Lisa called to tell us that she found a greyhound match for us. One of Lisa's volunteers, John Knowles, recently passed away at age 83, and his greyhound needs a home. He is a 6-year old, 85-pound, black greyhound. Apparently he is a certified pet therapy dog and Mr. Knowles used to take "Hawk" to hospitals.
The advantage to us taking Hawk is that he is already trained, and apparently well trained at that (well enough to be a therapy dog). We have never had a dog, so getting a pre-trained dog makes the first dog experience a little easier. Another advantage is that not only are we doing a good thing adopting an ex-racing greyhound, we are adopting an "estate dog."
The disadvantage to us taking Hawk is that he is a little older than most adopted dogs, so might not be with us for as long. Most dogs are 2 to 5 years old when they get adopted off of the track, and live 10 to 14 years. Also, we won't get the pleasure of training and introducing the new non-racing world to a greyhound.
Though Rachel would have preferred a smaller (i.e. 60 pounds), brindle female, she is excited about getting a Hawk, a huge, black male. Hawk is basically the opposite of her preferrence, but she'll love him just the same. I am excited too.
After chatting with Lisa tonight, Rachel and I excitedly talked only about dogs over our Ethiopian dinner tonight. We think it would be more reasonable to take Hawk after we get back from our vacation in 3 weeks. I guess he will have to go into foster care until then. We could take him right away, even tomorrow, but then he'd have to be displaced for a week while we're on vacation, starting in 2 weeks. Lisa agrees that it's in Hawk's best interests to stay in one place for the next several weeks. We couldn't get him tomorrow anyway because she wants to give him a bath and take him to the vet to get his shots updated.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
Meeting Lisa (and Ritz)
Lisa came to examine us and our apartment for greyhound worthiness. A few weeks ago, we submitted an application to Grateful Greyounds. As a part of the adoption process, Lisa makes a trip to the potential adopter's home. Today, Lisa made the trip out from Long Island to meet us and see our home.
Lisa brought her Ritz, who is blind in one eye, to see how our cat Pharaoh would react. One of our biggest concerns about adopting a greyhound is our current cat's reaction. We owe more of a responsibility and present duty to his happiness than to a potential future greyhound, because we already have him. (Of course, when we get a grey and he is incorporated into our family, we will owe an equal responsiblity and duty to both dog and cat.) We are concerned about Pharaoh's reaction because of his history as told to us by Kathryn of Angelic Cats when we adopted him. She told us Pharaoh's previous owner's boyfriend/fiance moved in and brought his dog, with whom Pharaoh didn't get along with. Kathryn also told us that Pharaoh didn't get along well with other cats.
Pharaoh and Ritz didn't have significant problems. We thought Pharaoh was going to dart out of the living room and then hide under the bed crying. I sat on the couch next to Pharaoh, petting him, as Lisa brought Ritz in the front door. She brought Ritz all the way into the apartment, let the two animals smell each other, then Ritz jumped up on the couch on the other side of me and put his head in my lap. Pharaoh didn't budge. He hung out for several minutes, while I pet both, and then let out a little moan before going into the bedroom. His reaction wasn't as bad as we expected!
Lisa brought her Ritz, who is blind in one eye, to see how our cat Pharaoh would react. One of our biggest concerns about adopting a greyhound is our current cat's reaction. We owe more of a responsibility and present duty to his happiness than to a potential future greyhound, because we already have him. (Of course, when we get a grey and he is incorporated into our family, we will owe an equal responsiblity and duty to both dog and cat.) We are concerned about Pharaoh's reaction because of his history as told to us by Kathryn of Angelic Cats when we adopted him. She told us Pharaoh's previous owner's boyfriend/fiance moved in and brought his dog, with whom Pharaoh didn't get along with. Kathryn also told us that Pharaoh didn't get along well with other cats.
Pharaoh and Ritz didn't have significant problems. We thought Pharaoh was going to dart out of the living room and then hide under the bed crying. I sat on the couch next to Pharaoh, petting him, as Lisa brought Ritz in the front door. She brought Ritz all the way into the apartment, let the two animals smell each other, then Ritz jumped up on the couch on the other side of me and put his head in my lap. Pharaoh didn't budge. He hung out for several minutes, while I pet both, and then let out a little moan before going into the bedroom. His reaction wasn't as bad as we expected!
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