Play Date with Dennis, Juniper, Toby, and Reuben

Here is a video of the dog play that occurred between the new friends.

Oh my, oh my...it has been a long time since we had a play date. We have been wanting Reuben, the wannabe Greyhound, to meet Juniper and Dennis and it finally came together today. Shannon, Billy, Beth, and Veronica all graced us with their presence to make this day a greyt one!

Here is everybody's heartthrob, lovebug Reuben.

Here is my boyfriend, Dennis.

Drew's girlfriend, Juniper, was getting some loving from Billy! She plays the field!

One of our goals was to get Juniper used to playing with non-greyhounds as she has shown a bit of displeasure in this part of life. And, Reuben needs some playmates as Toby is blind and cannot participate in play. Here is the first meeting of the minds!

Reuben seemed to really like hanging around with Dennis.

And, Dennis really wanted Reuben to play with him.

Dennis seemed to be channeling Flame and Trouble with his pawing and barking. Reuben's like, "What the heck, Dude?" I have a bit of video footage that shows the play that occurred between Juniper, Dennis, and Reuben, which will be posted soon. 

While the boys were sorting out who was going to be alpha, Toby and Juniper were getting attention on the deck.

And then, Billy pulled out the TREATIES!!!!!!! Toby loves treats, and therefore absolutely loves the treat-meister, Billy!

Dogs Paw Pad Protection nonslip grip

The last visit to the vet was awful as Toby couldn't get purchase on the slippery floor and went splay legged which resulted in some muscle strain, along with a lack of confidence to jump into the car due to the pain. He finally seems all better so back to the vet we go. This time, we have Dogs Paw Pad Protection which is like a flexible, stretchable kinesiology tape base with a non-slip coating on top. And, they worked great! They are still on Toby's feet after two potty breaks in the night, the vet office visit, and a 1.7 mile walk in the woods!

There are six sets of Paw Protection in a package. We got XL for our Greyhound paws.

First, Drew applied an entire paw to one of Toby's front feet.

Then, he cut out the pads and applied them separately to Toby's other front foot.

And, finally here is one of Toby's hind feet. He did not slip at all at the Vet's office. 

Toby at the Androscoggin River (Papermill Trail)

We decided to walk part of the Papermill Trail to photograph Toby within Autumn's coat of many colors. This location is almost at the height of color being about 12.5 miles inland from Casco Bay, as the crow flies. At about 10:45am, we walked over to a boulder and down to the edge of the Androscoggin River to an outcropping of granite. The air was still and the river was glassy smooth.

Because Toby is blind, we don't let him off leash right away. We let him get the lay of the land, so to speak. Drew takes him to different parts of the rock and I snap tons of photos.

Toby is so cute and he is a master at avoiding looking at me during photo sessions. I forgot to bring a squeaky toy with me, so it took me forever to get a few photos of his head looking in my direction.

One last shot of him with Drew. You can see that he was getting so much more comfortable on the rock.

And, ta da! Drew took the leash off Toby for a few minutes while he stood stock still on the rock all by himself!

Such a good boy!

Trapper aka Reuben aka Star aka Leroy, etc

Billy and Shannon adopted "Trapper" (name will change soon) today. He is a cute as can be hound mix who will hopefully fill a void that has existed since Trouble died. Cherise has been rather unhappy since that time.

Trapper has similar colorings to another hound that they had years ago. For us, it is the eyebrows that are sooo cute!

Along with his tail! We love the little flag that waves back and forth as he walks.

Oh, and his floppy ears are sooo big and silky smooth! They really fly around when he runs!

Shannon is hoping that Trapper will be a cuddlebug when he gets used to his new home!

He is tiny compared to the greyhounds, but is a substantial hound at 1.5 years old.

We are all going to have fun with him and there will be lots of family photos to come! P.S. Drew and I are honorary uncle and aunt!

Toby is my handsome heartthrob of a Greyhound!

The Deck Sunning Season has begun!

Trouble's tribute book

I worked all vacation to create a tribute book for Trouble. It is almost completed with 117 pages of photos! I had thousands of photos to choose from, and wanted to have unique photos of Trouble that weren't used in either Lady Flame's or Sugaree's tribute books. There was some overlap, but not much. Here is the cover.

And, the inside title page.

I feel like the original Bowdoin Greyhounds are family... Pages 10-11.

There were lots of rough and tumble half-sib antics on pages 64-65.

I just had to create a word cloud of Trouble! Pages 78-79.

Here is Trouble as an older pup, at age 12, on Pages 96-97.

Lastly, here is our tribute page at the end of the book. Now, I am awaiting Shannon and Billy's tribute page, and that is the toughest of all to write when it is about your own dog and what he means to you... Then, the book will be printed! Whoo...This is the third tribute book, in as many years, of the original hounds, all of whom have crossed the Rainbow Bridge to live out the rest of their existence playing with wild abandon.

Toby and his girlfriend, Lexie

Toby has sooo many girlfriends! Lexie is one of his favorites. She gets so excited when she sees Drew park the car and comes running!

Toby likes her a lot. His ears perk up when he gets to visit Lexie. Sometimes, Toby refuses to walk past Lexie's house until she comes running over. And, sometimes he is disappointed when she doesn't show up. Luckily, they visit several times each week because it really makes Toby's day.