Rainy, like the weather

I will admit that the our weather lately has been rainy, not to the extent of our friends down under but we have been on the southern edge of the recent mega snow storms giving us a cold rain. BUT, that is now what my title should suggest.
It is a long story..I will spare you the raw details. A week ago, James River Greyhounds was called by a lady wanting to surrender her greyhounds. When I asked about tattoos, they told me she had none. But she had raced and been bred. I was skeptical. For those of you not involved in non-profit work, we all have mission statements and charters that the IRS holds us too. Our particular one, states we can only adopt retired racing greyhounds or suffer the loss of our non-profit status. It keeps us all honest. Protocol says I am supposed to give her numbers to local all breed rescue groups who could help her with this 'non-retired racing greyhound'. But we werent' 100% sure she wasn't a greyhound from an 'oops' litter.
The conversation led me to believe this dog was in danger in her current home. So we sent a volunteer to pick her up. I decided to foster her..not really knowign what I was getting. Turns out, after some phone calls..there is a new trend in southwest Virginia (my people, yeah) to bred retired racing greyhounds (gotten straight from WV tracks unaltered) to hound dogs to produce a faster hunting dog. The world needs more hybrids, right?
So meet Rainy (they actually said "her name is Rainy, like the weather)She is a centaur like dog that shows true greyhound features and true hound features. Apparently, her most recent owners acquired her a month or two ago and truly believed they owned a retired racing greyhound. The prong collar she was returned with showed their immense lack of knowledge in the subject. Prior to them, she had been tied outside for 2 years. and prior to that, obviously we assume she was on a farm in southwest Virginia hunting and breeding.
Additionally, she is not spayed, not vaccinated, about 9 years old and heartworm positive.
*cue the happy 'turning point' music*
Now, she has been with us 7 days and has been vaccinated, started on heartworm treatment (there should be no problems associated with the infection, we caught it early and there appears to be no heart damage) and will be spayed next week.
Now..she needs a home. We are placing her as 'dog lovers' not as a greyhound group. She is a GREAT dog. Housebroken, great with my dogs, snuggly, happy, not scarred by her past experiences. (I am not sure how she is with cats indoors, but I would say no small fluffy dogs b/c outside she is a true hunting dog)If you know anyone who might be interested, please contact me (katrinastumpf@yahoo.com)
The local all breed rescue groups are so full they cannot take her. I have tried them all and had some eye opening experiences. I would like to thank and give props to Hickory Hill Canine and Richmond Animal League. they were by far the most helpful and were not rude or angry. No other group followed through. I know they are busy so I won't bad mouth them..but props will go to those who are due.
she is a good girl. I can't keep her. She needs a proper forever home who will love her, feed her well, take care of her and enjoy her. We will find it.
On a different and just as important note, Miss Dana Roo Roo Pantz turned 10 this past week. (we officially have 4 out of 5 dogs in double digits!). Happy Birthday to my special girl
Please spread the word about Rainy. She has the hound vigor so she is still 'young at heart' for sure.

Indoor activities

It is cold outside and it is January, which means very few activities are planned. so we do a lot of indoor lounging. We have 3 boarders this weekend so there was a lot of lounging.
Sunbeams are appreciated
Even without the sunbeam the floor is littered with greyhounds (Jax, Chloe, Dana, Cali, Henry, Smokey)Jax is pretty cute and marked so similar to CaliThe old lady claims the couchAnd Dante enjoys the new down blanketDante had his third round of tests to determine if the dosage he is on currently is keeping his cortisol levels at normal values. They came back normal so we are on the right track. he feels SOOOOO much better and is really back to his old self. Now we just need to put a few pounds on him. We are very happy with his progress. He loves the 'canned food ball' every morning that disguises his pill. We also decided to upgrade our fish's digs. Sometimes they get a bum deal so we revamped their living quarters this weekend. New everything and even went a different 'style' direction and installed a new very powerful canister filter which will hopefully maintain their living conditions at optimum quality!
Before:
After:

Aussie Invasion

New year's eve was pretty normal and low key. Friends, Greyhounds and Rock Band 3, go figure.But three days later was nothing ordinary. Many of you follow IHateToast on her Needle Noses blog. We have been following her blog for a long time and have used modern technology to forge a friendship even though she lives in Australia. We know her so well..but have never met. Until now! Katy, her husband (affectionately known as manboy on Facebook) Mark and her stepson Andrew stopped by on their 'tour of the US' for a night.
Henry thinks she smells like kangeroos and shrimpCali proves her 'tart-ness' and snuggles up instantly.Kristen and Gyeong also come down with their crew to meet her. Stanley shares the couch while Cali continues her snuggles.Hopefully gyeong got a better photo of them. But here is Katy, Kristen, Gyeong and Mark with Stanley, Stella, Jaime and Beth.
And then Katy, Mark and me with Cali, Dana (and Stanley and Beth in the background). Jason and Andrew were geeking out at the computer and missed the group photo.

We had a great dinner and introduced them to Gyeong's smoked pork butt and Jason's delicious sides. The next day they packed up and headed to their next destination. Oddly, two Bald Eagles stopped by my backyard to see the Aussie's off..

It was great to meet them! Hopefully one day we will get to Australia to snuggle with Omo and Fabian.