Argos

Argos, our most recent adoptee.  A lot of our friends are surprised that we ended up with a greyhound, but that's because they weren't privy to over a year's worth of conversations about dogs, potential breeds to adopt, and what would be best suited for our lifestyle.  It didn't hurt that my aunt is involved with greyhound adoptions/rescue, and currently has four of her own.

It was actually Jeff that brought up the breed for the first time for serious consideration to adopt.  I really liked the idea.  My aunt's greyhounds had always seemed so calm, dignified, and docile.  And gorgeous too, of course.  I did some internet research, though, and saw some warnings that they have a high prey drive, and that our cats would never be safe with one.  That definitely put us off, and we moved on to consider other breeds.  But we kept circling back around to greyhounds.  Then my aunt (and a couple of other people) told us that not ALL greyhounds have a high prey drive, and that there were plenty of dogs out there that could peacefully co-exist with our girls.  Well, THAT put greyhounds back in the running, if you'll pardon the pun.

We checked out a book from the library about adopting ex-racing greyhounds, and then found a cheap used copy of Greyhounds for Dummies, and read both of them.  We went to a meet-and-greet out at a Petco one afternoon, and spent over an hour talking with the two volunteers there, and making a big fuss over their dogs.  We left that store much more confident in adopting one.

It wasn't too long after that meeting that I filled out an online application with Steel City Greyhounds, a charity that pulls retired greyhounds from the racetracks and puts them up for adoption in Pittsburgh.  That Saturday, they told us that we could go to the kennel where the greys were kept, to meet "Willie," a six-year-old red faun.  We went, with the intention of taking a look at him and then leaving to think about it for awhile.

But that's not quite the way that it happened.  We went, met him, and loved him immediately.  He was so sweet-natured and began wagging his tail as soon as he saw us.  Then we were told that we could "borrow" him for a few hours if we liked, to take him home to meet our cats to see how he was with them.  So, we packed him into the back seat of our car and drove him to our house.  He completely ignored the cats, in fact, I think he barely registered that they were even there.

I think it was at that point that we decided that we wanted to keep him.  We drove back to the kennel to fill out paperwork, have him washed and groomed by professionals, and to pay the adoption fee.  And then we were the proud new owners of a greyhound!  Haha, we were so unprepared, since we hadn't been thinking we would adopt that day!  We had to go immediately to Petco (with him in tow, of course) to buy bedding, food dishes, food, treats, doggie toothpaste, and toys.  Then Willie became Argos, and the rest is history.

Argos has adapted well to us.  He loves to go outside for walks, but loves sleeping on the couch just as much.  He is content to curl up beside us and watch t.v. or to nap with us up on our bed.  He's also learning to play, and especially loves toys that squeak or honk or make noise.  He is very loving and obedient, and is the first thing I see when I come home.  (I would ordinarily at least kiss my husband first, but Argos makes that difficult, since he's typically cavorting and prancing in circles around me, ecstatic that I'm home.)  He is lying at my feet as I type this, and seems to be very content.