Thursday, July 30, 2009

Spoiled Rotten?

It's been some time since I baked the girls some homemade cookies. I recently purchased a paw print "cookie stamp" which gave me the incentive to whip up a batch of cookies last night.

I chose the recipe, Peanut Butter Carob Cookies, from my most favorite doggie recipe book, Doggie Desserts. Here is the recipe:

6 T. all natural applesauce, no sugar added
1/4 C. honey
1/2 C. vegetable oil
1/2 C. all natural peanut butter, no salt or sugar added
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 C. unbleached white flour
1 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. carob powder
2 eggs
1 T. ground cinnamon
2 t. baking soda

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients. With your hands, make 1-inch balls wth the dough. Place balls 1 inch apart on baking sheet. With a fork, flatten ball leaving indent marks from the fork. (I used my paw print cookie stamp instead.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. When done, cookies should be firm to the touch. Turn oven off and let cookies sit 1 to 2 hours to harden.

Spoiled Greyhounds? I dare to admit to that, but I do know I have four very happy Greyhounds who know they're loved!
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Monday, July 20, 2009

A Man and His Dog

Kim LeVear and I drove over to Talladaga Friday evening to conduct a home visit for a potential adopter. On the way over, we encountered a most unusual sight. See for yourself . . .



We laughed and laughed. Thank God my Lucy wasn't with us or she'd be wanting a Harley herself so we could drive around like that. Can you imagine a Greyhound on the back of one of those? Pin It

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Christmas in July

Or so it feels like it and no, the temps aren't in the 30's (actually they're in the 80's - pretty mild for July in Georgia).

What is it I speak of? It's a gift I purchased for myself, a pre-Christmas gift if you will - my first 3GS 16 GB iPhone! I think I spent about 3 hours last night bonding with my iPhone. I'm almost a professional user at this point. Just kidding as I have so much to learn on this new device. It's totally different than my Treo.

And there are so many little apps for it which is way cool. If anyone knows of any that just knock your socks off, please let me know.

New toys are always such fun, aren't they? Pin It

Monday, July 13, 2009

Quiet a Scare

Saturday evening, my foster Misty's new Dad came to pick her up. They had been vacationing in Puerto Rico for a week or so and had just flown into Atlanta that night. Their little girl had been anticipating the arrival of Misty for two weeks or more.

Well, not 15 minutes after leaving my house, Misty's Dad called me to say something was wrong. My first thought was that he had been in a car wreck and something had happened to Misty. Unfortunately something just as bad had happened - Misty escaped while he was getting her out of the SUV. My mouth went dry and my heart starting pounding. I told him I would be right there.

I immediately ran into the bathroom, stuck my contacts in my eyes, threw on my shorts and a t-shirt and stuck on my tennis shoes. I crated my girls and gave them a cookie and said "bye for now". And then I was off!

Luckily, Misty's new family lived within 5 miles of me so I was there in no time. On the way, I called Kim who subsequently called Scott. Everyone converged in the neighborhood of the new adopter within a half hour or so. It was amazing, to say the least, and always makes me proud to be a part of such a wonderful group. As I said on our email list, we would move "heaven and earth" to help find one of our lost hounds.

We had spent a good bit of time in a cul-de-sac that butted up against this neighborhood. We heard quite a few barking dogs and I told Robert (Misty's Dad) that they must be barking at something and maybe it was Misty. I used the squawker and sure enough, Misty came out of the woods. I called her name and she immediately turned and ran back into the woods. Robert and I proceeded into the brush, hoping she would stay put and we could catch her. She did have her leash and collar on as well as her Second Chance Greyhound tag. I was hoping the leash would get snagged on something which would immobilize her, giving us a chance to grab her. She is a skittish thing so I knew she wouldn't just walk up to us.

About the time that Kim arrived, Robert and I had headed to the neighborhood behind his, which was called Heritage. Funny enough, this neighborhood is located off Austin Bridge which is the same road my neighborhood is on! Anyhoo, we walked that neighborhood for what seemed like hours, trying to find the back of it, the portion that would have backed up against his neighborhood. We thought we had found it because we heard the barking dogs. Yes, they were still barking. Along the way, we passed out business cards to folks we found out and about. It was late, maybe 11:00 p.m. by then but we did run into a few folks. Everyone was very nice, wishing us luck in finding Misty.

In the meantime, Kim was patrolling the cul-de-sac in Robert's neighborhood in case Misty decided to run back out of the woods. One of Robert's neighbors was there as well. I believe they were walking about when one of the homeowners in the cul-de-sac approached them with a pistol, asking what they were doing, etc. Obviously, this scared Kim half to death. When they explained they were looking for a lost dog, the man backed off and actually wished them luck as well.

About this time, Scott and his girlfriend, Tricia, arrived on the scene. Robert and I were walking back to my vehicle when Kim called to say they were going to branch out and search some more, from their vehicles. Scott and Tricia actually ended up driving to Heritage where Robert and I were, however, by that time, we had headed back to Robert's neighborhood. We hadn't even made it back to his house when Kim called to say that Scott had spotted Misty. She was in Heritage and he had her cornered. She was running around and around one house. Robert and I turned around, heading that direction. About then, Kim called again to say that Scott had Misty. WOW, I think that's the first time I had breathed since Robert's initial call some 3 1/2 hours earlier. It seems that Misty's leash got caught on something with afforded Scott the opportunity to grab her. Funny, she was right where Robert and I were not 15 minutes before.

Luckily for us, she was in fine shape. A few briers but that was all. As you know, Greyhounds are sprinters with no true endurance so she was obviously exhausted from the ordeal but seemed in good spirits otherwise. When we all arrived back at Robert's house, we all hugged on Misty while Mariam (Robert's wife) got Misty a bowl of water and then some liquid nourishment for us as well. We stood around marveling at Misty's calm demeanor while we were all attempting to come down from the adrenaline high. She just looked at us as if to say, "what's the big deal - I just went on a midnight stroll"!

What a harrowing experience for sure. There is nothing worse than loosing a Greyhound, especially in a brand new neighborhood. Robert's neighbors were so nice and helpful and without Kim, Scott, and Tricia coming to the rescue, I'm sure we would still be looking for Misty. It does take a team, and that we were. As someone said, "we rock"! I have to agree.

Here is a map of the area. The "A" pointer is Misty's new home. The red circle indicates the last sighting where she came out of the woods and the yellow circle is in the vicinity of where Scott found her.

On a side note, whilst rummaging through the forest with Robert searching for Misty, I couldn't help thinking to myself, "you're going to get poison ivy". I am so allergic to it, it's not even funny. Sure enough, this morning I woke up with a few welts on my hand and my neck. I'm waiting on "the others" to appear as I'm sure there will be more! I think an Epsom Salt bath is in my future. Pin It

Sunday, July 05, 2009

The First Run

Yesterday I took my new girl, Sami, up to Calhoun where GANG was in the middle of a three-day lure coursing trial. I had been anticipating this day for about a month - ever since I adopted Sami. My goal was to see how Sami liked lure coursing. I had intended just to let her watch a few runs and then, hopefully, let her do a practice run. Unfortunately, we arrived too late as the coursing of the day was complete. So, there was no one to watch!! We decided to go ahead and go for the gusto and let her run a practice run. After the hour drive, we had to make the best use of our time, you know?

So, we taped up pads and gathered slip leads and headed to the line. The lure operator started the lure and Sami just stood there. I ran a bit with her trying to get her to run - and NOTHING. As my friend Kim said, the look on my face said it all. I was so afraid this would happen and was so disappointed. I really enjoy lure coursing and wanted a coursing dog. I thought Sami would be perfect when I chose her.

At the suggestion of the lure operator, we decided to let Haylee take a practice run. Kim had her taped and she was ready to go. Once she started running (and Haylee loves to run and she's good at taking the turns, too), the light bulb went off in Sami's little head. She was overexcited and definitely wanted to take another turn at it. So, once Haylee came back, we once again, approached the line. The lure operator started the lure and Sami was off and running. She really did well, running really too fast, but I am certain she'll figure that out and will learn to take the corners a bit slower. She has a very fluid style with a long gait.


Needless to say, I am quite pleased and can't wait until fall when we can course for real. A few Single runs and she'll be ready for her certification run and then on to the Open category. In the meantime, we will train and train so we'll be ready.

I am just happy I won't have to return her. Now wouldn't that be something - the Chair of a Greyhound adoption group returning a dog because it won't lure course!! Ha - I wouldn't have done that as I love that girl - she is the funniest and sweetest dog! But, don't think I didn't think about it!! Pin It

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Call Me Grace

Actually, I'm the less graceful person on the planet. This morning is proof of that. I actually fell off the bus this morning. Yes, it was quite embarrassing and actually was quite funny at the same time. I fell on that last step from the bottom of the step on the bus to the ground.

As luck would have it, there was a nice black gentleman standing right there to witness it all. He did reach out his hand for me and asked the proverbial question, "are you alright ma'am?" Well, of course, it "smarted" quite a bit and as I was gaining my wits about me, I looked down and to my defense, there was a pretty big hole in the concrete. I then exclaimed, "there's a thing there", pointing to the monster hole that caused my fall. That's all I could muster. I stood up and told the young man, thank you, and proceeded on my merry way.

Once I made it to the train I glanced down at my foot - the one that took the brunt of the fall. Thank God it wasn't "frankenfoot" but was my left foot. I was concerned it may have been bleeding because it hurt so darn much but it's okay. There is a little weird bruise on the very left side of the foot, right on the bone there. Really strange spot for a bruise but it's there nonetheless! I first thought it must be embedded asphalt or concrete but it's a bruise.

There are three things to note here - (1) unfortunately the ballet lessons as a kid didn't help much, (2) make sure you're fully awake from the bus ride before disembarking, and (3) watch your step!! Pin It