Dog Day Afternoon

A new dog!

There is an all-but-forgotten 1975 Al Pacino movie called Dog Day Afternoon, but this has literally been a dog day afternoon for me. Today (specifically this afternoon) I got a new dog. In the afternoon. Today.

Work with me, people. I'm on painkillers.

Hopefully, our first day together will not devolve into a bank robbery and a hostage situation as it did in the film. Though the banks are not even open today, so I think the chances of that are slim.

The beautiful new dog is just over 7 years old, and -- like my last dog, Kaia -- was a "brood mama" meaning that she raised puppies after racing.

What's the dog's name, you ask? The funny thing is, that's still undecided. Her racing name (all greyhounds have oddball names like racehorses do) was "WW's Kool Show". All of the greyhounds have a racing name (that long, odd name that they race under) and a kennel name, which is usually a shorter version of their race name.

We were told that the new dog responses to "Kool", but her foster family (the family that transitions her from the track) found that she ignored that altogether. They tried "Show", and she seemed to respond to that. But that's an odd name for a dog, I think, so Jen and I have been thinking of names that sound enough *like* "Show" that she might not notice too much.

"Camera!"

I have been trying out a host of names to see how she responds to them. I have a feeling that I'll have a final name for her by tomorrow.

It was incredibly hard to lose Kaia. It's always hard to lose a companion or a friend, but when I was going through chemo, there were times that she was propping me up and giving me direction and purpose every day. I didin't realize how helpful it was to have a creature that relies on you for basic needs such as eating, walks and attention. Having a reason to get out of bed every day is helpful, though its sad to have to be reminded of that.

As I write this I've had The Dog Formerly Known as Kool Show for about 2 hours. She's settling in wonderfully and I'm devoting much of the next 24 hours to setting up a routine for her and making her feel safe here. All greyhounds are used to having other greyhounds around (though any dog or person will do, when you're lonely) and that constant sound and smell and sight of other dogs is comforting to them. It's a unique kind of greyhound that can be in a house without other dogs around without getting too bored. And it's an even more unique greyhound that can be home all by themselves. I know that the new mama-dog will be able to handle it, but I'll be easing her into it by leaving for 5 minutes at a time, then 10, then 15, etc. That will be my project for Monday. She's still a little too excited by the new surroundings (and departure of her foster family) to sleep just yet, but is coping by staying glued to my side. I noticed that she was not too nervous to snarf down her dinner in record time, so that's a plus. 

"Is there food?"

I'm sure I'll be oohoing and aahing over her here for quite a while, and its nice to have some positive daily distractions these days. 

Update: she's crashed out now. That didn't take too long.

"There was not food."