Monday, September 30, 2013

Bender is a secret Greyhound (and goodbye to Olive, again)

I can hear you all rejoicing because the Furkid Palace Official Photographer has returned to provide much better imagery for the blog!

Having a DSLR camera gives you a different perspective of your pets. There is so much that you miss when you are just throwing a ball and watching them run. For instance with Bender, we miss his almost double suspension gallop.... here he is in the 'tuck' stage....


here he is at full stretch.


Bender's not a young pup anymore, he's 7 and a half and he has slowed down significantly in the last couple of years. People who don't know him think he is still doing well but we can see the difference. The problem is that her will never stop going hard at the ball.


After a slide like this you can guarantee he will be missing skin from his paw pads. We had to go home after a mere half an hour at the dog park today because he was bleeding, as usual. We don't think he will ever learn to slow down.


At the park you can see why Olive didn't make it as a racer. She isn't a super competitive doggie and she doesn't run around at top speed just for the sheer joy of it. In all the photos she is level with Bender or just behind him. Barbie likes to run as fast as she can for no apparent reason. She doesn't have to be chasing anything. She doesn't need anything chasing her. She just likes to go! Olive just keeps pace with the dogs she is running with and doesn't run random 'hot laps'.


After our little trip to the park, Olive's new owner came to pick her up. I was very sad to see her go, but for her sake I tried not to show it. Olive's new family has recently lost two toy poodles - I met one of them a few weeks ago but unfortunately he had to go to the bridge, he was blind, deaf and very arthritic but he was still so sweet and brave. I expect Olive will be providing them with plenty of distraction and cuddles to help them through a difficult time. It was very strange waking up this morning without a dancing white greyhound standing over me, poking me in the face with her nose and repeatedly bashing her tail against the bedroom door. Hopefully she will 'stick' in this home because if she gets bounced again it would be very hard to let her go for a third time.

We are going to miss her and her silly tongue.


We are taking an enforced break from fostering now with the exception of Olive if she is bounced as I couldn't bear the thought of her going somewhere else. There will soon be construction going on at the block next door. They need to build a retaining wall so they will be taking down our fence temporarily. The good thing about that is the fence will be more secure and far less ugly once it is replaced. I will be less concerned about it blowing over in a squally storm so that is a plus. Barbie's recovering leg has already gotten me into the routine of doing potty breaks on leash and I should be able to add Bender to that pretty easily. It will be all the better when Barbie can walk a proper distance. They will be totally spoiled with 3 walks a day!

There are also a few things that we need to do around our house and those things will be easier without an extra dog. Of course some of these things will have to wait until Barbie's foot is healed as well. The control-freak part of me wants to draw up a chart.

Comments (6)

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You can really see the determination on Bender's face when he is chasing the ball. Dogs don't seem to feel pain when they are in the zone.
Good luck to Olive, it sounds as though she will get a lot of love from her new home.
Hope your construction work isn't too traumatic.
Lynne x
Bender's speed and determination are impressive. I know there's no point you telling him that if he was a bit less enthusiastic he'd be able to play longer, lol! I'll have everything crossed here that it's second time lucky for Olive. I'd hate to have to part with the same foster dog more than once.

Good luck with the new fence. Hope it all goes smoothly.
Hope this one sticks for Olive. Once a ball dog, always a ball dog.
I hope this one sticks for Olive, but I wouldn't be sad to see her come back to you and the blog, either. I think it's important to take fostering breaks from time to time, too. Hopefully things are back to normal at your house soon!
Good luck, Olive. I think this home will be the one. Bender...you look awesome! Get better soon, Barbie.
It really excited me to see when the pet dogs are really having enjoyment in the park. We should be having some time with our dogs and it was really good to read the same thing.

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