I a bad mom?

Jess and Sweetheart

Contest!

2011-02-16T18:11:00.001-06:00

So my friend and fellow greyhound fanatic posted on her Facebook page that her female greyhound Cami had dug a huge trench in their backyard. We started commenting on this back and forth and I told her that my yard was worse their her yard. She seems to think that her yard has been 'excavated' more than mine. HAHAHA! She obviously has NO idea who she is dealing with.

Below are some examples of the current landscaping projects my greyhounds have undertaken recently.

Cleo has dug this hole so deep it is almost as deep as she is tall!

We have moles in the back yard and Cleo and Sweetheart dig
random little holes trying to 'unearth' them.

Cleo, Sweetheart and Journey have dug these and will lay in
them and bask in the sun.

One day I am going to break my leg in one of these I just know it!

I am proposing a backyard picture contest. Post your best greyhound landscaping picture on your comment(s) to this post or email them to me. The person with the 'best' greyhound landscaping will win a prize from Sweetheart. Contest is actually open to ALL landscaping artists out there, regardless of if they are greyhounds!

Please send me your pictures by Friday, February 25th!

Jess and Sweetheart

Walk, Click, Treat, Walk, Click, Treat, Walk, Click, Treat....

2011-02-15T20:25:00.000-06:00

So I decided to do a little training with Sweetheart tonight. It was dark but I have a nice lighted back porch so it worked well. We played 'find it' and she did fabulous chasing those cheerios (honey nut cheerios) down and looking back at me almost immediately. Then on to walking on a loose leash at my side. She actually did fairly good at it once I got my walk, click, treat motion down. I think teaching me to click and treat at the rights times is half the dang battle! She is so much better focused at home. She even did well when dogs around the neighborhood barked (although she did bark a bit during 'find it' but focused on me fairly quickly).

I am going to take my friend's advice (her grey Ady has done beautifully with obedience and freestyle training) and am going to call it a day with my two short training sessions since it is 8:15. I will get home earlier tomorrow and will try to work with her 3 separate times on three separate behaviors. My trainer said to do a '20 treat' session and that works out pretty well I have found. Sweetheart doesn't get bored with them and she keeps her focus fairly well.

We are having some gorgeous weather in Oklahoma. 60's and 70's. Yes, this is the same state that just had blizzard like conditions twice in the last two weeks. Our weather is a little schizophrenic around here. However, it is supposed to stay gorgeous out for a while. I think I will take Sweetheart to the park near my house so she can be exposed to a new environment. I am going to make a concerted effort to expose her to new things all that I can! It should be lots of fun for both of us.

This picture may be on the blog already but I love it. Her eyes look so sweet and kind (even though she is devious deep down):

Jess and Sweetheart

Obedience sigh

2011-02-14T21:11:00.001-06:00

Well, tonight was Sweetheart's first obedience class. As my sigh indicates, it went less than stellar. She was so totally focused on the other dogs that she pretty much ignored Les and I the whole time. I was rather disappointed at first but then I thought "for the last nine months she was either tied to a tree and dying, at the vet's office trying to stay alive or recovering at my house with little outside interaction". The mall event this month and last month and tonight's obedience class make it three times she has been out in public (the vet's office doesn't count because that wasn't fun). I was proud of her for the fact she didn't bark or whine, she didn't try to wiggle out of her collar to get to the other dogs and she didn't growl or raise her hackles. I liken training her to trying to train a cat. :) No loyalty and fiercely independent. :)

I know I need higher value treats (hot dogs, cheese, chicken), patience and I need to work with her EVERY day!!!

Sweetheart did do lovely at the mall this Saturday. She didn't get annoyed with the other foster and adoptive dogs who were there and that is great. She growled once when they were checking her out at first and then after that she was fine. She LOVES the people who come up to pet her. She will wag her tail and lean into them. People are always surprised at how sweet and loving she is after I tell them about her horrific past.

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day! Having Sweetheart with me was the best Valentine's Day gift I could have given myself.

Mall Pictures

2011-02-12T18:26:00.001-06:00

Sweetheart at the mall. A Sweetheart fan gave us this
collar. Isn't it fabulous!

Sweetheart with two of our available fosters at the mall!

Fur Baby Post #2

2011-02-10T17:48:00.001-06:00

Ahh, nothing like trying to do some clicker training outside with Sweetheart when Bavarian (who is inside the house) starts incessantly barking at Monte while they are both standing at the food bowl. Really easy to keep Sweetheart's focus let me tell you. Ugh. All in all she did pretty well for the little bit we worked with her while Bavarian the Annoying was being a fool.

The weather is going to warm up so I will be able to pitch the other dogs outside while I work with Sweetheart inside. We did the name game tonight. I would say her name and when she would look me in the eyes I would click the clicker and treat her. I need to work on my clicker trigger finger but all in all we did ok for our first go round. Les did a few rounds of the name game too. I hope Sweetheart can get the hang of this. She is so food motivated (a nice phrase for GREEDY) that I think she will do fine. I will just have to make sure I work with her each day, several times a day.

This fur baby post is short and sweet but the fur baby is awfully cute. I hope you agree.

Meet Punky. Punky is a three year old, five pound (can you imagine, I think Sweetheart's head weighs that!) adorable white chihuahua. Punky is very timid. His recent accomplishment is learning how to bark! His timid streak does not stop him from wanting affection from his family and he loves to play. My guess: Punky will be spunky in no time, especially since he has found his voice! We all know that chihuahuas are big dogs in small packages!

The picture below is of Punky in his Christmas hat.

This Saturday will be Sweetheart's second visit to the Shawnee Mall to help us promote greyhound adoption. I am hoping she does just as good this time around as she did last time.

Jess and Sweetheart!

Fur Baby Post #1

2011-02-08T18:36:00.001-06:00

Why yes, you did read the title line correctly. I am FINALLY getting around to posting about one of Sweetheart's fan's fur baby's!!! I decided to do one post per fan and to tell a little bit of the story of each dog. I will not give out any owner's names, locations or email addresses (unless you want me to). Everyone sent me such good stories about their babies I REALLY wanted to share them. You all have been so wonderful in following my little Peanut's story I wanted to let you share your babies stories with the world! So, without further ado, here we go!!!

Meet Vinny, a.k.a Vinny Goombah, My Cousin Vinny, Vineyard, Skinny Vinny, VinVin and Mr. T. Vinny was being fostered at the time the owner's second adopted greyhound, MaryLou passed away. Vinny actually thought his foster mom was his so she kept him (why disappoint him!). You know some of us just can't let certain fosters go!

Vinny is 10 and a half and his owner describes him as a dog and a half. She is terribly lucky to be able to take him to work with her (I am quite jealous of this). Vinny has become sort of a star in his small town. When Vinny's mom takes him for walks around town, Vinny will walk into any open doorway trying to cadge a few pets. Vinny has taken it upon himself to be sort of the town greeter. He will make sure that anyone he passes on the street stops to pet him and if Vinny feels he is being ignored by someone he will often step across their path and 'force' them to pay attention to him. And yes, all those out there who have greys know that they can 'force' someone to pet them, even folks who don't really like dogs will pet one that 'accosts' them in the street. I have seen it time and again with my own greys and my foster greys.

Vinny has become quite popular in the small town where he lives. Several residents carry dog cookies and give these to Vinny when he is out and about on his strolls. Vinny now thinks that everyone he meets might carry dog cookies and he has taken to rooting into stranger's pockets looking for them. :) So not only does he accost people for pets, he also pick pockets them for treats! Gotta love greys. Vinny's mom had one 'accosted' resident comment that Vinny was "really pimping his stuff"! HEHE, I love this because I know it to be so true with my own greys, especially Bavarian.

I loved reading this email from Vinny's mom. I absolutely adore the thought of Vinny being such a local attraction. It makes me smile to think he is such a greyt ambassador for the breed. I would love it if a local paper where he lives would do a story about him, wouldn't you all?

Below are two pictures of Vinny. My greys love kiddie pools and I am glad to see Vinny does too.

Kudos go out to Vinny's mom for sharing his delightful story. I hope you enjoyed reading about Vinny as much as I did!

Sweetheart starts obedience class on Valentine's Day. Quite fitting for a dog named Sweetheart huh? I went to the first class yesterday evening. The trainer showed us how we are going to be training and how to go about getting results. We did not take dogs yesterday's class

Now I have homework to do. Well, Sweetheart and I have homework to do. I purchased treats to train with today. Now I need to make a treat apron. I could buy one but I have tons of dog themed fabric (who can resist fabric with tons of paw prints?) so maybe I will make a couple for Les and I.

We are supposed to get another blizzard tonight so I hope I have another snow day tomorrow.

Let me know if you liked Vinny's story!

Jess and Sweetheart

More pictures.

2011-02-06T12:26:00.000-06:00

Sleepy Sweetheart. Notice the evidence of a de-stuffed toy
all around the sleepy girl? And yes, she is the one who
de-stuffed it!!!

Yes her front leg is still there. She looks so
awkward eating this way with her leg tucked
underneath her.

Yes I am comfortable. Please do not disturb me.

Awww, cute girl! Pretty eyes and lots of spots!

GRRR! Playful girl! Sweetheart's favorite thing
is to wolf bite us or the other dogs.

Contemplating whether or not to get off of the couch.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures. She is photogenic when she is sleeping or lying on the couch. :)

Cold outside but snuggly warm inside!

2011-02-04T16:40:00.000-06:00

The deep freeze continues for Oklahoma this week. The high finally crept above freezing. I decided not go to work the rest of the week. I didn't want to chance being out on the roads and having an accident. I am lucky that my job is lenient with leave at times like these. I have enjoyed spending time at home watching the birds, playing with the dogs and cross stitching.

Sweetheart enjoys the snow for short periods of time. However, when she comes back inside, she likes to curl up on the couch in a ball. I have started covering her up with a pink Snuggie and after I do that she stretches out. When I first brought her home in September, we had the air conditioning on because it was summertime and hot. I would sleep with her and when I would wake up in the middle of the night she would sometimes be shivering because she was so thin and had little hair. I would always cover her with a blanket in the middle of the night and she would stop shivering and fall back to sleep. I guess she got used to that and likes her blankets. :)

Below are some pics of her on the couch the last few days. As you can tell she loves to cuddle up on the comforter and with her pink Snuggie.

Pretty in pink!

Warm and snuggly!

BRRR....

2011-02-01T13:01:00.000-06:00

A blizzard has struck our state. It is 8 degrees and the wind is blowing around 30 miles per hour. It has snowed about 8 inches or so with about an inch of two of sleet before that. The temps tomorrow will be around 10 degrees for a high.

Sweetheart is not a big fan of this cold weather. She, Monte and Journey went outside together and were back at the door in about 5 minutes. Since coming back inside Sweetheart has been curled up on the couch and hasn't moved much in the last few hours. I wonder if she is having PTSD flashbacks of her torture being tied up to the tree in the horrible heat. I doubt it but I know one thing, she is not a cold weather baby!

I hate the thought of that dog from last night and all of the other strays stuck out in this horrible weather.

Below are a few pictures of Sweetheart passed out on the couch this morning after her foray into the blizzard.

We have been feeding the birds to make sure they have enough energy to sustain them through this bitter weather.

The little mohawks on the cardinals heads have been blowing all
around in the wind. I am amazed how tough these little birds are.

I had a snow day from work today and if the office isn't closed tomorrow I am just going to call in because it is not worth me getting out in this weather!

Jess

The one I couldn't save. :(

2011-01-31T20:45:00.000-06:00

At 5:30 this evening I got a call that there was an emaciated greyhound running loose around a Shell gas station off I-40 about 30 minutes from my home. A construction worker (they are doing road construction on the interstate in that area) saw the dog while he was working today and brought it two bags of dog food. He then called the Seminole Humane Society and they contacted us. One of our board members met me out there and we split up and searched. By this time it was dark and cold and windy. We couldn't find the dog so our board member went into the convenience store and asked if there was any certain place the dog hung out. He showed her the spot in a field where the dog usually lays and lo and behold the dog was there. However, as soon as he saw our board member and the store employee he bolted and he did not show his face again. The employee said that the dog has been hanging around for a couple of days and has not let anyone get near him, even when they had hot food for him.

My heart is saddened to think we couldn't save this dog. I am afraid it will die tonight because we have a HUGE snow storm heading our way and bitterly cold temperatures are predicted for the next few days.

I honestly do not feel there was any way we could have saved this dog due to its skittish nature and the pitch black conditions. However, that does not keep me from feeling sad and a bit guilty over it. I am thankful Sweetheart doesn't have to suffer in the elements any longer and I just have to focus on the dogs I have helped. These are the times when rescue is bittersweet though.

Hug your babies for me and be thankful that they are safe and warm with you!

Jess

Sweetheart the Bad

2011-01-27T18:27:00.000-06:00

So last night I got to go to Oklahoma City (about 40 minutes from my home) at 2 a.m. to pick up two new foster greyhounds. The owner of the dogs was going through OKC on his way to pick up dogs of his own in Kansas. I pick up the two new fosters and get home about 3:30 a.m. I take the two new fosters into the house and of course my herd of five are all over them, sniffing and sniffing, etc. I was able to shoehorn both fosters into their respective crates with little problem. I lay down on the couch to catch a little shut eye. The new female whined a little but settled down after about 10 minutes. Then, all of a sudden, I hear this deep bark coming from her crate. I look over and there is Sweetheart, standing in front of the female foster's crate, posturing, with her tail and ears up all perky at attention. Lovely little Sweetheart is taunting this new female, causing her to bark. I get my trusty spray water bottle and spray Sweetheart for all I am worth. Needless to say, Sweetheart treated this as a personal assault and looked at me like I sprayed her with acid. She did however leave the new girl alone and laid down and I was able to get some sleep. :) Sometimes Mom has to put my foot down, even with Sweetheart. :)

Tomorrow is Friday and I am glad of that. Hope everyone has had a good week.

Jess

Blog Picture Challenge! Please respond by Sunday Jan. 30!

2011-01-23T19:57:00.001-06:00

Yes I did get my snow day Thursday! It was great and much needed.

There is one day left to vote in the 'Header Photograph" poll. So far most of you who have voted have voted that I keep her shelter picture and add an 'after' picture beside it. I think this is what I vote for as well. I really do feel her shelter picture needs to stay on the blog. Without it, I don't think the blog has that initial 'hook' that captures people's hearts and makes them what to read more. Even I have gone back to the first pictures of this blog and still find it amazing that she was in such bad shape when we got her. Seeing her now, you would never guess she almost died tied to a tree in the hot summer.

This blog is not just our blog (Sweetheart and mine) it is your blog too. So many of you have been following her for months now and I want you to have a voice when it comes to big changes on this blog.

I have a challenge for everyone who reads this blog. I need to know if there are any pictures on this blog that you think should go on the header for her 'after' picture. If so, would you please email me (flyingbavarian@gmail.com)the picture you think should be featured next to her 'before' picture? When you email me, email the date the picture was featured on the blog and any caption that is under that picture and why you chose that picture. Or, if you don't find any picture on the blog you think works, let me know that as well.

Sweetheart and I have been playing a lot of 'purple rug monster' today. She gives me the giggles EACH and EVERY time we play this game. There is just something so funny about her flinging her front legs at this rug like it is a wild animal she must tame! She has taken to laying herself on the entire rug while I pull her around the living room floor. One of these days I swear I am going to throw my back out!

No more snow days are in my recent future I am afraid. I will actually have to work the entire week this week, bummer!

Please help me with this blog challenge. I appreciate everyone's input on all questions and polls I put on this blog! Your opinion matters to Sweetheart and I! Again, my email is: flyingbavarian@gmail.com

Jess

Wednesday before a storm

2011-01-19T21:39:00.000-06:00

We are looking at some possible snow and ice in Oklahoma tonight. I am hoping it is enough for them to close our office but not enough to lose power and keep me from enjoying a free day off. :)

I have just finished responding to the last few emails I received from you guys regarding your fur babies. I adored each and every one of your stories and pictures. I read them all and will re-read them again before posting the pictures. I was originally going to get the fur baby blog done last week but as you know that didn't happen. Now that I have answered everyone (and if you haven't sent in an email to me and want to GO FOR IT!) I am ready to start my blog post. However, it is a big job because there are lots of great pics to go through so be patient with me.

I am touched by how many of you adopted dogs that had been previously abused and/or neglected. So many of you have commented to me how special I am for helping Sweetheart but I think you guys need to look in the mirror because you will see a special person staring right back at you! I do not think of myself as special for rescuing Sweetheart and I bet you guys don't see yourself as special for adopting a rescue dog. But you are and I guess I am too.

This blog has shown me how many wonderful people there are out there and how much each one of you love your fur babies just as much (if not more, I have seen how spoiled these dogs are in these pictures HAHA) as I love all of mine. So I want to thank each of you for what you have done and continue to do for your fur babies.

One of my favorite quotes, I do not know who said it, is: "Adopting one greyhound won't change the world but it will change the world for that one greyhound". I think Sweetheart definitely embodies this saying!

Hope you all have had a good week. I have been in an Eeyore mood the last couple of days. I hope I get in a Pooh mood soon.

Jess

Playtime!

2011-01-17T17:17:00.000-06:00

Sleepy girl and more spots!

2011-01-16T20:22:00.000-06:00

Sweetheart loves to snooze on the couch.

The face of innocence?

Can you believe this leg was down to the bone just
five months ago? See the two new black spots? Les
noticed them the other day!

Fur baby post delayed

2011-01-15T18:29:00.000-06:00

Sorry everyone, but the blog post featuring your fur babies is being delayed a bit. I haven't gotten around to getting the pics clipped and pasted to the blog. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your fur babies and seeing their pictures. I am always interested in hearing about your babies anytime.

Today I met a greyhound hauler and picked up three new foster greyhounds. They are beautiful and HUGE! Even the female was a big girl. I had to squeeze all of them into my Dodge Neon since my PT Cruiser is being worked on. They all fit pretty well, two in the back, one in the front. I am sure we were quite a sight going down the highway.

I am so very lucky to have Dr. Kolar for our vet. He normally closes the clinic at noon on Saturday. Paul called him Friday and asked if he would open the clinic for me so I could board the three dogs (so I didn't have to bring them to my house and have to wait until Monday to take them in). He said yes. Dr. Kendi met me there at 3 this afternoon and we brought them in the clinic and kenneled them up. Whew, I am so grateful that she met me there and did that for Fasthound. Not many vet's offices do that nowadays and especially without charging for it. They are special people at the Prague Veterinary Clinic and I am grateful for them.

Dr. Kendi graduated from OSU (Oklahoma State University) Veterinarian School. The vet school keeps greyhounds on hand to be used as blood donors. After two years, the OSU Vet School adopts the dogs out. Dr. Kendi adopted Howdy (I may not be spelling it right) a few months ago. He is six and a half and today was the first time I got to see him. He is a gorgeous male who is white with brown patches on his face. Below are a couple of pictures of him.

The dumbbell saga continues...this time on camera!

2011-01-12T20:13:00.000-06:00

Sweetheart decided to 'help' me exercise again tonight. Les was able to catch her in action. I hope you all enjoy.

My Dad had his second and final stint surgery today. All went well and he will be home tomorrow morning. He was supposed to have three stints total but they do not have to do the third one because the vessel is too small. I am so thankful he is doing well and so thankful he does not have to have a third surgery. I hope he recovers quickly and feels as good as new ASAP.

One of my favorite fosters, Jackie, is coming back to my house in February. The folks who were fostering to adopt her don't think they want to take on three greys (they have adopted two greys from us previously) in an apartment right now and I totally understand. It is a lot to deal with when you have to walk them several times a day and have no fenced in yard to just let them out the back door. As you may notice, I am far from unhappy that Jackie is coming back to our house. She is my favorite foster. I told myself I would adopt her if she came back but since I now have adopted the wild little Peanut Jackie will remain a foster but can stay at my house for as long as she is in our group.

I hope everyone likes the video. Sweetheart is so funny with those dumbbells.

Jess

Do hand weights make good dog toys? Sweetheart says YES!

2011-01-10T18:30:00.000-06:00

So tonight I figured I would do a little exercise while watching TV. I grab my four pound red hand weights and start doing some reps. Much to my surprise Sweetheart comes trotting over and is absolutely captivated by them. As the weights go up and down, so does Sweetheart's head. She perks her ears and then tries to jump and bite the weights. I showed them to her and she tries to take them away from me. I have to bob and weave around her little bean head to make sure I don't knock her out on the downward part of the reps. I then move to a spot by their dog beds. She ends up lying on the bed, watching the weights go up and down, up and down. I swear I had her hypnotized. I ended up giving her one and she starts gnawing and gnawing on it. Finally, I had to take them away from her. I put them on the floor, behind my recliner, and she was pushing her way between the couch and the recliner, trying to get them. Silly girl. I finally made her go away so she couldn't get to them.

So, I have learned that if all the dog toys have been destroyed, hand weights, preferably rubber coated four pound weights, will work in a pinch!

If you haven't emailed me your fur baby stories and pictures, please try to do so by Friday. I would like to have a blog post done Saturday evening! Thanks to everyone who has sent me their babies stories and pictures. I promise I will reply to everyone!

Jessica

Mall

2011-01-08T16:49:00.001-06:00

Sweetheart at the mall. Notice the fancy collar. It has hearts
all over it and is so pretty on her. Of course her spots are shining
through as usual!

Sweetheart did FABULOUS at the Shawnee Mall Show and Tail event today. She went up to everyone. She wagged her tail and then leaned into most everyone that stood still long enough. She loves children and is patient with them, even when one girl sat behind her and petted her tail. The random loud noises at the mall didn't phase her much. She would perk her ears and look towards the noise and then she would forget it. I am so thankful she did well on her first outing. This gives me a hope that she may do well in class.

So far I have gotten a wonderful response to my request for fur baby pictures and stories. Please keep the emails coming. One of you told me something cool I didn't know. Sweetheart's blog is featured in Celebrating Greyhounds magazine in the section "Greyhound Blog Worth Reading" on page 39 of their winter 2010 issue. I do not subscribe to that magazine and had absolutely no idea her blog was mentioned. If anyone out there has a copy of that issue, can you scan and email me that page so I can see it? Thank you to the fan that brought this to my attention, it makes me happy to know Sweetheart is getting into magazines!

I am going through the emails you all have sent and hopefully I will be able to publish a blog dedicated to all of your babies! As loyal fans you deserve to have your babies in the spotlight! I love hearing your stories and knowing their are other crazy dog guys and gals out there just like Les and I!!!

Thank you for following my little Peanut's exploits. I was such a proud mom today at the mall. :)

Jess

Request for Sweetheart's fans

2011-01-07T20:17:00.000-06:00

I have a favor to ask each one of you who consider yourself Sweetheart fans. Ever since I started the blog all her fans have wanted pictures of her. We have provided these and video as best as we can.

Now I would like each of you who own dogs or cats or whatever type of animals to email me a picture or pictures to flyingbavarian@gmail.com

I have shared my babies with you and I would like for you to do the same for me. I will not share these pictures with anyone unless you say it is ok. If you say it is ok, I will post them on a special blog post. I am really interested in seeing your fur babies. Please list their names and include their nicknames and if you want, include how you got them and any stories you would like to share about them. One of Sweetheart's fans emailed me pics of their fur babies today and I just LOVED seeing all of the pics and hearing about their fur kids.

I love emails so don't worry about keeping them short, I will read each one and respond to each one!

Thanks in advance for your fur baby pictures and stories. Sweetheart and I will be very sad if we don't get a good email response.

Jess and Sweetheart

Stitches and the BAD PEANUT!

2011-01-07T15:36:00.000-06:00

The title line probably made some of you go: HUH? Well there is a good reason for that title line.

I was gong to try to take the spay stitches out last night but the incision line looked a little oozy. I was afraid if I took them out then I might cause problems if the wound wasn't fully healed.

Les called Dr. Kolar's office at eight a.m. and made an appointment to take her in at 9:45 a.m.. Les gets her there and Dr. Kendi starts examining Sweetheart's incision site. She wipes the site several times with alcohol and keeps poking around. She finds two stitches and removes them. Further sleuthing finds NO other stitches. Ahh, my (yes my, because all my own dogs seem to be rotten and do these kinds of things)lovely little two year old chewed ALL of the other stitches out, even the so called 'mattress' stitch, which I guess is supposed to be a stitch that is virtually impossible to remove without causing damage. Dr. Kendi had Dr. Kolar exam Sweetheart after she was done searching and he confirmed that all the stitches had been chewed out but no damage had been done.

Ugh, goofy dog. We are lucky she didn't cause damage by doing that. He said her incision site will look better in a few days. Right now it is kind of puckered. Dr. Kolar said she is fine and I am now going to deem her fully recovered from her horrible neglect! YAY!!

I will be taking her to the mall tomorrow and will let her wear one of her fancy collars (she has seven fancy ones thanks to her generous fans out there). She will be Peanut Fancy Pants tomorrow. :) She will share time at the mall with the black foster, Britt, that you saw on yesterday's video. I hope she does well at the mall and doesn't act a fool.

Today is Friday, the best day of the week! Hope you all have a lovely weekend. Oklahoma is going to get some nasty weather in these next 3-4 days. The dogs are not going to be happy about it I bet.

Jess

Thursday

2011-01-06T12:23:00.000-06:00

Sweetheart is doing well, no problems with the incision site. She is due to have her stitches removed tomorrow. I am going to see if I can remove them myself tomorrow and if I am not able to, then I will take her to Dr. Kolar's Saturday morning.

Saturday I will be at the Shawnee Mall in Shawnee Oklahoma from 1-4 for our first greyhound show and tail event of 2011. I am going to bring Sweetheart so she can get used to different environments. If any of you are out and about and in the area, stop by and say hi!

Friday, February 4th at 7:00 p.m., the Oklahoma Baron's hockey team is having a Miracles on Ice game that will benefit local non-profit groups like Fasthound. For every person that designates Fasthound as their chosen charity group, the Baron's will donate $4.00 directly to Fasthound! Paul and I are going to try to reserve a block of seats for anyone interested in joining us to watch the game. Tickets run $12-$36 per person. The block of seats we hope to reserve will be priced at $21.00 per person. If are you interested in helping Fasthound and joining our volunteers for a fun filled evening of hockey, let me know. You can mail us a check for the $21.00 ticket or donate the price via paypal and designate on paypal that it is for the Baron's game. Remember, in order for Fasthound to receive the $4.00, you must tell the ticket agent or mark on your ticket that you wish Fasthound to benefit from your purchase.

I need to take some pictures of Sweetheart so that you all can see her. She hasn't changed any since the last pictures/video but I know how everyone likes pictures of the wild child! She continues to be a complete wild child outside and in the house. Poor Cleo can't shake her. They were playing the other night in the house and Cleo had had enough and got a little rough with Sweetheart. Sweetheart screamed like a wounded animal (I checked, no scrapes, bites or blood) and ran away. HEHE, serves her right for not letting Cleo move an inch without gnawing on her. :)

The end of the work week is almost here. I am so ready for the weekend! Hope everyone had a good first week of 2011!

Jess

Obedience

2011-01-03T17:03:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official, Sweetheart is enrolled in obedience class. Class starts Friday January 14th at 8:00 p.m. The first class is for humans only. The class lasts for seven weeks. I am taking her to Positively Canine in Oklahoma City. What is so funny is that the owner and instructor have been following Sweetheart's blog for a while. I asked my friend who takes her greyhound there for classes if she is the one who told the owner about Sweetheart and the blog. My said she wasn't, that the people at Positively Canine knew about Sweetheart before she told them. I am constantly amazed at what a small world this is and how many people the little Peanut has touched.

Wish us luck! I hope Sweetheart isn't too surly with the other dogs in class. Socialization with other dogs outside our home and in different environments is definitely something she needs. I don't want my dog to be the class reject!! I guess I could always play the cruelty card and say she deserves special treatment :) Just kidding. No special treatment for her. Well, maybe I could get her some sliced cheese if she does well.

Hope the first Monday of the new year was a good one for everyone out there.

Jess

Year in Review

2011-01-02T19:33:00.000-06:00

2010 was quite a year for me. I would have never guessed some of the things that happened would have occurred.

In 2010, I watched a friend fight cancer and ultimately die from it. My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer and my father had a heart attack. I traveled to Key West, New Orleans, McKinney Texas (twice) and Escanaba Michigan. I rescued and helped rehabilitate a little greyhound named Sweetheart and I started a blog that has been viewed worldwide.

When I read all of these things, I think, wow, what a year. There were bad things that happened and there were good things that happened. Even though there was quite a bit bad, I tried and still try to take good from them. My friend suffering and dying had the biggest impact on my life and continues to do so. While I am still sad that she has died, her struggle and death have changed me for the better. I see things differently and don't worry about little things and live more in the moment. I try to let my family and friends know I care about them and try not to leave things unsaid.

My father having a heart attack and my grandmother being diagnosed with cancer was a shock. The heart attack more so. However, I am lucky in that I have a great relationship with them both. I am very thankful that each of them are doing well and continue to hope treatment goes well.

Rescuing Sweetheart and caring for her these past four and a half months has been very very special for me and will always be so no matter how long I have her. I am thankful for Dr. Kolar and staff. I am thankful for Lester for being so suppportive during her recovery, especially when her leg smelled like rotten meat!!!

I never thought I would start a blog, it was never something that even interested me. Thank you Courtney for urging me to do so. I never thought that Sweetheart's blog would become such a hit all over the world. Wow, talk about exciting. I feel I have made some good friends through this blog and I realize that the world is really small after all. I would love to be able to visit each and every one of you in person to say thank you for supporting Sweetheart and listening to my worries and stories.

I hope every one of you had a good 2010. Tell me a few things that touched your life in 2010. I would love to hear about them. Email them or post them as a comment.

I am looking into obedience class for Sweetheart. My friend has suggested a place in Oklahoma City to take her and I just need to pick a date and time and start the process. If she passes obedience the next step is therapy dog training. I hope very much to do this. I really want to do it and not just talk about it. Perhaps everyone out there following this blog can hold me accountable and give me encouragement to do see it through. :)

Thank you to everyone who has followed this blog and continues to do so. It has meant a lot to me that so many strangers from all over the world care about this little girl. It is truly amazing and a great gift!

Happy 2011. I hope the new year has been good to you already!

Jess and Sweetheart!

Thursday

2010-12-30T18:44:00.000-06:00

I took the day off today. Sweetheart was outside on and off during the day and did great. She is moving around good and trying to gnaw on Cleo when they are outside so she is almost back to normal. I sort of like her being subdued :)

I emailed Channel Four last night. They did a story on Sweetheart September 2. I asked them if they wanted to do a follow up to show she is completely healed. I haven't heard back from them and am not getting my hopes up but I thought I would give it a shot. Their website is www.kfor.com if you want to go on there and send them an email if you would like them to do a story. Who knows, maybe they will.

Today was a gorgeous day in Oklahoma. 72 degrees. Tomorrow a bitter cold front is coming through and the weekend is going to be cold. Oh well, at least we had a gorgeous day and I enjoyed it very much. The dogs enjoyed laying around in the sun.

Jess

Peanut is home

2010-12-29T21:36:00.000-06:00

Yes, Peanut. Sweetheart has several nicknames and the one we use the most is Peanut. All of my greys have multiple nicknames. Half the time I wonder if they really will recognize their 'real' name since I am always using nick names. :) Do your greys have nicknames? If so, share them with me in a comment to this post.

Anyhow, Sweetheart is home. Les picked her up about 3 today. He said she was really excited to see him. She ran down the hall (on leash) and bounced all around him in the lobby. That made him pretty happy :) Les got her home with no problems. She is pretty subdued this evening. She has gone outside a few times this evening and is walking around just fine. She is holding herself a little stiffly but not too bad. She isn't having any problems jumping on the couch or leaning against me for hugs. :) Right now she and Cleo are passed out on the couch. I am going to make sure she and Cleo don't play too much outside for the next few days. I do not want her to pull any of her stitches. She doesn't have to be on any antibiotics, I am sure she is disappointed because that means no cheese snacks twice a day. Dr. Kolar cleaned her teeth and Dr.Kindi told Les that the blood work results should be ready tomorrow or early next week at the very latest. I am really really curious to see how much her blood work has changed from August 13th to now.

Sweetheart's stitches will come out in 10 days. If they aren't in too tight I will just take them out myself. However, if they are tight and sunken in any places I will take her to Kolar's.

I am so very relieved that she sailed through this spay. This was the very last thing she had to do to be fully recovered. I cannot believe that it has only been four and a half months since we rescued her and she is almost 100% back to normal. Some days it feels like I have had her for 4 and a half years, not four and a half months. She is so special and I am so thankful I have gotten to experience every step of her recovery. I highly recommend that if any of you ever get the chance to help a neglected or abused animal that you do it. The rewards are worth it a thousand times over.

I plan on enrolling her in obedience class (if there is still a spot) Monday. The vo-tech was closed for the holidays this week so I wasn't able to do it. If I don't get her into this class I will try to get her enrolled at a different vo-tech. Either way, she will be in obedience by April at the very latest.

I will try to get some pictures of her soon. Thank you all for following her spay saga and giving me your encouragement! I was a worried 'mom' for the last few days. :)

Oh, and I haven't checked yet to see if Dr. Kolar lined up her spots after the spay. :)

Jess

The day after

2010-12-29T09:52:00.000-06:00

Called Dr. Kolar's and Sweetheart is doing fine this morning. They are going to give her a bath before Les picks her up so she will be nice and clean. I am sure that will last all of an hour or so. Once we let her outside she likes to run around and then dig and lay in the dirt holes.

I really need to take pictures of the landscaping Cleo, Journey and Sweetheart have done to the backyard lately. It is quite impressive. It sort of looks like they are waging trench warfare out there. I gave up on having a nice backyard many years ago. My main goal is not to break an ankle or leg when I walk in the backyard. Ahh, fun with greyhounds. :) I figure mowing this spring should be nice and challenging.

Hope everyone is having a good day. My four day weekend starts at four this afternoon!

Jessica

Spay Day update

2010-12-28T15:39:00.000-06:00

I talked to Lynn at Dr. Kolar's and she said that Sweetheart made it through the spay just fine. She is actually fairly awake and is doing well. They drew blood on her so that we can see how much progress (hopefully) she has made since the first blood work that was done in August right after her rescue.

Dr. Kolar is keeping her overnight. Les will go and pick her up tomorrow, probably late morning or early afternoon. I would much rather her stay there a little bit longer tomorrow just to make sure she is doing well.

Jess

Spay Day

2010-12-28T07:36:00.000-06:00

Today is finally here. Spay Day. Lester is taking Sweetheart into Dr. Kolar's this morning about 8:30. Dr. Kolar normally keeps them overnight after a spay or neuter to make sure nothing goes wrong.

The house is going to seem kind of odd without her there.

I think I have pretty much made the decision that I am going to adopt her. She has really recovered nicely and her personality is quite darling. She loves to play and has really started to become a snuggle bunny. I suppose I am somewhat selfish in wanting to keep her. I just cannot stand the thought of her going to yet another home where there is no guarantee she wouldn't be hurt again (even though we screen our adopter's thoroughly).

I am going to enroll her in a large dog obdeience class at the local vo tech (if there is still room in the class). The class will start sometime in January or February. I hope she does well in it. My ultimate goal will be to have her certified as a therapy dog so that I can do visits to hospitals, nursing homes and such. I would love to be able to visit a cancer treatment center to be able to cheer up those patients going through such a traumatic experience. I would like to do that in honor of my friend. However, I may get Sweetheart in class and find out she is a total goof and totally untrainable! Who knows. Either way, I will love her no matter what.

Hope everyone is doing good. My Dad continues to do well and for this I am very thankful for! Hope everyone is having a good week. I am treating myself to another four day weekend starting Thursday. What the heck, you only live once. :)

Jess

Sunday

2010-12-26T21:06:00.000-06:00

Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and well wishes for my Dad.

He came home Christmas Eve and is doing well. He is taking it easy and making a real effort to stop smoking (hard for him to do after 50, yes 50 years of smoking). I know he can do it, it will just be difficult. He will go in for another stent within the next 3-4 weeks if all goes well with his recovery from the first one.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Mine was nice, especially since my Dad came home.

Sweetheart is doing well. Playing like a wild woman and making us laugh and laugh. As you all know, she goes in for her spay Tuesday. I am trying to give her extra tummy rubs while her tummy is still pristine. :)

I will update everyone on how she does after her spay. I hope all goes well, I am going to be nervous until she comes home.

Merry Christmas Eve!

2010-12-24T16:36:00.000-06:00

All of us at Fasthound would like to wish all of Sweetheart's fans Happy Holidays!

Matters of the heart

2010-12-22T21:51:00.000-06:00

This afternoon my Dad suffered a mild heart attack. They found three blockages and placed a stent in one of these. They will have to place the other two stents separately in the next few months. Barring any set backs, he should be fully recovered within three months. He will be in the hospital for the next two evenings. I am hopeful that all will go well and he will come home Friday.

I wanted to let everyone know about this so you wouldn't wonder why there may not be any new updates for a couple of days. I will be up at the hospital quite a bit of the day tomorrow I would imagine. Keep him in your thoughts just like you have with Sweetheart.

Sweetheart is still doing fine by the way and is on track to be spayed Tuesday. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and I hope I get my Dad home safe and sound for Christmas.

Love to you all.

Jess

Pigpen!

2010-12-20T19:09:00.001-06:00

Spay is scheduled for next Tuesday, December 28th. And I am NOT happy about it. Yes, I know, spaying is the right thing to do. Believe me, being in rescue, I know this. However, I HATE having to put her through more pain. Plus I don't want to see a scar on that pretty, spotted tummy :( Oh well, it is better than her having puppies and that is something I DO NOT WANT. :)

I told Les to tell Dr. Kolar to make sure that when he sews her up that all her spots match like before. :)

I will keep everyone posted on her spay surgery. Paws and fingers crossed that it all goes well. I am also going to have him do another full blood panel to see how much her counts have improved from August.

Below is video Les shot this evening. You can see my fat self in it quite a bit. He needs to learn to crop those images out. :) Hope you all enjoy our little pig pen. Cleo and Sweetheart have dug my yard completely up. It looks like war has been waged on our yard.

It's official! Sweetheart's leg is fully healed!

2010-12-18T17:47:00.001-06:00

Silly girl!

2010-12-15T19:46:00.000-06:00

Wednesday

2010-12-15T11:40:00.000-06:00

Mid-way through the work week. I am sitting at work and just finished browsing through all of the blog posts I did in August. Even though I have been dealing with Sweetheart for four months now, it is hard for me to believe she was really that emaciated and that her leg was that bad. I look at Sweetheart today and she just isn't the same dog. She is so healthy looking now and so FULL OF ENERGY. I have always been grateful for her amazing recovery but reading back in the blog to the first weeks makes me appreciate her all the more.

I watch her play and sleep and eat and marvel at her. I must admit, I can't stop patting her little thighs because it is so amazing to me that she regained so much muscle back after not having any. Watching her run is breathtaking and watching her pounce on tennis balls like a puppy is a joy.

I have started to ponder adopting her myself. I do not know if I will do it or not. I know I probably shouldn't adopt her since I already have three of my own but I would love to have a therapy dog and I think she might be able to pass the certification. My first greyhound I ever adopted, Bavarian, is twelve and a half and he is getting raspy in breath and slower in movement. He will not be with me too much longer I fear. While Sweetheart could never replace him in my heart, she would be a good grey to fill some of the void his loss will undoubtably create.

I am going to keep thinking about it and I plan on looking into therapy certification. She still needs to be spayed and that will happen soon. I still have some time to contemplate adoption. If I do adopt, it will be the third failed foster of mine. I guess that isn't too bad after fostering for five years!

I will try and get some pictures of her for you all in the next few days. She looks exactly the same but I know the blog is better when I put pics and video on it!

Best Friends?

2010-12-12T12:57:00.000-06:00

All I want for Christmas is a fully healed leg!

2010-12-11T19:50:00.000-06:00

Yes everyone, that is all I want for Christmas and I just might get it. You be the judge. I took these pictures of Sweetheart (she was quite unwilling as she did not want to stop playing to pose) a few minutes ago.

Inside of leg. No you are not seeing things, the inside
of her leg is TOTALLY healed!!!! Remember, this
was down to the bone not but 4 short months ago.

Outside of leg!

Another closer shot of the outside of the leg. LOOK at all
the new fuzzy white hair growing back!

Front view of the leg.

Close up of the fully healed inside portion.

Monday 12/06

2010-12-06T23:04:00.000-06:00

As I write this, I am looking at Sweetheart lying on the floor without a care in the world. I feel so lucky to be able to take care of her and to count all the spots that have popped up on her tummy. :) I really do feel she is a miracle dog. I have never seen a dog heal so quickly when faced with so much adversity.

She continues to do great. Eating wonderfully and playing with Cleo and I like a 2 year old should. She loves to play with toys and to wolf bite me when I 'get her'.

Sweetheart has discovered a new little 'game'. When she comes in from outside, she will jump on the couch and lie down where she lands. Below are a couple of pictures of her lying awkwardly where she landed.

The pictures below are of her passed out on the couch. She crawled up there with me as I was watching TV this weekend.

Sweetheart's Story

More Eve

Eve

Crate Hate

Thankful

Saturday

Sweets

HOME!

Saturday Sweets

Sweets on a Wednesday

Tuesday Sweets

Monday Morning Blues

Sunday and worried

Update

Sweetheart is Home

Sweets this A.M.

Sweetheart is hurt....but ok!

Tuesday

Eve update

Eve is home

Eve comes home tomorrow

Eve update and the Komen 5K

Eve update

Project

Fundraising Sweetheart!

Puppster & Sweets playing and Cleo's dust bowl 2011.

Friend's Accident :(

Puppy and stuff

Puppy

Sweetheart's Cake

Birthday Girl!!!

Short video.

Pictures!

60 and a cold

Birthday Party!

Thoughts

Sweetheart and the snake!

Tired

Long time no post!

Wednesday

Vet visit

9 months!

58!

ARGH Sweetheart! What did you do?!

Heading home!

Friday Night

Thursday

Evening

Back at the vet

New project!

Chick Cam

Peanut Backsass Pants!

Long time no post

A little video.

Monday

Blue Weekend and Fur baby Story #5

Flying Bavarian aka, Bavarian, B-Man, Newbie, Snoobie, Green Trees and others I cannot publish!

Caution: Gorgeous furbaby pics in today's blog - May incite jealousy!

New Header

Fur Baby Post #3 and obedience update

Beach Bum!

Contest!

Walk, Click, Treat, Walk, Click, Treat, Walk, Click, Treat....

Obedience *sigh*

Mall Pictures

Fur Baby Post #2

Fur Baby Post #1

More pictures.

Cold outside but snuggly warm inside!

BRRR....

The one I couldn't save. :(

Sweetheart the Bad

Blog Picture Challenge! Please respond by Sunday Jan. 30!

Wednesday before a storm

Playtime!

Sleepy girl and more spots!

Fur baby post delayed

The dumbbell saga continues...this time on camera!

Do hand weights make good dog toys? Sweetheart says YES!

Mall

Obedience sigh