Featured Hound by Kevin Haber and Brian Thomas

Ray Ray     

Petland Thornwood Event Review by Cindy Stickles

Saturday, April 18th was the perfect day for a Meet and Greet!  With temps nearing 80 degrees, we had a lot of families stopping by our table to say hi and meet the greyhounds.  Kids especially were delighted to pet our greys!  Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who made this a very successful first Meet and Greet of 2015 at the Thornwood Petland venue:  Annette and Addie, Rob and Lola, Nick and Sue, Lisa and Jake, Amy and Zeke, and Nina and Bruce with Justice and foster Hodges. 

Bowie by Christine Johnson

Do we or Don't we?

Sadly, many of you may have already endured what we are going through, but I want to share our experience. Why share? It's not because what we're doing is right or wrong. I want to tell you how we knew our boy, six year old Bowie, was sick and how we arrived at our decisions. Maybe our journey will help any of you who are faced with the same heart wrenching diagnosis.

At the end of March, I noticed some very subtle changes in Bowie. For example, I had rarely noticed him drinking water, but I was seeing him drinking on a daily basis and he loved to be upside down in his crate (the door was always open) or curled up in a ball on a dog bed, yet he was spending more time lying on the floor, close to me. I also thought he was losing weight so bumped up his food amounts a little at each meal.

I kept an eye on him for a week to see if he went back to his normal behavior and when he didn't, I took him in for a routine blood and urine work up. Everything was normal, but he had lost one and a half pounds. On April 13th, he started limping. It was so slight you really had to focus to catch it. But then I felt a bump on his shoulder. He was given pain meds for 48 hours and when there was no improvement, I knew in my heart that he had osteosarcoma (bone cancer). On April 16th, he went in for an exam and x-rays. He wasn't limping at all and on exam, the surgeon wasn't overly concerned, but within 20 minutes, as I sat in the parking lot, I got the call. My fears were confirmed. The bottom dropped out of my world. We had chest x-rays done at the same time. There was no metastasis so we jumped through hoops and had an abdominal ultra sound done immediately. All clear.

Our options were straight forward. The pain from the cancer would get progressively worse. We could manage the pain and probably have to euthanize him in four to six weeks or we could amputate the leg and consider chemo. Bowie had his left front leg amputated on April 20th. We didn't make the decision lightly or selfishly. We agonized over it, but he's young, strong and we caught the cancer early so we felt HE would want us to give him a chance. With chemo we could get an additional two years of good quality life...or it could be two months. Two weeks post-op, he's healing well. We're all still working on the transition. He's probably doing better at it than we are. Do we or don't we do chemo? We have to wait and see.

Next month, I'll continue our story. To live and learn.

Sugar and Bowie

Poisonous Plants for Dogs

When planning your garden this year, keep in mind that some plants are poisonous for dogs. Below is a link to the ASPCA's list of toxic and non-toxic plants for dogs and it includes indoor and outdoor plants. The toxic plants are at the top and the non-toxic list starts half-way down the page: ASPCA's List of Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants for Dogs 

Fancy

We'd like to thank the following who are currently fostering:

Nina Malmed and Bruce Levinson with Hodges

The Niznik Family with Wave

Noreen and Mike Marshall with Jason

Debbie Napolitano with Rose

Nancy Hill with Rowena

Kevin Haber and Brian Thomas with Ray Ray

Catherine Rupani with Vanessa

Deb and Dave Sullivan with Kenny Rogers

Chris and Nancy Schneider with Selene

The Danise Family with Cream Puff aka Fancy and Romeo

The Mathias Family with Musa and Chiqui 

Recent Placements!

Ian

Skye aka Shakespeare with Gisela Bucher

Furby aka Ian with the Castagna Family

Buddy aka Stir with Julianna Larkins

Milky Way aka Knockout with the Podhurst Family

Dusty with the Chapin Family

In Memoriam

"Call Collect"  April 2000-February 2015

 We miss you very much, our sweet boy.
 

 The Motykas 

Collect

Sunka Sapa July 2010 - March 2015

Mato and her family are sad to announce the demise of Sunka Sapa due to cancer.  He was elegant and sweet and we miss him every moment; he was Mato's best friend ever and our wonderful family companion. Sunka Sapa would have been five years old on July 6, 2015.

Magdalena Morningstar

Sunka Sapa

Fred "Thessalonian" April 2005 - April 2015

Fred was a large black, handsome boy rescued by GRR in the spring of 2010. He was a foster failure who let all potential adopters know at meet and greets that he had already found his forever home.  He trotted like a horse, was stubborn as a mule, but was a sweet loving gentle greyhound.  He gave us his trust and his heart and we loved him.  He left us too soon.  Till we meet again big fella.

Sanjay Prakash and Laura Jackson

Fred

Willy Fix It April 2005 - April 2015

We will always miss our big brindle boy who loved doing air snaps, but wouldn't hurt a fly. Big Will was a lover of seafood and Dentastix and ear rubs. We know that you left us so suddenly because you wanted to spend your 10th birthday in heaven with Dilly Dali. We miss you dearly and know that you are both running free up there!

Love always, Jill, Marcus and Kieran Orellana

Willy

Greyhound Billy December 2006 - April 2015

He has his wings and is flying free now. Another victim of Osteosarcoma. He was my baby, my perpetual goofy toddler. 

While walking him last fall, he pulled me across the street to meet a human. He jumped towards her and then leaned against her for petting. She said: "My, he's a big puppy!"  "He's not a puppy, he's almost eight years old", I replied.  Apparently this woman had never met a rambunctious greyhound. I miss this puppy dearly!

Fly pain free Billy.

Ellen Goodman

Billy

The In Memoriam section is a monthly item in the newsletter.  If you would like to share a remembrance of your dog, please send a short write-up (three or four lines maximum) and photo (optional) to Mary at greysrus11@yahoo.com.   All submissions must be received by the 25th of the month to be published in the newsletter the following month.

iGive.com - Earn Free Money for GRR!

 
Change Shopping for Good™ and earn free money for GRR! The donations keep growing as you keep shopping. It doesn't cost any more to shop through iGive, they have tons of participating stores that you probably already shop at and you'll be helping the hounds.  Birthdays, graduations, weddings, or shopping for yourself - do your shopping through iGive and support GRR,  iGive.com

You can use iGive for searches too. A penny a search and a portion of each purchase will be donated to your favorite cause.

How often do you search or shop online? Start helping today.  

Join the E-group

GRR has an e-group for adopters and volunteers. It's a greyt way to post comments, questions or share greyhound stories. If you would like to join, please contact Jason at snowjay@prodigy.net.