Cooper Vineyards Wine Festival

Every year we attend this festival at Cooper Vineyards that supports the Richmond SPCA.  We've been going for easily 8 years and each year we get bigger. It is a great day to hang out with friends and our dogs and drink wine.
We always pack a picnic of fancy cheese, meats and crackers.  This year we had 18 dogs and 12 people in our group.  Three tents and a lot of blankets were used.

 This was Roxi's first event like this and she did so well.

 Dana is old hat at this event and gets her own 'queen bed' since she is the old lady

And a rare sighting of Gyeong!  Parker gets a royal seat of his own.

My parents even make the 2 hour trek to enjoy some time with their granddogs.  Truffles doesn't ever leave my mom's lap during these type of things.

Roxi found a friend to give her some love

And our friend's dog, Findlay, catches some rays.  Findlay came from the same adoption group that Roxi did..we wondered if they knew a 'gang sign' of some sort...

But after a while, Roxi wore out and began to snuggle with Cali..

Which eventually lead to this..

 Even when Cali switched positions, Roxi found a way to touch...

Tasty vittles

After  a week, Roxi is doing awesome.  We couldn't be more pleased with her!  The weather is awesome right now too. 
So Roxi runs

 While the greyhounds watch

 She is quite laid back so she only runs for a bit and then is worn out.

 We are able to grill and eat outside a lot these days which is the only time the dogs get 'fed from the table'.  And they know it.

 And Roxi is figuring it out very quickly

 Since adopting her, we've had a steady stream of visitors for boarding or just stopping by to say hi.  So she probably isn't 100% sure who is here to stay and who will go home.  But she plays very well with Petey and Stella.

 but love to snuggle with her greyhound sisters..though I don't think the feeling is mutual

 Dobby stopped by for a visit and played with everyone, though he was a bit too rough for Roxi's taste.  She wanted to play with him but she just couldn't stay on her feet long enough!

A beginning..

Shiloh meant "Finding peace" but Roxanne means "dawn" which is the ultimate beginning to a new day.  So that's what we chose to name the newest member of the Stumpf pack.
Meet Roxi

I've always wanted to keep one 'non-greyhound' member in the pack and started looking about 1 1/2 weeks ago.  I contacted a lot of groups about dogs I found on Petfinder and we even visited a few.  But none were 'just right'.  Until I saw this one..we met her and within seconds Jason said "I want this one"..

We adopted her from Capital Area Rescue Effort (CARE) in Richmond and she was pulled from a high kill shelter (>90%!) in West virginia just 10 days before we met her.  She is about 1 year old (we decided her birthday was her adoption day 5/19) and a lab mix (probably Pit, Corgi..Heinz 57).  Her shelter paperwork said she was picked up as a stray and was labeled #626. She's smaller than Shiloh but has similar mannerisms and structure.  She has absolutely be perfect for us so far.  Well mannered, loving, happy, laid back and a little playful.  She has a little eye infection but we are working on getting that cleared up. 
She's one lucky girl and I think she knows it..

 She had her first bath today and she NEEDED it!  It is  nice to have a little 'young' in the pack again.  We will also be getting our first true foster greyhound in a few weeks. 
What does Cali think of all this 'new'? 
She's not too happy with it all just yet..Roxi licks her and plays with her toys.  The pink poodle gets protected.

 But not to be outdone..Cali says she can run and look cute too.

 We take Roxi to her first 'dog' event next weekend.  I think she will do fabulously.  We are very lucky too.

Grapehounds 2014

We traveled to Leesburg, VA for Grapehounds-Virginia this year and the weather was great (except for a few passing afternoon showers). 
We did a caravan up and stopped at one winery, Hartwood, with lunch.  They had a great front porch that allowed us to let the dogs roam since it was completely  enclosed.  The greyhounds all laid down for a snooze, but even as an old man, Parker was still busy looking for crumbs.  He found his way through many areas of the porch that had obviously not been traversed in a while.

 But after cleaning him up we continued our short trek north and went to Lost Creek Winery for the opening night festivities.  Which basically includes sitting on a chair with your dogs drinking wine...which is a sport we do VERY well.

 Cali was ready for some serious snuggles

 The next day we went to Quattro Goomba winery where all the vending and non-profit booths were located. We hung out there for a bit before going winery hopping for the afternoon.

 Dana did well on this trip considering she is over 13 and definitely having mobility issues.  By the last winery (we only did 2 after this one), she stayed in the car. The weather allowed it and her bones were done.  But she hung in there for a while.  Cali did great but did insist on being carried over gravels...

 The final  night we left the dogs behind and heading to 868 Winery for dinner.  We dont' get dressed up often so it was a photo worthy occasion.
the girls:

 The whole gang

More events and fun activities are coming up now that the weather is beautiful..it will turn hot and oppressive soon enough so we are enjoying as much as possible!!!!

In memory

It took me a few days to figure out how I wanted to memorialize Shiloh.  I will one day get a tattoo for all my bridge dogs, but I needed something for her.
Then I found 4Pawsforever and their amazing personalized jewelry.  I knew right away that I had to have Shiloh's actual pawprints on a piece.  Karen was awesome and talked me through it all. 
It arrived today...and I'm very excited!

 I know it won't be obvious to everyone that those are Shiloh's actual pawprints hand cast by a wonderful group of people. Her name is engraved on the inside of the ring.  You can make it out a little below.  But I also got a wonderful card from them with Shiloh's photo on front.

 And they had planted a tree in Superior National Forest in Shiloh's memory. 

 A perfect way to remember her. 

Finding Peace

I never looked up the name Shiloh, I honestly picked it b/c I saw a dog named Shiloh in the classified while I was scanning them for 'dogs need homes' in 1998.  I saw the name and thought, when I find a dog I will name it Shiloh.  It didn't get any deeper than that.
But now, I've learned that Shiloh can be loosely translated to 'peace' or 'tranquility'.  Which ended up being very fitting for me.  I miss her and she was my place of peace.  I've ordered a very special commemorative piece in her memory and I will post it as soon as it arrives.  I'm very excited for it.  It is very weird not having her. But I am finding peace and moving forward...but I could certainly use a Shiloh squeeze right now.

Today we have the greyhound picnic and then we leave on Friday for Grapehounds.  So it will be a flurry of activity. And then, we will start fostering and see what comes along.

I have forgotten to introduce the newest member of my extended pack. My mom has adopted two minis from Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue and I'm on their mailing list.  An email came through and two minis caught my eye.  One was named Kristen and her daughter was Snickers.  They both had been neglected but not abused.  Their feet were grown in to literal balls, the were very overweight and covered in burrs.  Kristen was the worst of the two.  I emailed my mom and said she should look at them and though I wanted her to take Kristen, I knew I wasn't the one mucking stalls and carrying hay.  So I suggested the easier Snickers (knowing FULL well what would happen when Mom saw Kristen).  The final nail was my offer to 'co-own' her and basically be the bank roll.  So meet Baby (apparently the bank roll does not get a say in naming her..but she is formerly known as Kristen).

She will look much better after a good bath and some TLC.  Her feet are very bad but Mom is doing a great job keeping them trimmed and her pain controlled.  She is very small.  It is hard to get scale, but my hands are very small.  Her ear is teeny. 

I will take more photos of her as she progresses.  She is getting along great with the other minis and seems to be flourishing with all the attention.