Moose (Kickin Kevin)

Kickin Kevin when he arrived from the track

We lost another one. It has taken me a month to be able to write this. Moose died the night of February 5th right before my birthday which is Feb 6th. I was in Florida with Miles visiting the tracks to pick up 11 retired race greyhounds. I hadn't even been gone from home 24 hours when I got a call from a stranger saying my dog was hit by a car.

So many things rush though your head in a few seconds. Can't be my dog! I have one on a leash standing beside me and the other is safely at home with my husband in South Carolina. Can't possibly be MY dog. I asked him what color the dog was and he said "white and brown". Moose is white and red. Everything started swirling around then. I remember asking him if he was alive and he said "No lady, I am afraid he isn't". Then I asked him what street he was on - it WAS my street! I had to accept it at that point that it was my Moose.

To make it more confusing, suddenly I heard my husband's voice on the phone telling me it was Moose. He had pulled up and taken the guy's phone. It is all a blur but later that night he called back to  explain that the realtor showed the house and left the gate open earlier in the day. He had put Moose out for his final potty break and he didn't come back in. He went out to see where he was and saw the open gate about the time he heard the horn honk on the street. I found out later that Moose was killed instantly.

I have actually had nightmares about this happening several of them. I check and recheck the gates and doors because we do live on a busy road. Moose had wanted to come on this trip so badly. I almost brought him but wouldn't have had room to bring back as many fosters since he is was so big. I decided to leave him home this time. I was staying with people and didn't want to crash at their homes with two large dogs. I so wish I could go back and do it over. I had no idea when I told him goodbye that day that that was the last time I would ever see him.

It was all so strange, earlier that day I had been to the farm that Moose was raised on and met his racing owners for the first time. I had promised to bring him back for a visit. I had been to the training track where he had actually learned to race and let Miles run a lap behind the lure there. Just didn't seem possible that the dog that I had been talking about all day could be dead. And so closely behind Pinky.

Moose on an earlier trip happy to see his race trainer again after retiring

I suddenly had only ONE dog. Just Miles Per Hour! I don't remember ever having just one pet before. We always had cats and dogs, sometimes horses, cows, chickens, ferrets and even a pet raccoon. Never just one animal.

I thought about leaving Florida and driving home, but there was nothing I could really do. Roy brought Moose's body back home for the night and wrapped him in a blanket. Our vet had the place that does the cremations come pick him up in the morning from our house because Roy wasn't sure he could get a 100lb dog in his vehicle by himself. I had friends that said they would come help if that wasn't possible.

The next day is a bit blurry. I didn't have any waterproof mascara with me and couldn't keep makeup on. I couldn't go anywhere until I could quit crying because I looked like a raccoon. I was supposed to be at the Orlando track helping out in one of the racing kennels but didn't even make it there until after noon. I went out to get some coffee and ended up sitting in a parking lot nearby on the phone for hours. Friends called, people I didn't even know sent messages on Facebook. I had lots of emails too. Lots of birthday messages but most were about Moose because my friends understood there was no way I could have a "Happy Birthday". I hadn't even had Moose two years, but he had touched a lot of people though the meet and greets, Renaissance Festival, home visits for adopters and all the people that came here to adopt dogs and met him. He was such a big guy and so sweet that you just couldn't forget him once you had met him - a real gentle giant.

I was furious with the realtor. It is bad enough when you lose a dog to illness like Pinky. This was so much worse though because it was senseless and could have been prevented so easily. Moose was a healthy young dog one second and gone the next just because someone forgot or was too lazy to latch the gate. Someone that knew we had dogs and knew their names. The family looking at the house had met Moose that day. Their little daughter had opened his crate and went in to pet him. My husband had crated him like we always do while they were looking at the house just in case anyone left a door open. He had gone outside with them and made sure the gates were closed when they went through like he always does. The realtor had gone in and come outside again and must have gone back through the gate rather than around the house though because that gate was open again.

Moose and Miles at the Renaissance Festival

Moose and his favorite pirate Spy Glass

Moose was a special boy. Raced at 92lbs so was a big gentle giant. He was the perfect boy to raise a greyhound puppy and was so tolerant and sweet with Miles. Moose was actually a pretty good racer in spite of his size and didn't retire until he was nearly four and a half years old.

Moose racing

This giant dog that was so friendly and seemed so unafraid most of the time was more timid than he appeared on the surface. He was afraid of kids and wet himself the first few times he was around more than a few of them at a time. It took a couple of days of treats at Renaissance Festival before he was comfortable around little kids and decided that they came bearing gifts. After that he was great and had just passed his Therapy Dog test before he died. 

Moose was a calm guy that loved napping on the bed and had his own twin bed at the foot of our bed to sleep on at night. He would stretch out and take up the whole thing. Moose never really got used to the wood floors at our house and never liked walking through the kitchen unless treats were involved - then he would brave the floors. He loved his crate and loved to travel though. Most of all he loved to chase a lure. It could be a lure at the race track, on the lure pole in the yard or lure coursing. That was about the only time this quiet guy got excited enough to bark. His bark sounded much like Pinky's. A high pitched, ear splitting yip that didn't sound like it could possibly come out of a giant dog. He did have a deep scary bark that I heard only a few times when he thought something was in the yard that 

shouldn't be there or when Miles had annoyed him one time too many. When he would get excited enough to bark it would often be accompanied by a leap straight up in the air - often above my head. He wouldn't pull on the leash so much to get a lure but would leap up and down in place like a toy poodle bouncing at a door. 

The normally perfectly behaved Moose got a little excited while watching a lure coursing competition

Moose was a gentle giant that I could completely trust at meet and greets with kids and adults. He would stand and lean against them and soak up all the attention he could. When they walked away he would walk up to the next closest person and lean on them. He loved to curl up in bed with us and wanted his head and a paw to be on us so that he was as close as possible. Never ever any issue with space. A dog or human could lay on him and he would never even move. He loved to be close to other dogs and people. He was such a love. 

One of Mooses quirks was that if he ever got afraid he would run. If he slipped on the wood floors he would bolt. He wouldn't think and would run into glass doors or walls. Just would go into panic mode and I know that is what caused him to run into traffic. I am sure he went outside and initially was just sniffing around. Once he realized he was in an unfamiliar place and alone in the woods he panicked and ran. He was running when he got hit according to the guy that stopped to help. My sweet boy will sure be missed and I can only think that Pinky needed a buddy up there worse than I did down here. 

Miles and Moose Christmas of 2011

Moose wasn't big on swimming but he loved to lay on the top step of the pool even in cold weather

Therapy Dogs!

Seems like a lot of bad news recently with Pinky and Sara. I do have some good news, Miles and Moose took their Therapy Dog Tests on Saturday. They passed!

My last two greyhounds JD and Streak were Therapy Dogs with Therapy Dogs Inc and Pinky was too. I had meant to test both of the boys a year or more ago but there aren't a lot of tests in the area and whenever one came up it was always on a weekend when I had other dog events. I am so glad we finally got it done.

My biggest concern was that Miles would get too excited and go up to one of the dogs during the test and pop it with a paw trying to get it to play instead of staying 2 feet away like he was supposed to. I was especially worried when I saw that one of the other dogs used in the test was another greyhound and one that he had played with before. He was a good boy and minded his manners. It helped that he had done a meet and greet already at PetSmart that morning then walked a mile or so right before the test. He was already pretty tired.

They aren't officially therapy dogs yet. They still have to complete 3 supervised visits with tester observers before they are official but with all the work they do at the Renaissance Festivals with people already these should be easy.

A new Angel.

We lost Pinky my Italian Greyhound on January 17th. What had started out as just drinking a little too much and peeing a lot at the beginning of December quickly got much worse. We ran lots of tests on him trying to find a cause checking for kidney problems, diabetes and finally Cushings. Then repeated them several times. Sometimes numbers were concerning sometimes normal.

We were sent to a specialist who believed it was either a brain tumor on his pituitary or a tumor on his adrenals and scheduled us for an ultrasound of his abdomen to check for that first since the brain scan was $1500. Before we got that done he started having trouble with staggering sometimes one week, to having pain in his head preventing him from being able to shake it the next. He would barely shake when he got up just barely moving his head then would act like he was in pain right after. He started dropping food out of his mouth when he ate one day and chewing weird. The following day he couldn't eat at all because of the pain when chewing. I made liquid food that he could lap up but could only do that for about another day before the pain was too bad to even do that. So within about a month we lost him to what most likely was a fast growing brain tumor.

Always so cute when he slept

Pinky was such a special little guy his official name was Logo's Pearly Gates. He was a Therapy Dog, Earned his Rally Obedience Novice title and had two legs towards his Advanced title and was a Canine Good Citizen. He was a performer with the Hounds of East Fairhaven promoting sighthound adoption at the GA and Carolina Renaissance Festivals. He was the Greyhound Crossroads small dog tester and helped fosters learn respect for small white dogs that looked like bunnies. He also raised a litter of greyhound puppies and was a great doorbell and best buddy. Pretty amazing for a little deaf dog. 

He was the 2007 Laurelwood Plate Italian Greyhound. Only one  dog of each breed is chosen per year.

He loved to chase the lure but not too far. He would come running back to mom if he got too far away.

He loved to ride in his carrier on the motorcycle with Roy. He was safely hooked in his carrier so he couldn't jump out. They rode from Greenville to Myrtle Beach together one year.

A media photo of Pinky and I used to advertise the Carolina Renaissance Festival

Not many little dogs have Kings and Queens come to visit him

Kiss from a Queen at the Carolina Renaissance Festival

At the Georgia Renaissance Festival Pinky usurped the throne from the King and took part of his court.

We sure miss him a lot and plan to adopt another deaf Italian Greyhound in his honor. If you hear of one please let me know.

Happy Birthday Miles, Otto and Kohle!

Today is the boys 3rd birthday. They are officially grown up now even though they don't always act like it. Miles has slowed down some finally. He runs some in the yard but not every day. Still pretty high energy in comparison to most of my fosters, although many are younger than he is now.

On Miles birthday I found out that he finished in the NOTRA's (National Oval Track Racing Association) Top 10 for 2012! He was tied for 8th place! It was a huge surprise that he ended up in the top 10 at all after not being able to run much because of an injury. He also finished in the top 20 in LGRA (Large Gazehound Racing Association)These are not professional track racing. They are "for fun" racing organizations for all sighthound breeds. They get to have the fun of chasing the lure and do what they were bred to do and pick up a few trophies or ribbons while they are at it. It is great exercise and the dogs love it! A lot of the greyhounds that compete in it are retired track dogs that still love to run and aren't ready to be couch potatoes yet. NOTRA is oval racing and LGRA is straight track racing.

Miles seems to have recovered and doesn't seem to have soreness left in his back. It was never an injury that I would even notice if he was only a pet, running in the backyard. It is something that prevents him from fully extending in a full run and slows him down when really running hard. It only seemed to be painful when he was really pushing to run fast like when he was trying to keep up with or pass another dog or when really trying hard to catch a lure. All things he loves to do.

It initially happened in February. He healed up after being off for a couple of months and was competing and running great. He pulled it again in October at the Nationals, pulled up and was out of competition the rest of the year.

We leash walked him for a long time and didn't let him run around. That was worse on us than him. He has been bouncing around wanting to run and play and really doesn't understand why he isn't allowed to. We started letting him run around in the yard, where he couldn't really get up to full speed, a few weeks ago. I waited until to take him out to a larger area to run by himself and let him really kick it in. No sign of any trouble though in December so we started letting him run with other greyhounds. We are starting him on the lure again and straight sprints to get him in shape for competitions in February.

Sara

We lost Miles mother Sara (racing name Sarandon) just before Christmas. My thoughts and prayers are with her family. She was their only greyhound and their best friend.

She went very fast. She went down on a short walk and was not able to be revived 10 minutes later when she got to the vet. Waiting on the necropsy results. She was so young and in such great shape. She ran at a dog park nearly every day and was one of the most active greyhounds for her age I have ever seen. Not many greyhound moms can play all day with their pups. She seemed to be in such good health.

We were planning to get the family together again this fall but couldn't find a time that was good for her and all her pups. So sad that weren't able to do that one last time.

Here are some photos of her that I took during the 5 months she lived at my house with her pups. She was a fantastic mom as you can see from her pictures. She loved playing with her pups and never forgot them. We will all miss you beautiful girl!

Beach Bound Hounds

Photo BBH Photographer Bronnie Fisher

 Beach Bound Hounds is the greyhound event that our adoption group puts on at the end of September every year. We had 450 greyhounds in attendance with their owners this year. We take over the Sea Mist Resort and have vendors, dinners, beach walks, contests, seminars and fun for 4 days. I did a seminar for new owners and foster homes. Miles won the best trick contest there by doing 20 tricks in a minute.  Moose and I won the best owner dog costume contest by dressing up as a very small but notorious motorcycle gang.

Photo BBH Photographer Bronnie Fisher

Photo BBH Photographer Bronnie Fisher

 Miles learned how to curl up really small to sleep in an arm chair in the suite I share with several others. We don't have any arm chairs he can fit into at our house so this was a first for him. He also was filmed and photographed for Myrtle Beach Online

Photo Myrtle Beach Online

Big Moose got to meet little Moose the tiny star of the Birmingham Race Track commercials and her owner Mel that is the head of the adoption kennel at the race track. Here is another commercial. Mel did a seminar for us and talked about going from greyhound trainer into adoption and how she and her small group of volunteers move more than a 1000 greyhounds a year to adoption groups as far away as Canada.

The Moosekateers

 In addition to my own greyhounds, I took my foster LW's Fats to Beach Bound Hounds in hopes he would find a home. I wouldn't take many of my fosters on vacation with me but Fats is about as perfect as they come. He was well behaved in a hotel room and was not stressed in that type of crazy environment. He is so unique with his crooked nose and deformed face that I was sure that the greyhound people at BBH would appreciate him. I was not disappointed, by the end of the weekend a couple of people wanted him. He ended up going home to live with a BBH regular, Bettie, that lives in Florida. I am sure I will get to see him next year. I ended up not seeing much of Fats during the weekend. One of the speakers, Shelley Lake, a vet from Kansas that had flown in with no dogs, borrowed him for the weekend and helped show him off. Fat's new name is Max. Have a great life little boy!

Miles and the Chicken

This is a video of Miles with his favorite new toy. A rubber chicken that squawks as it inflates rather than the other way around like most toys. Probably the loudest most obnoxious toy around but one that the dogs LOVE! We got it from Carl at Crazy Collars who is a great guy that supports greyhound adoption and fosters for Greyhound Crossroads. I don't think the toy is up on his website yet because he sold out of them so fast. He is reordering and you can get on the list by email.

We are still working on dock diving. We have been to a couple of competitions to practice in the pools they set up. They seem to be harder for him than just jumping off a dock into a lake - he does that with no problem. The first one we went to was a competition in Anderson. He didn't jump into the pool from the dock that time but did get in the pool and swam around. The second competition was in Woodruff and he did jump in a bunch of times off the dock. Still not at speed. He would pause at the edge of the dock before jumping in but at least we made progress and actually got some jumps.