Jacoby's pedigree

He may be a lazy dog now, but Jacoby comes from great stock! The good thing about greyhounds is that they are tracked very carefully, even the pups who don't race. They all have tattoos in their ears identifying them from birth. Greyhound-data.com lists every (I think) greyhound, their pedigree, their racing stats, etc.

We knew Jacoby (born as M's Goodstuff) never ran a race.

So we learned today that Jacoby is a Florida boy. And it looks like his littermates didn't really race too well either,despite having pretty successful parents. His dad dad, Big Boy Baggio, ran 133 races and won 85 times. Quite impressive, and then it's no mystery why he was chosen to sire 137 puppies! (That's not a typo.)

Jacoby's mom, Flying Limon, ran 66 races and won 6 times. Then had only 14 puppies in 2 litters, Jacoby's on November 29, 2004, and a more successful racing litter on January 19, 2006.

Of Jacoby's three brothers and two sisters, only two of them ever raced. His brother M's Whole Hog, ran 7 races and came in 2nd only once (never won). His sister M's Gravy Train ran 4 races and never did too well.

However, Flying Limon can be proud of her second litter in the athletic arena -- three of the eight pups she had with M's Lucky Scott ran more than 10 races. (Scott himself won 26 races of the 134 he ran. And produced 44 puppies.) In fact, Jacoby's half brother, M's Big Buddy, won 8 of the 133 races he ran. Buddy's sister, M's Luckylouella, has won 8 out of 59 races she's been in. M's Ready Freddy, another brother of this litter, won 8 out of the 31 races he ran.

Thanks to the Internet and some incredibly-kept records, we can find out all about our beloved greys. But all I need to know about Jacoby doesn't come from a stat site. It all comes from the way he wakes from a nap, stretches, and heads over to me to nuzzle his huge head in my lap.

Greyhound Adventures walk this morning

Well, Jacoby had no idea what we were up to when we walked him, fed him, and then suited him up again for another walk. But he got a clue something good was happening when he hopped in the back of our Highlander Hybrid. Then he got confused again when we drove a half hour into Jamaica Plain, but he was so excited when he saw that we were going for a walk with over a dozen other greyhounds! Greyhound Adventures is a fun time, even in the frigid cold of a Sunday morning in Boston. We all stayed out for about an hour, and all the pups had a greyt time!

Jacoby runs like a champ in the snow

So we found a baseball field up the street from us and Jacoby's in love with the freedom he gets when he runs the bases. Check him out:



I want to take him every day, but he'll probably only be able to handle a coupla times a week. Not that Jacoby ever ran a race, but when greys race, they run less than half a mile only about once or twice a week. So I think we have to work our way up in frequency. He just has so much fun taking off!

He looks like a swimmer doing butterfly when he really gets going. It's beautiful.

Greyhound turns surrogate mom to those most in need

I just found this article about Jasmine, an abandoned and abused greyhound who found her true calling as Mama to the incoming animals in need in the United Kingdom.

Thanks for being a greyhound ambassador, Jasmine! Keep up the good work!

Shopping adventure turns deadly

...for a bag of Old Mother Hubbard "Give Me a Kiss" biscuits.

Jacoby went with me for the first time to our favorite discount pet supply store, Stateline Pet Supply in Plaistow, NH, which happens to be about an hour's drive north of where we live in Framingham, MA. So it was a longish drive for him, and when we got there, he was immediately greeted by the loudest yappy barking of a horribly-behaved Boston terrier, who actually looked more like a bulldog in build. This little dog actually jumped out of the cart he was in to try to get at Jacoby. Well, we both tried to steer clear of the asylum reject and went about our shopping, although we could still hear him yelling at Jacoby. Why do people bring their dogs out in public if they behave like that?! To offset this experience, there was another woman in the store who has 4 dogs of her own, 2 of which are greyhounds, and she made fast friends with Jacoby, petting him and telling him how beautiful he is. She asked a few questions, among them "Does he shake a lot?" I've never seen him shake, actually, but he whines/cries a lot.

As Bill Cosby used to say, "I told you that story to tell you this one..."

Anyway, we bought some Greenies, some more poop bags (so exciting!), and a woven grass hay ball for SweetPea. Our adventure continued to the car wash (my white Highlander Hybrid oddly resembled a gray model), and I thought it would be kind of fun to go through the car wash with Jacoby. New experience and all. We paid the guy, we got on the tracks, we got squirted with warm water (well, the car did, we were toasty dry, course), and Jacoby was so afraid he could barely stand up. So he tried to lay down, but that made it worse, apparently, so he stood up again and was shaking like a leaf in autumn wind. He couldn't even cry he was so scared. I kept saying things like "Oh, this is fun!" and "What a good boy!" and he was thinking things like "When will this end?!" and "Are we going to die?!" Needless to say, we won't be going through another car wash any time soon with our boy. Heart attacks are not welcome surprises. Poor dude...

We then headed to Petco and I bought him 2 bags of biscuits designed to freshen his breath a bit. Not that it's stinky, but even non-stinky dog breath is a far cry from April freshness. Enter the aforementioned Old Mother Hubbard "Give Me a Kiss" biscuits. We also got the boy a new tag collar and a travel foldable bowl for water for when we join Greyhound Adventures on a Sunday morning hike and when we go geocaching. Yes, we found another spastic dog in Petco, this one was a pit bull who probably meant well, but was way to heavy and way to excited for my tall, fragile boy to contemplate befriending.

So I went to McDonald's on the way home, because it was about 4:00 by that point and I hadn't had anything to eat all day. I allow myself some Mickey D's when I go to Stateline. I figured it'd be kinda mean to fill up the car with McDouble smell and not let the boy have any treats, so I broke open the bag of biscuits and gave him 2. He loved them. And so he lay down and we went home.

When I got home, I didn't put the spoils of the shopping trip away because I was in a hurry to get ready for the Bullfinch's Cooking School that Paul and I were headed to. So the biscuit bag was left in another plastic bag and I didn't think anything of it. Jacoby just stays on the couch by the driveway and waits for us to come home. He's not a trouble maker. HA!

We come home 3 hours later to a very happy dog. He's bouncing as usual, jumping on his hind legs, touching noses to me (without me bending over, which means he's 5'6" on his back legs), so excited to see me. Like I said, this is my normal welcome. It's almost worth going away to come home to his welcome! THEN he remembered that the foyer by the door was the scene of the crime and he went pretty quickly upstairs. Odd. He usually waits for me to pet him and make a big deal of how excited he is. But he cooled down so quickly I wondered what was up. Then I looked at the floor.

The crumbs of easily 5-7 OMH "Give Me a Kiss" biscuits were laying on the floor. And Jacoby was on his way up to the 3rd floor (from the first) trying to escape his punishment. I figured I'd let him slide, since I didn't exactly catch him in the act of stealing the cookies. I had to coax him down again with a lot of "you're not in trouble, buddy"s. Finally he came down and I asked him why he didn't do a better job of cleaning up the evidence. Beside the fact that the bag was on the floor, if he'd have cleaned up the crumbs, I wouldn't have known anything happened.

So my big angel has a little naughty in him. And I kinda like that. Scamps are fun to be around. And I think he's finally getting comfortable enough to let his slightly naughty nature out. If biscuit theft is as bad as it gets, we're in for a fun ride!

Jacoby's first 2 days

Jacoby the greyhound, unfortunately, is not adjusting very well at all to our house. He's anxious and unsettled and can't find anywhere to relax. You can see what I mean here:


and here:


OMG, seriously... I'm so in love with him!!! Paul came back from a business trip last night and saw him for the first time since Jacoby was at our house a few weeks ago. He loves him already, too. He's just the perfect addition to our home.

The first night (Sunday night) I was going to have Jacoby sleep in a 2nd-floor bedroom with a baby gate to keep him in. Well, I gave him a good 30 minutes to settle down and he just wouldn't. I came down to see that he was trying to chew through the baby gate and there were shards of wood all around. My poor boy!!! So I brought him and his comforter and his blankie and his little squeaky toy and the baby gate upstairs and set him up in the middle room of the master suite on the 3rd floor. He's not yet in the bedroom, but he's okay with being 20 feet away from me.

I'm waiting for Bandit the kitty to get a bit more used to him so as to not feel displaced. She feels our bedroom (specifically our bed) was a sanctuary for her, so I don't want to mess that up for her. And SweetPea the bunny and Jacoby are doing great together. Pea's staying in her condo with the door closed and only gets nervous when Jacoby thinks I'm handing out treats to her -- he comes close to the cage and seems to want whatever I'm handing out. I can't give him the raisins I give her, but I make sure to give him lots of love and I think that's his best treat right now. But other than that, the big boy isn't making her skittish at all and he's only noticing her moving around, etc., peripherally.

He's sure getting his exercise! We're walking him like crazy and he's climbing the 3 flights of stairs in our house like a champ. He's very sensitive to how we walk, and how fast. He's learning "stay" at curbs before crossing streets, he already knows his new name, he's learning "slow" when we come to ice and can't walk fast over it, and he's already got his favorite spots to "go" on our little street (which he's doing with admirable regularity!). I'm trying to teach him what "home" means (and where it is). The first day, we went for a 3-mile walk, and a 1-mile walk. Yesterday, we went for a 2-mile walk. Today we'll walk about 1.5 miles to the vet's office. We're going mainly to get him a heartworm prescription.

Yesterday, I got him a town license and an ID tag at PetSmart. So he's got more jewelry, which jangle together in a happy way from his tag collar.

We got a new washer and dryer yesterday, so he got to supervise that. Even made friend with our plumber, Jeff.

At PetSmart yesterday afternoon, we were going to buy chewies and a few balls (I want to see if I can get him interested in toys), and he was making friends with all the people, but very wary of the dogs. Especially the little dogs! I don't know if he's afraid he'll step on them or if he's just a cream puff (probably the 2nd one!), but it was too funny! We got him weighed on their scale: 74.4 pounds, I think. And I had to measure him for a coat, so he's 28" long (from base of neck to base of tail) and 28" tall from floor to top of shoulder. I wonder if all greys are so symmetrical?

He's a love. We've been having fun together and he's right near me at all times. He cries if he's on a different floor than me. But he settles right down on a couch in the library when I leave the house without him, so that doesn't seem to be a problem. The couch is right by a window that overlooks the driveway, so he can see when I come home and is right by the door to greet me when I open it. He bounces up and down and gets so excited that last night I had to go for a few hours and I had to make sure I didn't speed home because I was so much anticipating his reaction when I got there!

In short, he's our perfect dog. We are so glad we waited nearly 3 months to do the right research and look for just the right dog. He's completely and forever loved by us. And he seems to share the feeling, too.

Introducing...

...Jacoby!

We met Jacoby (now called Gary) last night -- he came by our house with Lindsay and Agnes, some volunteers with We Adopt Greyhounds. We tested him with SweetPea and Bandit. Jacoby sniffed Pea a bit then was kinda afraid of her the rest of the night, while she tried to make friends with him, even walked under him and between his front paws! Bandit hissed at him like she was gonna attack, but there's not a mean bone in her body, so it's all an act. He shied away from both girls and wasn't fixated on anything except getting some lovin' from us humans.

He's a prince of a dog. Just a sweetheart above all else. He loves being around his people, or any people, really. He's very interested in making new friends and would rather be near people than basically anywhere else. He's going to be 5 years old this month. He's VERY tall, even for a greyhound. He's lived in a house before (that house had a kitty, too), so he's awesome on stairs, completely housebroken, etc. All things that greys who come straight from a track aren't good at. He's brindle with white toes and a white bit on the tip of his tail, like he dunked it in a can of paint by accident. He's gorgeous!

I can't wait for you to meet him! See the rest of his pix from last night on our Flickr gallery:


We'll be picking up our new pup from his foster home probably Sunday, 12/6.

He's named after Red Sox center fielder and Wonderkid (w/ the most stolen bases in the MLB this past year with 64) Jacoby Ellsbury, whom we're both kinda in love with...

Greyhounds in New England

So I figured out (with the advice of a few greyhound-owning friends) that I really need an organization that fosters the animals, that is, gets to know each "dogality" really well. Like I said before, I really can't have a new pup going for SweetPea or Bandit. Also, since it is the "first" (Paul goes, "First?! How many are we planning on getting?!") greyhound we're getting and that adjustment will be big enough, I also think it's a plus for a dog to know how to climb up stairs, live in a home, etc., which they don't know right from the track. Fostering teaches them all these wonderful things (so we don't have to).

I know of only two organizations that foster their greyhounds before adoption in New England. Both seem like really terrific options for me.

One of them is Greyhound Welfare (based in the Chesapeake Bay area, but also have a branch of operations in New England) and the other is We Adopt Greyhounds, which I found through GreyTalk.

I'm working with both of these organizations right now to see if there's a grey out there who may fit with our home.

Do you know of any others? If so, please comment.

Considering adding a greyhound to the zoo

Having lost 3 bunnies since August '08, I'm feeling like an empty-nester just having SweetPea and Bandit. My first priority is definitely their level of comfort and security (not to mention safety!), but I'd really love to add a dog to the mix.

Something about greyhounds has me captivated. They seem majestic and graceful and sweet and laid back and fun. I've known a grey or two in my life (Pharaoh was an incredibly loving dog), but I'm definitely more filled with questions than with answers at this point.

Now, you may think adding a sighthound to a house with a prey animal and a shy cat is insane, but I think that if I can bond an unneutered bunny boy (Hops) to three spayed bunny girls (Ariel, Kayla and SweetPea) and have them live in peace, I can pretty much do anything with animals. Not to mention the intro of the cat (predator much?) to a mix with three bunnies (Kayla, Hops and SweetPea), two of whom became immobile (read: helpless to run from said predator) during her early residence in the house. No incidents occurred at all between the cat and the bunnies. Now, you may think I just got lucky, that Bandit would run from a fly if it flew towards her (and you'd be right, my friend), but I'd also like to think life is peaceful with my zoo because I introduced them right and took my time and let each of them know what was to be expected of them.

So I definitely need more information on the subject.

Enter my Pet Website Of The Week (if only I could keep up that pace!): GreyTalk.com. These people are greyhound fanatics. And I say that with awe and appreciation and respect. They tell it like it is. I've been lurking on their forum for like a week now and today posted a few queries to the group. I've already gotten several wonderful responses from really knowledgeable people.

So, my questions are: Are greys okay with shy cats (Bandit) and bunnies (SweetPea)? Also, do greys need to run or are a few good walks a day okay for them?

If you have any advice on either of those questions, PLEASE comment on this post or on GreyTalk.com!