Monday, March 31, 2008

Visitors


Day 3 - 3/31/08

So much to learn and it all goes so fast! (Maybe it is a greyhound thing!) Today was very productive and Sil made great strides. (Again a greyhound thing?!) It seems as if she has conquered slippery floors! Walking on a leash is a breeze for Sil and a pleasure for us.

Sil had visitors today and one of them mostly qualifies as a small dog. Of course, compared to greyhounds, most dogs look small to me now. Crash and Cody came for a visit and everyone had a blast. Cody is the redhead in the herd at the watering dish (Crash, not pictured, is a shepherd mix). Everyone had a blast and Sil did great with Cody.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Off to a great start




Day 2: 3/30/08
Sil slept in our room last night. After a little bit of whining she settled in and slept the entire night. She is afraid of the vinyl floor in the kitchen, so we have to coax her to walk across the slippery surface. She still is not sure about the front steps. Sil went down six steps in one bound, which was not very graceful. She has a ways to go before she tries the interior basement stairs.

She got her first taste to peanut butter and had her first pig’s ear. She liked both. We were able to get some good pictures of her for the blog page. Sil is very sweet. It is amazing to see the potential of the new dogs fresh off the track. The raw material is there; they just have to be developed to their full potential. Sil is off to a great start.

Introducing SP’s Silhouette!






Day 1: 3/29/08
Picked up SP’s Silhouette from the kennel. She is a beautiful, black, 2-year-old who is beginning her new life. If only she knew how lucky she is. She tested cat workable and small dog workable. We have 5 cats and 2 male greyhounds in our home. Here we go.

Got her home and did the introduction to our 2 hounds in the yard with muzzles on. All went very well. Only a little “snarkiness” but things quickly settled down. Some of the neighborhood children accosted us in the yard and gave her hugs and kisses, which she readily accepted. She seems to be very friendly with new people.

Since Silhouette’s name is so long, one of the girls offered her aunt’s name as a good short-name: “Sil” and Sil seems to like it.

Brought her inside (had to carry her up the front steps). After letting her explore the house under our watchful gaze we brought the boys up from the basement and let all 3 hounds run the house together. All are getting along perfectly. Sil has seen 3 out of 5 cats and has minimal/no interest. She gave them an inquisitive sniff and moved onto the next new thing. Excellent. Sil does not like the stairs and will need work on them, as to be expected.

Crated Sil and the boys, and went to get a bite to eat. During dinner a thunderstorm rolled in, so we got back home. She was in her crate and showed no ill effect from the thunderstorm. Sil had her first meal and is a very good eater. She eats as a reasonable pace and is not fussy. Took her out to potty and she did her business. Back inside she now has run of the house without her muzzle, but we still keep an eye on her whereabouts.

Still no interest in the cats. She and the boys have fallen in like they have always lived together. I think Dewey (one of our males) has a crush on her.