Fairs, GiGs, degrees and lots of dogs

It has been a while since I have posted. Just too much going on! I will try to start from where I left off. A few weekends ago we went to the Bank of America Environmental Fair. it was a beautiful day to dress up the dogs. Ana is looking very regal in her donation jacket and fuzzy sticky thing on her head. ;)

We did make a nice discovery..Dana is not only cat curious but snake curious as well. There were a few boas and pythons being shown next to us at the fair. She was soooo obsessed. We would let her get close when they put them away. But she was crazy over the snakes..not exactly sure what she would have done if she would have caught one. But by the end of the day, she was ok enough to let Jason hold one while holding her.

After this event, all I did was study. I had my master's thesis defense on Friday. I studied and worked on my presentation for the entire week. And I passed. I have a lot of work left to do on my final draft of my thesis. But it has to be turned in by next Friday so it is almost done!! Then everyone will be required to call me Master for a little while. ;-) j/k
Then we took off to the Greyhounds in Gettysburg event in Gettysburg, PA. We bought a bunch of greyhound stuff as well as getting Dana two new martingale collars..they make her look pretty. But I didn't get too many pictures of the actual event but here is one..
And finally, we are keeping Kristen and Gyeong's kids for a few days while they take care of some family issues. They are fostering Rose who is a sweet but young red girl. She is very busy and in to everything. She will keep her new owner on their toes that is for sure! But she is a lot of fun and loves to be loved and play! This is Jason hanging out in the yard with all 5 greyhounds (yes..we currently have 8 dogs). Rose is the one escaping with the stuffie.
But she only escaped so far before Jaime wanted some of that crab! They tugged for a long time. It was really cute. They are fun but they make my house seem very small!
and the final update is that Jason got the patio finished! And my parents gave us the bench for my graduation present. We bought the recliner and the chimnea is on the way! It makes for a nice private local to enjoy a glass of wine on a beautiful spring afternoon. ;-)

Tragedy strikes our state

Our thoughts are with everyone effected by the tragedy at Virginia Tech this week. I grew up an hour north of there, attended college an hour south of there and have numerous alumni friends..cute pictures and greyhound ramblings will resume next week...

Doggie day care and bunny ears

Well, I have to start off by saying that Dana actually graduted from her Petsmart beginner dog obedience class. We all know you can graduate with a C and the certificate still says passed! But her fellow classemates, Ana and Booyah, did much better and were the star pupils. Followed closely by Cleo, the non greyhound of the group. Maggie and Dana lagged behind, but they did well! But I will stop bragging on my brain child and move on to more important items.
We are running a very well established greyhound doggie day care these days. We love to have them and it makes their owners feel all warm and fuzzy. ;-) This week we are watching;
Jo-the very sweet, reserved and loving one
















Tristan-the hard headed, sweet boy who is nicknamed Tristan-pisstan..you figure it out. ;-)

















and the beautiful Sara who has a great personality (and I have been told has a white admirer from across the pond..OMO!)















Now these guys love to play..

So much so that we put all 6 (yeah..6 with mine) outside to play on Saturday while we tidied up the kennel. They were running around and having a big time. I went to let them back inside..and the yard had the look of a desserted graveyard. The wind had blown open the gate and all 4 greyhounds were gone. Shiloh and Dante were at the door..it was way too cold for Dante to go around visiting and Shiloh would rather loose a limb than leave my presence. So Jason and I go in to sheer panic mode. We race out of the house after grabbing some leashes and my cell phone. I am on the phone to local greyhound people while running around the neighborhood screaming. Jason find Tristan..well...doing what he likes to do. Claiming everything and he had made it about 6 houses down. I race threw yards (in my pjs I might add and it is 40F with a nice wind) screaming in terror. I find Dana about a 1/4 mile down the road..standing in the middle of the main road..in her typical greyhound freeze. She had realized she made a horrible mistake, it was scary out here and she wasn't moving. Once I broke the Eeyore stance, she came running to me wiggling with glee. Jason called saying he had found Sara. Now we were down to one. By this time, the area had formed quite a posse of greyhound searchers. Friends and neigbors had joined in and were canvasing the neighborhood. We have a lot of woods, but most worrisome would be the two interstates that surround my subdivision. And it was getting close to evening and it was cold. We drove, walked and ran for 3 hours. Dana trudged through the woods and random fields bravely by my side. I phoned Jenny (Jo's mom) and she checked her voice mail. Jo had a collar on with her home number. A man had left a message saying he had picked up her 2 subdivisions over. I would say 2 miles as the crow flies. I raced to the car and sped to retrieve our lost girl. To say Jason and I were mentally, emotionally and physically worn out is an understatment. It was horrible. I have been sore for the past two days...I don't run..ever. I ran a lot that day..my hips and back and yelling at me for my lack of physical endurance and the massive quantity of adrenaline that kept my legs going for as long as they did. But..happy endings. Now I will leave you with some photos of the event we attended on Sunday, Easter on Parade here in Richmond. You can see Kristen on TV and you can check out Gyeong's blog for more pics! We made them wear hats....and I made Dana wear bunny ears. I am one of those people now..but they are so cute!!!!!

















Blue and Ana

















And Dana-roo!

Dana roos back

So..after everyone else has posted videos of their dogs rooing to each other, Dana felt a bit out of the loop. She isn't called Dana-roo for nothing! So I stopped being lazy and got the camera ready. A siren went by and that got her started. It doesn't take much. However..this video does incriminate me b/c it shows I was watching Dr. Phil. ;-) When one is writing a master's thesis (due this week)...one needs mindless material to stop the internal whirring. ;-)
But alas..Dana says hi!!