Greyhounds Galore!

And it's graduation day!!  Another class comes home from the prison program and another class heads down.  It's a wonderful day for the new adopters to finally get to meet their Greyhounds.  Some have been waiting for 2 months so I know it's an especially exciting day for them!

This morning, in fact, I prepared an email to each of the seven new adopters providing some last minute details surrounding the haul, what to expect when they get their Greyhound home and so on. 

The last sentence that I wrote, "You will soon wonder how you got along WITHOUT a Greyhound in your life!" made me well up with tears!  For one, I cannot imagine my life without my Greyhounds in it.  They are so much a part of me and I of them.  I am planning a 10-day trip in September where I am most certain to experience withdrawals and hope their sitter will keep me apprised of their daily activities while I'm away or I will surely wither and die!!

As well, I derive much enjoyment and satisfaction in the small part that I do in providing families with their wonderful Greyhounds and love seeing them at Meet & Greets and events thereafter where you can visibly see how family members have embraced their new furry four-legged friends. 
It is just so heartwarming and such a wonderful thing for the Greyhound as well as the family. It is why we do what we do and we love what we do!!

Today's haul is the first in three years that I will miss as I'll be heading to Gatlinburg for Mountain Hounds.  I think that is why I am especially sentimental about the Greyhounds coming home today as I will certainly miss seeing them and meeting their new humans.  But alas, I will survive and the cycle will continue with or with me! 

The cycle which involves the newest class heading to the prison today which happens to include my next and newest Greyhound, Gwyneth Paltrow.  I am especially excited to finally be able to adopt Gwyneth and give her the added bonus of the prison training before she comes home in August.  I'm sure I'll be blogging about the experience "from this side" since this will be my first prison pup.  It's very exciting for her and for me!! 

Happy graduation to our pups today!!  Now, on to Mountain Hounds!!

Another Month Has Flown By

Wow, it's now almost October and Fall is upon us. With Fall comes the many wonderful arts and crafts festivals that dot the Atlanta suburbs.  We try to do as many as we can but being such a small group, we are limited.  Last month we attended the Sandy Springs Festival in Sandy Springs and had a fabulous time. 

This month we'll be at Pace Academy on the 2nd for their annual Fall Fair and then the Smyrna Fall Jonquil Festival on the 23rd and 24th plus the Whole Hawg Happenin' BBQ festival on the 23rd as well.  In between the Meet & Greets, we have a fun and relaxing afternoon planned on the 10th at Nancy G's on Roswell Road as we enjoy another "Yappy Hour" with our Greyhound friends on their wonderful and spacious outside patio.  On the 16th we'll participate of our first Hound Hike at Kennesaw Mountain.  This should be great fun for the humans and the Greyhounds!!

October is definitely going to be a very busy month but the wonderful Fall weather just beckons us to participate in outdoor activities!  It's a beautiful time of the year in Atlanta and we try to enjoy every minute of it!

I've been busy myself participating in evaluations through TDI, Inc. (pet therapy) so that we can become certified through that organization.  I first took Lucy for her evaluation and I am proud to say that she passed the testing with flying colors.  Actually, she and I both passed.  It's definitely a team effort.  I will next take Sami and hope she remains her calm self long enough during the testing to satisfy the requirements.  She is still so young (3 years old) and so puppy-like but it seems she knows the environment in nursing homes is "calmer and quieter" than anywhere else so she usually adapts pretty well.  I'll work with her a bit more and then when we're ready, we will pursue her certification.  Being certified as a pet therapy dog will open doors for us as we will then be able to visit other facilities around Atlanta, ie children hospitals, hospices, and the like.  I'm urging others in the group to seek certification as well.  TDI, Inc. provides $5 million liability insurance for all of its members which is quite a perk.  That, alone, is worth the time and effort it takes to become certified.

On another note, I received an email from an old high school chum on Facebook.  This is what he wrote "Just wanted to say hello and tell you the things you do for animals is great !! If I was to die and come back I want to be one of your dogs."  I have to say that really warmed my heart. 

I responded back reciprocating as I've seen pictures of his Great Danes and how they are so very loved and cared for.  It is definitely such a compliment for anyone when they hear things like that.

But the biggest compliment of all was his next reply, "actually thanks to you we joined the Mid Atlantic Great Dane Rescue so thanks !!"  Honestly, that put tears in my eyes.  If what I do helping the Greyhounds inspires someone else to get involved, then so much the better.  I am just so proud of what we do to help the Greyhounds and hope that others might find a little bit of time in their life to help just one animal along the way.  As Martha would say, "its a good thing"!

Our First Meeting

What a fun-filled first meeting we all enjoyed last night! Our dedicated group filled up the far side of the restaurant, so we wouldn't scare the other diners with our talk of inmates, dog hauling and all-things greyhound. We may have to look for a new location if we keep growing at the rate we are!

Program Progress

There is great excitment in this group and a profound enthusiam to see greyhounds that we haul from the track working with inmates that we have trained. While we're all ready for this to happen tomorrow, we know that it takes a bit of time, but progress is being made with the DOC and with finalizing our 501(c)3 status. It's a lot of paperwork right now, but the fun will start soon enough. Fingers crossed we'll have dogs behind bars by June.

Fundraising

We have several fundraisers scheduled for March including the Wine Tasting and Microchipping Clinic. Be sure to check out the calendar for additional information on these programs. I know there are just a few slots open for the Wine Tasting in early March, so register today if you plan to attend.

Don't forget to check out the SCG Cafe Press Store. There are some really unique greyhound designs for sale, both with and without our logo, so no matter where you live you can support SCG and look fashionable at the same time. I know I've got my eye on the Greyt Beach shirt myself.

Kimberly Walker Morris' prints are also selling quickly. Be sure to buy yours today so you don't miss your chance to have a signed and numbered reproduction of her beautiful pencil sketch of a sleeping greyhound.

Up & Coming Events

If you're looking for a Greyt gathering in May, think about attending Mountain Hounds with your SCG friends. In addition to hosting a table to sell some of our awesome Greyhound wares, we'll hold seminar about our program. We'll post the time of our presentation so those of you who are interested can stop in and meet us face-to-face.

This is just a sampling of what we have going on. Stay tuned, as there are more exciting things in store in just a few weeks!