Post by GreyPoopon on Jan 31, 2008 17:23:49 GMT -5
In mid-December, before I adopted my foster Jessie, I got a call from Bill. He mentioned a recent return named Cyah. I barked, "NO!". He said, "I wouldn't let you have her anyway." Then he managed to slip all the information about her into the rest of the conversation. Shortly thereafter, TinasTroops took Cyah home as a foster. Cyah won't be leaving. ;D
In January, I got a message from Bill about a sweet girl named Lala (Thunder La La) who had been returned after just over a year in a home. I left a message saying no. By the time we spoke 5 days later, he thought that Lala might have new family. But that didn't work out. Then Lala's picture went up on the Adoptables page. Jiffer, who volunteers at the kennel, remembers Lala as a wonderful girl who was Jiffer's special buddy when she was there the first time. So, a sweet--and highly recommended--8 yr old brindle girl with a grey face and a fuzzy butt .... I started to think that I might be able to cram in one more dog.
A GreyTalk member known as hannahmom (Tena) is in the area on business. When her plans for the weekend fell through, she was available to make a long boring drive bearable, and to help with the introductions. I called and left a message for Lala asking if she'd like to join my crew. Apparently she would.
So we drove down on Saturday morning to pick her up.
She actually responded better to hannahmom than me (she is crazy about Bill). Her nails were very very long (the GRA volunteer who clips nails had not had a chance to do them). Her butt is not really fuzzy. I had a quick look at her teeth: I saw a lot of plaque where I should have been seeing gums, and her mouth was tender. Uh oh.
But we loaded her into the car and headed home. She didn't seem to recognize the kennel name (Lala) or the name she supposedly had in her previous home (Lola), so on the way hannahmom perused the book that I'd been given for Christmas--as a joke--called "The Best Pet Name Book Ever". In the chapter "Unusual Names and Nicknames" she found "Tally". Perhaps because of our backgrounds (accounting for her, finance for me), it appealed to us both. In fact, back in the DOS ages, my business partner and I developed a line of personal finance single-purpose calculation software under the name FASTally (eg. FASTally Mortgage Borrower). Appropriate, eh?
But I digress.
hannahmom and I got everybody introduced and walked (in two shifts), and then got Tally settled in. Other than knowing how to do stairs, she shows very few signs that she lived in a house. Maybe she's just in shock, but I suspect her previous home was very different--possibly few walks or small dogs or dog-level windows or hand feeding or ridiculously expensive training treats. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner. Especially about the expensive treats.
She's had her first vet visit. Except for her teeth, she's in good shape. That's a big "except": she had an infection that was about to become an abscess, so she's now on pre-dental antibiotics. On Monday, she'll lose at least two major teeth. After she heals, though, she'll be much more comfortable.
Here are the obligatory pics.
The shots from the GRA Adoptables thread:
On the way home in the car. That's hannahmom in the front seat:
She spent much of the ride looking out the various windows with, as hannahmom said, "major ear action":
But she did settle eventually:
I like this pic:
At home, in her crate:
Within less than 24 hours:
After she'd been here a couple of days, I tried to get some pics for GreyTalk. Instead I got dog nosle marks on the lens:
So I resorted to holding her:
She finally relaxed enough to let me get a full body shot:
The long nails (you don't want to see the teeth/infection):
On Tuesday night we had a breakthrough, when she first relaxed enough to lie down near the others, and later joined some of them on the beds. Here she is between broodies Piper (wearing jammies so she won't reopen a scrape on her side) and Cora. Edie is on the other side of Piper. Tally picked well: her head is resting on Cora (AKA Kind Dog), the dog least likely to voice an objection:
Still with Piper and Cora, but with her head on Edie's duckie:
Another breakthrough on Wednesday, when she joined several others in my office. It took a while to decide who was going to be in the room, and where everyone was going to rest, but they did settle eventually. Front row: Cora, Piper, Betsy, Minnie. Back Row: Tally, Edie. Elsewhere: Perry, Jessie.
A bit later Betsy left and Cora and Tally switched positions. A while after that Cora got up to turn around and Tally snarked. So we have a few things to work on, but I think we'll be OK.
Although everyone I've said this too has laughed uproariously and reminded me that they've heard it before, I will not be adding any more dogs: I will not walk more than four at once, and I won't add another shift. I can't possibly fit any more crates or dog beds into this house. Besides, we're all balanced again: two straight from the track (Betsy and Edie), two broodies right after their third and final litters (Piper and Cora), and two returns (Jessie and Tally). She really is the Final Tally.
Welcome home Tally!
Edited to add her racing name and the greyhound-data link.
In January, I got a message from Bill about a sweet girl named Lala (Thunder La La) who had been returned after just over a year in a home. I left a message saying no. By the time we spoke 5 days later, he thought that Lala might have new family. But that didn't work out. Then Lala's picture went up on the Adoptables page. Jiffer, who volunteers at the kennel, remembers Lala as a wonderful girl who was Jiffer's special buddy when she was there the first time. So, a sweet--and highly recommended--8 yr old brindle girl with a grey face and a fuzzy butt .... I started to think that I might be able to cram in one more dog.
A GreyTalk member known as hannahmom (Tena) is in the area on business. When her plans for the weekend fell through, she was available to make a long boring drive bearable, and to help with the introductions. I called and left a message for Lala asking if she'd like to join my crew. Apparently she would.
So we drove down on Saturday morning to pick her up.
She actually responded better to hannahmom than me (she is crazy about Bill). Her nails were very very long (the GRA volunteer who clips nails had not had a chance to do them). Her butt is not really fuzzy. I had a quick look at her teeth: I saw a lot of plaque where I should have been seeing gums, and her mouth was tender. Uh oh.
But we loaded her into the car and headed home. She didn't seem to recognize the kennel name (Lala) or the name she supposedly had in her previous home (Lola), so on the way hannahmom perused the book that I'd been given for Christmas--as a joke--called "The Best Pet Name Book Ever". In the chapter "Unusual Names and Nicknames" she found "Tally". Perhaps because of our backgrounds (accounting for her, finance for me), it appealed to us both. In fact, back in the DOS ages, my business partner and I developed a line of personal finance single-purpose calculation software under the name FASTally (eg. FASTally Mortgage Borrower). Appropriate, eh?
But I digress.
hannahmom and I got everybody introduced and walked (in two shifts), and then got Tally settled in. Other than knowing how to do stairs, she shows very few signs that she lived in a house. Maybe she's just in shock, but I suspect her previous home was very different--possibly few walks or small dogs or dog-level windows or hand feeding or ridiculously expensive training treats. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner. Especially about the expensive treats.
She's had her first vet visit. Except for her teeth, she's in good shape. That's a big "except": she had an infection that was about to become an abscess, so she's now on pre-dental antibiotics. On Monday, she'll lose at least two major teeth. After she heals, though, she'll be much more comfortable.
Here are the obligatory pics.
The shots from the GRA Adoptables thread:
On the way home in the car. That's hannahmom in the front seat:
She spent much of the ride looking out the various windows with, as hannahmom said, "major ear action":
But she did settle eventually:
I like this pic:
At home, in her crate:
Within less than 24 hours:
After she'd been here a couple of days, I tried to get some pics for GreyTalk. Instead I got dog nosle marks on the lens:
So I resorted to holding her:
She finally relaxed enough to let me get a full body shot:
The long nails (you don't want to see the teeth/infection):
On Tuesday night we had a breakthrough, when she first relaxed enough to lie down near the others, and later joined some of them on the beds. Here she is between broodies Piper (wearing jammies so she won't reopen a scrape on her side) and Cora. Edie is on the other side of Piper. Tally picked well: her head is resting on Cora (AKA Kind Dog), the dog least likely to voice an objection:
Still with Piper and Cora, but with her head on Edie's duckie:
Another breakthrough on Wednesday, when she joined several others in my office. It took a while to decide who was going to be in the room, and where everyone was going to rest, but they did settle eventually. Front row: Cora, Piper, Betsy, Minnie. Back Row: Tally, Edie. Elsewhere: Perry, Jessie.
A bit later Betsy left and Cora and Tally switched positions. A while after that Cora got up to turn around and Tally snarked. So we have a few things to work on, but I think we'll be OK.
Although everyone I've said this too has laughed uproariously and reminded me that they've heard it before, I will not be adding any more dogs: I will not walk more than four at once, and I won't add another shift. I can't possibly fit any more crates or dog beds into this house. Besides, we're all balanced again: two straight from the track (Betsy and Edie), two broodies right after their third and final litters (Piper and Cora), and two returns (Jessie and Tally). She really is the Final Tally.
Welcome home Tally!
Edited to add her racing name and the greyhound-data link.