Guardianship.

[bdar]

Oracle, our adopted greyhound, arrived yesterday morning. She's as loving and beautiful an animal as we remembered her, and we're very happy to include her in our lives and act as her caretaker and de facto pack leader. She has a healthy appetite and an insatiable curiosity even for the areas of the house she's explored fifteen times now

Comments

[book_fairy]

Must see photos!!

Is Oracle a puppy or just a poor, previously mistreated baby? I've always loved the way greyhounds look but I've heard such terrible things about how track-dogs are treated and then left abandoned when they no longer win races. It's heartbreaking!!

[bdar]

She's a four year-old rescue hound--she had a few good years at the tracks, and then was sent back to the kennel where she was born to await adoption (she didn't wait long--we found her before they'd even put her photos up on the website!)

She hasn't been mistreated beyond being forced to race other greyhounds all her life...for however you may feel about that.

The unhappy fates of many a retired racer are among the best reasons to adopt one.

doggy anxiety

[serendipidy]

I am no expert about dogs, but I do work with very knowledgeable folks. One thing that I've been told a lot is that if a dog is nervous or scared, coddling it or showing it extra attention can backfire. It learns that extra loving attention is the reward for being scared. I found this a weird idea at first, but it sort of makes sense, given that the average dog really wants to please

[marsinthestars]

She sounds wonderful - I await pictures!

[helloheather]

Here's wishing you patience and joy as you get adjusted to each other! Oracle sounds like a sweet dog. I've known two other post-racing-adopted greyhounds. and they are wonderful pets. My friend, writer_grrl and her husband are the owners. Would you mind if I directed her to this post? I know she would be thrilled to read about another greyhound adoption, and she might be able to give some good perspective if you want it.

[bdar]

Not at all. And any advice she had would be welcomed.

[helloheather]

Cool! I have directed her attention here. :) It occured to me belatedly that she really doesn't use livejournal for posting anymore. So the writer_grrl journal won't net you much recent content. But if you're interested in browsing, here's a link to her website:

http://www.staceyklemstein.com/journal.html

[apollothedog]

That's funny, I had trouble with "down." It really helped when treats mysteriously showed up on those stairs though. I could smell them, and then followed the trail, slowly, until I came to realize that stairs are good because they sometimes have food on them. Well, not really anymore... I wonder why that is?