No to Nyla

So after visiting cousin Clark we thought we'd get Lucy a nyla bone to help her teeth a bit. Yeah, nothing doing she just looks at it and laughs at us. So today we bough a Purina raw-hide free dog bone thing. She LOVED it, I mean really loved it. As in she started chewing on it and ate the entire bone in about 45 minutes of non-stop gnawing. We were going to take it away but we decided we'd like to keep our fingers. So lesson learned, buy the smaller size as she will not give up that type of bone half way through.

Lucy is LAZY

So Julia decided Lucy needed a blanket and covered her up yesterday.

I guess Lucy figured why leave the comfy blanket behind

Cousin Clark

Lucy had a play date with her cousin, Clark, a very rambunctious, 3 year old Golden Retriever. Lucy and Clark hit it off great. They went for a little jog around the yard that turned into an all out sprint, poor Clark. Clark was trying to be a little too friendly and Lucy let him know who was boss. Then she took up residence on his dog bed for a nap while he entertained the family and was finally relegated to the yard.

First Outing

We took Lucy to PetSmart to pick out a new toy yesterday. She had a good time and met a very nice young pug mix (with very large paws). She smelled about every toy in the toy aisle and then picked a nice squeaker toy made out of tennis ball material. Oh, she killed the squeaker approximately 32 minutes after we got home. She also got a snappy new pink collar! All in all, it was a good trip. First of many I am sure.

Greyhounds are early risers

So the nice people at GCMO told us you will probably need to adjust her schedule from racing a bit. Lucy is an early bird for sure. We have been getting up around 5:00ish. I wasn't aware that there was indeed two 5 o'clocks each day until now. Who knew?

Stop Taking My Picture.......

Lucy, relaxing on her futon.

Getting tired of posing for photos.

So Greyhounds Do Bark

We picked up Lucy on Thursday and all was quiet until Saturday night. She had barely made a peep. A little whimper now and then when Steph would leave the room but nothing of substance. Then it happened , Saturday night at midnight we awoke to a deep, bellowing WOOF WOOF WOOF. We still have no idea what she was barking at but wow did it wake us out of a dead sleep.

Operation Woof Woof

We need to talk about Operation Woof Woof. This was a covert mission that Bill, Jacob, and Julia undertook in late 2008 and early 2009. The mission objective was simple, convince mama that we needed a dog! The mission had several campaigns ranging from Jacob and Julia showing that they would be responsible with a dog by cleaning their rooms and such. To a final secret mission that Bill undertook on his own, code-named "Operation Greyhound".

The team had learned a lot from Operation Woof Woof and mom was warming up to the idea of a dog. Not just any dog would do. Mama absolutely did not want a small dog, we had to work around Julia's allergies, Dad and Jacob, well they really just wanted a dog. Operation Woof Woof was waning and it looked as if it may fail.

So, Bill secretly began the Greyhound Mission, it started simple enough just send her to a website with pictures of these beautiful dogs. Then, on one of their dates to the bookstore, pickup Greyhounds for Dummies and the operation went into full swing. Dad read about Greyhounds and talked about all their wonderful traits. A final tactic ensured complete success, take Mama to a meet and greet and show her the Greyhounds. It was all down hill from that point!

First night

It was an exciting first night with Lucy Loo! Since our house is a two story we were wondering just where she was going to sleep. Steph and I dilligently carried her crate to the hallway by our room. We moved her bed to the floor in front of our bed. Made everything nice and cozy for Lucy and she slept ... out in the hall on the FUTON. Where she happens to be at the moment. I think Lucy has found her favorite spot and the Futon was headed for the resale shop anyway, so everyone is happy.

We are hoping to keep her off of the rest of the furniture for the foreseeable future. So far we've had lessons about the recliner, the sofa in the living room, Jacob and Julia's bed, and of course an early morning training on why we don't jump into the middle of mom and dad's bed.

First Day

Lucy arrived today to her forever home at the Conways. Lucy is our very first Greyhound and the whole family is so excited to welcome her to our family.

Its been a busy couple of weeks waiting for Lucy. By the way, Lucy was previously named Brady and her racing name was Running Blues. You can see her history here.

We were extremely fortunate to get to work with a fantastic adoption group here in St. Louis, Greyhound Companions of Missouri. We worked with Patty and Bob from GCMO, Patty was terrific and led us through the adoption answering all of our many questions. We are also so grateful for Bob who worked with Lucy for several weeks while she was awaiting adoption. We can already tell the terrific influence that Bob had on Lucy. She came into our home already knowing a set of standard commands as well as being able to climb steps with ease. Thank you Bob! You can find out more about Bob at his website, http://www.thepawdog.com/.

We look forward to many years of fun and excitement with our new girl. Stay tuned for updates on her progress.

Just exhausted from all the excitement.