STAR

I wasn’t sure how to put this down on paper, but my very intelligent college student (our daughter Kasey) said, “Just write down what you’re thinking…”

Like many others, I have always admired the unique beauty of greyhounds. Their athletic, sleek, elegant bodies allow them to move like no other animals, at racing speeds of 45 miles per hour, but for most of the day, they lie quietly, resting wherever it’s soft. The greyhound’s personalities differ, but they all seem to be very gentle, loving animals. We’ve adopted four, and though all are unique, each has their own personality.

We adopted our first greyhound Rocket from Greyhound Companions of New Mexico (GCNM) through Judy Paulsen in 2005. Rocket was four years old at the time and came from a greyhound track in Mobile, Alabama. She taught us so much about the delicate nature of greyhounds and helped us learn how to care for our three current greyhounds in the most effective way. We’ve heard about how fragile and sensitive greyhounds were, and Rocket showed us this gentle side, but also she taught us how tough greys can be. She developed osteosarcoma of her right back leg, and over a nine month period underwent amputation and lots of care and medicines. Despite this struggle, she was always ready for a walk, even with only three legs. We lost her in June, 2009, clearly irreplaceable, our one-of-a-kind first greyhound.

We had adopted our second greyhound Tover from GCNM in August, 2007, and we decided he needed a new companion after we’d lost his pal Rocket. Tover came from the Tucson track where, as we were told, he was over-raced and exhausted. The four year old was very thin, (even for a greyhound), had a dull coat, and obviously needed a good home with a lot of TLC. Fortunately we were able to provide that for him, and now he’s a happy, overweight, goofy greyhound boy who takes delight in rough-housing with his pack mates. Boys will be boys, so he enjoys marking every vertical surface in our backyard. He is unique in our family for sure!

Lizzy Angel, what can I say about this sweet, sweet girl? She’s a two year old who was on the GCNM web site for weeks describing her unique medical situation with a previous leg fracture that was repaired, yet she developed a bone infection and would need extended medical care related to this. She’s a beautiful black greyhound with the most delicate bone structure and innocent eyes. She joined our pack, from the Denver area in August of 2009. Luckily, this fracture kept her from formally racing. She’s as sweet as you could ever imagine, yet she’s the dominating one of our three, tussling aggressively with the other greys.

Finally there’s Star, our newest addition. She came from Phoenix and once again GCNM was our connection to her. We saw her picture on their website (www.gcnm.org), and our first thought was how similar she was to Rocket. Even though my husband thought two greyhounds (and also a noisy geriatric toy poodle) were plenty, I convinced him that Star needed to be with us. Star is a clown who enjoys flopping around on her back with all four legs in the air, with a giant grin from ear to ear, not a worry in the world. She loves to eat everybody’s servings, is constantly hungry, and is a very happy two years old. I guess she’s catching up from her lean days at the track.

These rescued greyhounds have enriched our lives, they’ve gotten us off the couch to go for walks when we can, and they always make us happy to see them play or doing what they do best, relaxing on the nearest soft spot.