Summer has been slow and boring for Sapphire. With the heat, and her being black, I won't take her to the dog park at her usual time (around 6pm) so we have been going much later in the evening well after dark. There aren't as many people there but they are nice people and nice dogs so the adjustment has been OK. The wood chips are another story. I hear a lot of pros and cons for wood chips in a dog park, but the biggest con for us are that they chew up Sapphy's feet! She likes to run hard and every time we get home I have to check out her feet. Mostly there will just be some spots on her legs and feet where the fur got "burned" off and it is angry red, sometimes a little bloody. I clean them up really well and keep Neosporin on them. This is usually pretty easy to do 'cos Sapph is cockroaching and putting her feet in my face anyway. Last time we went tho, she had a real injury. I don't know if she stepped on a rock or a wood chip just right, but she never acted like she was hurt in any way. We got home, were lounging on the couch with her playing with her feet and realized there was a lot of blood. A closer look showed that between her toes the skin was scraped away and a little bone was showing! At first I thought the webbing was split but it turned out to be OK. We took her right over to the vet who put a couple stitches in. The stitches

Tired after a long busy day. These are all the things she gathers during the day. My jeans, blanket from bed, the phone book, and of course all her toys. She is resting with her purple hippo.

seemed to cause more trauma to her feet than the actual injury, but it wouldn't have healed without the stitches. Her foot was so swollen for a couple days! Now the foot looks normal, the injury area looks great but poor Sapph has cabin fever big time! I'm trying to take her out for short walks but she longs for more activity. She has been zipping around the house which makes me nervous. I'm afraid she'll pop those stitches out.

Greyhounds...they always make sure they have the most comfortable spot in the room!

Sapph's "cousin" Garbo has been to visit us a couple times which was a lot of fun. She even stayed with us one whole weekend while Mom was in San Francisco. I have been thinking it was time for Sapph to get a sibling and this weekend was going to be a test to see how it went. It went very smooth, and other than jockeying for a place on the bed and couch, it wasn't more trouble than one dog. Of course I'm agonizing about what to do. The smartest thing for me to do is go back to Retired Racers and let them hook us up with the right dog. They did a fantastic job the first time and I trust them implicitly. But there are always posts on the Greyhound List about dogs that desperately need homes and they are often the hard to adopt ones such as seniors. I want to help them so bad! And then my local GPA needs people to foster hounds really bad too. So I finally made the call to them telling them I could foster. I figure I can do that for a while, get used to a second hound, if "my" second hound doesn't pop up in that bunch, that is OK, Retired Racers will find us the right one but I will have helped for a while at least. Trying to cover all bases.

So this last Saturday I went out to the McRorie ranch to meet everyone and see what happens when a new batch of dogs come in off a track. They haven't done a home visit or met Sapphire yet so I wasn't taking a foster home that day, but I got to see the whole process and it was very exciting! I meant to take my camera and record it but forgot it! And I was actually too busy anyway. Boy did they work my butt off! When I first got there, there were quite a few people (10 or so) milling about. Folks had set up a table with fruit, sandwiches, etc. A cooler with pop and water was there and some dogs in X-pens. It actually seemed very festive and I thought, "Wow! this is quite a little event." I met people, we talked about dogs (my favorite subject) and then we got word the dogs were almost here. The excitement and tension rose visibly. A dear woman named Diane took me under her wing and explained what was going to happen. I was very grateful for her bluntness and guidance. Things had to be done a certain way and had to be done in a certain order or the dogs' safety would be put at risk. So it wasn't the time for niceties and as a result I felt confident I was going to do a good job. LOVE it when people spell it out for me and don't beat around the bush! The truck backed up and I was surprised at how excited I was. It was a little like waiting to see a rock star! We all stood there patiently, you could hear tails wagging and hitting the sides of their compartment. You have to see this trailer. (towards the bottom of the page) It is really very slick! They handed me the first dog out of the trailer, one of the waggers I think. She and I went over and got flea sprayed (I got a little on me too, but hey, then I know I won't take any home with me) and then right into the tent to get shots and blood drawn. Now they had a list of beaches and as we got to know the dogs, we were supposed to pick a name from the list. I knew as soon as my girl got out of the trailer that she was a happy, lovey little girl. Only one name on the list fit her. Avila. So I let them know pretty quick what her name was. I took Avila into the place where the shots were being done. It was critical now that everyone be very quiet so as not to disturb the dogs. They were getting blood drawn and they had to be still and calm. I was supposed to take her in there and leave. When she was done, I was supposed to get her, go get a bowl of food and take her down to the corral to eat and for a potty break. You can see how regimented it was but it was critical that the dogs be kept apart, be taken through things in sequence so they could keep track of who was getting what shot and what their new name was. Also, because we all knew exactly what we were doing and when, the dogs could be completely secure with us. We weren't hesitating and confused so they could relax a little. We went down to the corral, we were the first ones in so I knew I could take her muzzle off. Poor little girl had some minor sores on her nose from the muzzle. She did her thing, ate her food like a good girl, then someone came in to take the ticks off her. There were some big honkers poor kid. But I'm sure it felt good getting them off. We hung out in the corral for a while walking around. Put the muzzle back on when other dogs started coming in so there wouldn't be any incidents. You can see all the dogs are overwhelmed and many of them are "detached." They won't really get eye contact with you, they just keep looking around worried. So many changes and so many new, unknown things. No wonder they were so bewildered.
After the corral break, we were called up one by one to get a bath. My little girl meanwhile was just a sweetheart. Trying to kiss everyone through her muzzle, happy to see everyone. She wasn't detached like the others. We went up for her bath. I was then designated as a dryer. This meant that when dog came out of a bath I dried them and made sure they got their ears cleaned and their toenails clipped. I'm a good dryer so I was glad for this job. But it was hot out and folks kept offering me food and water and I wasn't hungry or thirsty so I turned them down. What I didn't realize was that in all my excitement and fun I was having hours were passing. And by about the 3rd dog I dried I realized I was really lightheaded. So I took a break, went and got some water but I didn't feel a lot better and my hands were really shaking. I knew I had better eat some of that fruit and just stay quiet pouring water on the back of my neck and top of my head. I lived in AZ for 20 years so I know what to do. And I know better than to do what I had done. I'm a very sturdy, healthy person but I was sweating up a storm and should have stayed hydrated. I finally felt better, went back to my duties and by this time Avila was done being washed.	It may be time to get her a real doggie friend...
Little sweetheart that she is she tried to lick Jeff, my ears and nails partner, when he cleaned her ears and cozied up to him in a big lean after he did her nails. He couldn't get over her thanking him for these. Boy, whoever adopts her is doomed to a life of greyhound worship! Now they were cat-testing the dogs. They had a set up down in the corral with the most experienced people. They had a small furry dog and a cat and the dogs were kept on a leash and kept muzzled. They were tested pretty thoroughly. I was impressed. But I can see why a dog that tested safe eventually re-finds their prey drive. With all that stuff going on, the cat and dog can be mere distractions in a confusing day. When I finally got in my car to go home, a little sorry that no one was coming home with me, it was 2pm! And I still hadn't eaten any food. Fool that I was, all that nummy food and I thought that was just to be festive. Now I see they were necessary! So I was stuck with fast food but such a day behind me! I tried taking a nap when I got home but my head was just swirling with all my new experiences. A very gratifying afternoon and I'm SO glad I did it! If any of you ever have a chance, pitch in on these days. It looks like they can use all the manpower they can get and it was a real education.